(Columbus) Your weekend will be one hour longer. Daylight savings time ends at 2am Sunday, when the clock goes back to 1am. State health officials recommend getting kids ready ahead of time for the change.
UW – Health Pediatrician Dr. Casey Freymiller says sunlight exposure plays a big part in a kids sleep schedule.
“Having a light in the morning if it’s a particularly dark day, having a good sunlight exposure with an artificial lamp that’s designed to do that, that can really help weight kids up as well and set their clock. Having less sunlight definitely makes us want to sleep, and so you definitely can notice kids being tired earlier on. You know, some kids just like adults can be affected by a little bit of the seasonal affective disorder.”
The public is also encouraged to take advantage of the time change to create a safer home for themselves and loved ones. That includes changing out the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
In 2023, there were 341 emergency department visits and 35 deaths due to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, three out of every five home fire deaths occurred when smoke detectors were either not present or were not working properly. Columbus Fire Chief Scott Hazeltine (hazel-tine) says a home should have multiple fire alarms.
“You’d like one in each bedroom…one outside of the bedrooms…and if you’re going to set them on the ceiling you’d want to put them in the middle of the room…you wouldn’t want to put them close to a corner or a vent…you’d want to place them in the middle of the room,” says Hazeltine. “Each level of the home you’d want to put one as well. Basements…right where the stairwell is…that’s a good area to put one in.”
Smoke alarms should be tested monthly, and the batteries should be replaced at least once a year. The device itself should be replaced every 10 years.
