Sleeping will be the biggest hurdle for you and your new baby, and if you are reading this, I’m sure you know EXACTLY what I mean. You’re exhausted, baby isn’t sleeping well, and you need a solution. Creating the perfect nighttime routine for your baby is the ultimate key to sleeping success for the future. This routine will help baby wind down for a peaceful night of sleep.
Why you need a nighttime routine
You can and should start your nighttime routine with baby as early as you can. Creating a calm, peaceful atmosphere is the perfect environment to drift anyone off into dreamland and your baby is the same way. As your baby grows, what this routine looks like will change. What won’t change is the reason the nighttime routine is needed.
Just like establishing an amazing morning and night routine for yourself, nighttime routine creates a schedule and expectation for your baby. Everynight when you enlist on your nighttime journey, baby will know what is expected of him or her and begin to associate sleep with this routine.
It’s psychology that baby will learn to become sleepy as you start your same routine every night. Here are some things you should consider before creating the perfect nighttime routine for your baby.
PS: I have the perfect 12-18 month routines you can download and print at the end of the post. Feel free to scroll all the way down if you want to get right to the good stuff.
Tips for creating the perfect nighttime routine
| Age |
Unless your baby was just born, it’s never too soon to start implementing a sleep routine. As your baby gets older, you may add more steps and expectations to the routine, but it is always good to have one in place. It’s easier to create a routine for both you and baby at 2 months old than it is a 6 months.
I know my family thought I was nuts trying to get my 2 month old to enjoy an evening routine but it laid the framework for our nighttime sleeping success as he got older. If your baby is around 2 months, now is the perfect time to start creating the perfect nighttime routine. If your baby is older, that’s okay! Now is better than never!
| Wind down Time |
Just like you like a little calm time before bed either by watching TV or reading a book, baby needs this time too. It’s important to set the stage for bed by creating some calm play time. It isn’t reasonable to expect your baby or toddler to go from running laps and crawling everywhere to falling asleep the next second.Twenty minutes or so before bedtime, begin your wind down time. Create a soothing and relaxing environment. Depending on the age of your little one, this may look different.
For toddlers, play soothing music, read stories or build blocks. The goal is to not get your toddler over-excited or overstimulated. It can be easy to use the TV as a wind down option. Even though your toddler seems calm watching, he will become overstimulated. Plus, the light from the TV interferes with our body’s natural ability to create the hormone that makes us sleepy. Another helpful practice is snack time. A full belly and a nighttime snack of foods that will help your toddler sleep through the night is the perfect ending to your wind down time.
The same principle goes for babies. Babies get overstimulated more easily than toddlers. An easy wind down routine for a baby could include reading stories, singing lullabies and softly talking to her or telling stories. If she is 6 months or older or if you’ve introduced solids, you can start giving her some foods that will encourage sleeping through the night.
Unless your baby is a newborn, don’t underestimate the power of an excellent wind down routine and nighttime snack. Once your baby or toddler gets into the rhythm of her new routine, it will become second nature to start yawning and becoming sleepy during wind down time.
| Bedtime |
What is really key to creating the perfect nighttime routine for your baby is knowing when nighttime should begin. If you are trying to work with a bedtime that isn’t a good fit for you or your baby’s age, you are setting yourself up for failure. (Trust me!)
This sleep chart will give you a good idea for a bedtime for your baby, but remember that it isn’t fool proof. As you begin your routine, observe your baby and her sleepy cues. Is she wide awake? Move bedtime a little later. Is she falling asleep during bathtime? Move it a little earlier. This is just a general chart. You know your baby the best!
| Sleep Environment |
It’s super important to create an environment that is good for sleeping. There are a lot of opinion on this topic, and what I am going to share will be pretty radical. It doesn’t matter how dark the room is, that the temperature is perfect, that you have baby’s favorite jammies on or whatever else advice there is online. What matters is that baby is comfortable and the environment you are creating is sustainable.
I remember reading about how I needed to have the darkest room possible when baby slept, and I drove myself nuts. Jackson’s room, when we stayed at my parents, if we were in a hotel, when we went on our beach vacation, I went insane trying to black everything out. When we moved to our apartment with 10 foot windows, I nearly had a heart attack. Instead, how much more sense would it have made if I would have simply created an expectation for Jackson that his sleep environment was a little light until the sun was totally down?
Consider all of this as you create your perfect sleep environment. The ONLY thing I do recommend is white noise. It is good for two reasons. 1) It helps baby to adjust to sleeping outside the womb, which was super noisy from your heartbeat, digestion and outside world noise. 2) It keeps noise out of baby’s room, so you don’t have to worry about how loud your TV or dog is.
| Flexibility |
It’s important to emphasize that when creating your perfect nighttime routine, it has to be sustainable AND flexible If you want (or read) baby’s bedtime should be 6:30, but you and your husband don’t get home from work until then, then that can’t be your bedtime. Please do not stress yourself out about maintaining the perfect routine at all costs. Do not leave Christmas dinner early because you have to start baby’s routine.
I realize this can be a really hard ask for some of us.
| Mom & Dad Approved |
Your routine should be something you want to do. There are a lot of suggestions on the internet, and what you friends do with their kids might look different than what you do. So be intentional while you are creating the perfect nighttime routine and decide what it is and isn’t you want to do every night.
Remember that it’s never to early to begin creating the perfect nighttime routine for your baby, and you will be so glad you did! The most important thing when creating your routine is that it has to be something that works for you, your family and your baby. Your baby will learn what you teach him or her. Good luck and if you need any help or advice, I’d love for you to reach out! You can do that HERE!
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