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Baby Sleep Routine

A baby sleep routine for getting your baby to sleep faster, better and longer

Establish a bedtime baby sleep routine. Your baby sleep routine will start to give your baby cues that bedtime is coming and help your baby fall asleep faster as well as sleep through the night better. Think of your routine working like a stimulus/ response model with the elements of your nighttime routine acting as signals that trigger a sleep response from your baby.

There’s also another significant benefit to having a baby sleep routine: it’s very comforting! It’s amazing how the sense of routine is so comforting for your baby. It shouldn’t be so surprising though- your baby is a person. How would you feel if someone kept changing or interrupting your sleep routine? Turning off your lights at 10:00 one night, 7:30 another; bathing you before bed one night and tickling you the next; standing over you when you’re sleeping, picking you up, kissing you, cooing at you?

So the idea is to pick a routine that works for you – there is not some magic sleep ritual that works for all families and babies.  Just find something that works for you and to your best to stick with it.  Here are some common elements of night time baby sleep routines:

Overall- while there isn’t one special element that will make your baby sleep routine a sure-fire success, there are elements that are very likely to hurt your success.  The biggest thing to avoid is too much stimulation in the hour leading up to bed time.  Make sure the TV is not on, try to avoid visitors at this time of day and limit stimulating activities.  As you get closer to bed time, it is a good idea to keep the lights on the low side as well.

Bath – If you have the time a soothing bath is a very good way to start your baby sleep routine. This can be a great place to bond with your baby and unwind from the day’s activities. In the early days you will most likely use a sink or a smaller basin that you fill with water from the sink. (You can get our recommendations for basins and other items in our shopping list. Just fill out our email form.)

baby sleep routine | massage

A quiet massage is soothing after a bath

Massage – Many parents like to follow the bath with a baby massage as part of their baby sleep routine.  While it is a great way to help the baby relax, it is another great way to connect with your baby.   There are lots of sources to give you techniques on how to massage your baby.

Feeding- We do our final feed for the day after our baby’s bath and after getting him in a clean diaper and in his pajamas.  Lights should be kept low during this feeding and having soothing music on in the background (a mobile works well, as will be discussed next) is a good idea.  Its best to avoid to much chatter around the baby at this point, so try to put off that phone call until after baby has been put to bed.

Music, mobile – Like we mentioned above, it’s nice to have music on leading up to bedtime.  Having a mobile on the crib is a great way to do this.  We turned ours on every night just before the pre-bedtime feeding and left it on after we put our baby down to sleep.  The mobile is a great sleeping queue.  Of course you need to get this out of the crib by the time the baby is standing, but we think you’ll find that you won’t be reliant on the mobile any more by that point.  To help avoid noise interrupting your baby’s sleep we also recommend a baby sound machine.

 

Storytime – This is another great way to bond with your baby. If you think your infant is not listening think again! Most doctors agree that hearing parents reading (and talking) is a tremendous help to developing verbal skills. While your baby is young, you can probably just read one or two books a night (of course feel free to read as many as you want!).  As your baby grows into a toddler, bedtime reading can become a much longer and interactive activity.  Good books for this phase involve a diversity of colors, simple illustrations, and are made from cardboard so they do not get easily torn or damaged.

Some of our favorites include:

Sandra Boynton books are fantastic – Barnyard Dance, The Going to Bed Book, etc

Counting Kisses by Karen Kane – very sweet and lets you give your little one lots and lots of kisses!

Goodnight Moon – we listed this because it is a classic, but to be honest its not one of our favorites — we really don’t get the hype over this one

(You’ll see more on our baby sleep shopping list.)

Baby Sleep Routine | Next Steps

Those are the basics for a good newborn baby sleep routine. Adapt what you think makes sense for you and develop your own approach. If you’d like an example, we have a suggested schedule for a baby sleep routine here: http://www.4babysleep.com/sleep-training/baby-sleep-training/

 

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  • Hannah Granger

    This is a very article is very
    helpful. I am a new mom and everything is a struggle for me right now, especially
    sleeping time. Although it helps that my baby sleeps almost all throughout the
    afternoon, because I can do the house chores, but the huge downside is he’s
    awake all throughout the night. I think building a routine is great idea. Thank
    you guys!

  • Stephanie Mcphee

    I always give my baby a massage. I read somewhere that it makes them feel secure. It makes them happy and it plays a vital role on their growth. Moreover, I also learn baby who receives a massage on a regular basis are far healthier than those who do not. I think this shows that there is a magic in a touch.

  • Karen Pierce

    Great article and I have proven how true this is. Building a routine for me was hard at first, because this means that I have to change my schedule and build a routine for myself, too. This means dedication and commitment on my part, but in the end it’s all worth it! I didn’t have trouble putting my baby to sleep and the bond we developed is just magical.

  • Maria Scholtz

    The story- telling is so true! I noticed that when I read a storybook for my 4-month old baby girl, she listens intently. Every time I speak or change the tone of my voice she gets excited, she kicks and she giggles. It’s such a wonderful thing to experience.

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  • http://www.routinesforbabies.com Ngaire Moulds

    I agree that having a routine that works for you is important.  Every baby and every family is different and although it is good to get advice only you know what works for you.  I had 4 children under 5 and without a sleep routine I don’t think I could have managed.  When my first baby was about 2 months old I realized how important it was for both me and her.  Even though it was difficult at first I found that by persisting I was able to establish a routine.  Stephanie became more settled and importantly I was able to cope as I was also getting more sleep. A few of my friends didn’t worry too much about a sleep routine but I did notice they had more trouble getting their babies to sleep and they woke more often during the night.