When can I start a bedtime routine with my baby? Will a bedtime routine help my baby to sleep? I need ideas for a bedtime routine. What can I try? When can I start a bedtime routine with my baby?By the time your baby is around three months old you can introduce a bedtime routine in the evening. A simple and consistent routine will help her to learn healthy sleep habits that will stand you both in good stead for the future. Aim to introduce a regular time for going to bed between 6.30pm and 8.30pm. Any later than this and your baby may become overtired. Keep your routine fairly short to begin with, around 20 minutes to 30 minutes will do.Will a bedtime routine help my baby to sleep?A familiar bedtime routine can help to regulate your baby’s body clock and help her to establish a sleeping pattern. Your baby will be more relaxed if she knows what’s coming next. And the more relaxed she is, the more likely it is that she’ll go to bed easily and fall asleep quickly.
Your bedtime routine could include: playing a quiet gamegiving your baby a bathchanging her into her pyjamasreading her a bedtime storysinging her a lullabygiving her a gentle massagekissing her goodnight It’s up to you what you decide to include. Just be sure to choose something that helps to calm your baby. And while you can certainly start your routine in the bathroom or the living room, make sure you end it in the room where your baby sleeps. This will help your baby to make the link between her bedtime routine and falling asleep. Set the tone for your baby’s sleep by turning off the television or any other devices and winding down activities about half an hour before bedtime. Have some calm playtime. If you have older children, encourage them to play quietly too. That way you're not taking your baby out of a lively environment and suddenly placing her in a quiet room. Going to bed should be a pleasurable event, with time, attention and plenty of cuddles.
Your baby will love the whole process. If she gets upset as she sees you leave, tell her you’ll be back to check on her in a few minutes. Try not to worry or get stressed if your baby doesn’t naturally adapt to a bedtime routine. Your baby may pick up on how you’re feeling. If she senses that you’re worried or stressed, this in turn may affect her ability to settle.I need ideas for a bedtime routine. What can I try? Let your baby get any pent-up energy out of her system before you settle her down for the night. Play a game with her or let her have a good dance. But ensure the excitement is all over at least 30 minutes before you start her bedtime routine. Follow it up with a calm activity, such as a bath, massage, and a bedtime story. Have a wash and brush-up The warm water and your undivided attention may help to relax your baby before bedtime. However, not all babies like baths at first. If your baby doesn’t enjoy baths or gets over excited during bathtime, leave a bath out of the routine for now.
Instead, try a gentle massage, have a quiet cuddle or read a story. You can always introduce a bath when your baby is older. If you don’t give your baby a bath, her routine will probably include washing her face and hands, changing her nappy, and putting on her pyjamas. As soon as your baby has teeth, it’s important to start the habit of teeth brushing, so she gets used to it. Bedtime is a great opportunity for you to spend time talking to your baby. If you’re not sure what to say at first, talk about what she’s done that day. Your voice alone will soothe and comfort her. Say goodnight to everyone (and everything) Many babies enjoy the ritual of being carried around before bed to say goodnight to family members, pets, favourite toys and other objects. However, keep it simple and quiet, as you don’t want her to be over-stimulated. Keeping the lights low will show your baby that everyone is winding down for the night. Read a bedtime story It’s never too early to read to your baby.
She will love snuggling down for a story with you. And it’ll help her learn to recognise new words which will stimulate her language skills. Lullabies are a tried-and-tested way to help your baby drift off. She will love hearing your voice, and the soft, soothing melody will calm her. Our lullaby lyrics offer a refresher course if you need it. Some babies enjoy being soothed to sleep with a gentle massage. The first few times you may just want to do your baby’s legs until she gets used to the sensation. See our calming massage for tips. Create a playlist of lullabies, classical music, or other children’s favourites to play while you settle your baby to sleep. Leave it on when you leave to help ease her transition from being awake to falling asleep. Gentle music has the added benefit of drowning out other household noise.You may also like to use white noise to help settle your baby, either with a white noise machine or an app on your phone. Stick to your usual routine as much as you can, even when you’re not at home.
It can make it easier for your baby to settle down if she’s in unfamiliar surroundings. Find out how to cope when life gets in the way of your baby's routine. Track your baby’s development Join now to receive free weekly newsletters tracking your baby’s development and yours throughout your pregnancy. Enter your due date or child's birthday Enter your email address Privacy policy & terms Support for your parenting journey. Delivered to your inbox. My Baby This Week Newsletter Keep up with your baby’s development with personalised weekly newsletters. Get the latest parenting news, plus expert advice and real-world wisdom. Special Offers from Our Partners Receive discounts, deals and parenting information from BabyCentre’s partners. Log in or sign up to post a comment!How often do you take some quiet time out to unwind before going to bed? Do you end up doing chores, working or watching television right up until bedtime?
Understandably, if you have responsibilities such as childcare, you might not have a lot of time to yourself to relax at night. If you have sleep problems such as insomnia though, making at least a little time for a bedtime routine can work wonders. It can also help you fix your sleep schedule if you’re currently struggling to fall sleep when you want to. Taking 30-60 minutes to mark an end to a hectic day and do things which will help calm your mind is a cornerstone of good sleep hygiene. In this article I’ll be looking at some of the activities you can do as part of an adult bedtime routine. What you decide to do in this quiet time is up to you, but hopefully you’ll find here some suggestions which will help you fall asleep more easily, as well as things to avoid. In 2016 I polled 310 readers to find out what they most commonly do in bed before going to sleep. The results are interesting as they show that many people are doing things which are likely to stop them from sleeping well.
For example, 108 people said they surf the internet and 74 that they watch TV. These are two things best left outside the bedroom. A bedtime routine can help you deal with insomnia in several ways: Realistically, it’s up to you to decide how long your routine will be based on the amount of time you feel it takes you to unwind. Your life circumstances will also help shape the way your routine goes. It may be, for example, that by the time you’ve put kids to bed and tidied up, 15 minutes is plenty enough time. If you have several hours in the evening to spend how you choose though, and are suffering from serious sleep problems, maybe an hour is a better amount of time. And if you regularly spend a lot of time watching TV or using other electronic devices, then at least an hour without looking at screens is advisable as you’ll see in the next section. The key is that this should be a quiet, relaxing and enjoyable time. So the routine will of course differ from person to person.
And maybe you’ll want to try more than one of the suggestions here in that time. Here are some ideas to help you decide what to do during this time: Before looking at activities you can do as part of your bedtime routine, you may find it beneficial to change the way you use electronic devices. In the modern age, most people love their electronic equipment. Whether it’s a TV, computer, tablet, mobile phone or games console, they take up a lot of our time. However, it’s a good idea not to use them during the hour before going to sleep for 4 reasons: In a survey of 2000 readers of this website, 58% said they couldn’t fall asleep because of their busy mind. Another 24% similarly said it was worry, stress or anxiety keeping them up. If you struggle with this too, then doing some relaxation exercises before you go to bed, or when in bed, can help enormously. There are many different techniques you can try, and you can find step by step descriptions below:
Relaxation techniques to help you sleep >> When it comes to reading, you have two options: Read before going to bed or read once you’re in bed. Ideally it’s best to read in another room for an important reason: it’s good if your brain only associates your bed with sleep and intimacy with your partner. Having said that, realistically it’s fine to relax with a good book in bed. Many people find that this in itself helps them sleep, myself included. The alternative is to read in another room for a while, perhaps with a relaxing drink, and then continue in bed once you start feeling sleepy. Whilst it’s important to avoid screens, listening to music before bed is a great idea. Preferably not music which is too exciting or emotional though. Everyone loves music, but how often do you take time to do literally nothing but listen to some music? For some ideas of calming music across a range of genres, have a look at this list of the best music to sleep to.
Do you remember the last time you lay in bed thinking something like this: “Oh, I forgot to send that email. I must remember to do it tomorrow. Sometimes thoughts like these can buzz around your head, joined by other worries and reminders from your mental to-do list. A simple and effective trick is to write down your worries and make a to-do list before going to bed. That way you know you won’t forget anything important and you can relax. It’s a good idea to avoid caffeine, alcohol and sugary drinks before bed. But drinking a is a nice way to spend some quiet time, perhaps whilst reading or listening to music. If you find yourself hungry at night it’s ok to have a light snack before bed. Some food is of course better than others late at night. For more about this, have a read of the article discussing . If you find that engaging in spiritual activity brings you peace and clarity of mind, then doing it before getting into bed is an ideal time.
Whether you enjoy reading spiritual literature, praying, doing light yoga or meditating, it can be incorporated into your bedtime routine. Temperature is often overlooked as a factor in sleeping well. Not only is it important to have the right bedroom temperature, there’s another clever trick you can try. It’s based on the following two facts: In the winter months this might happen at night anyway. But if the air temperature is above this range, you can try to lower your bedroom and body temperature by doing the following: If you live with others, then why not spend some time before bed talking or playing a quiet game? If you can, try to resist the temptation to all be using a phone or electronic device in the same room without really talking to one another. And if you sleep with a partner, there may of course be other ways you might want to spend your time together before going to sleep. This is one of the most important points to take away from this article.
It takes most people between 20 and 30 minutes to fall asleep. So if you’re still awake after half an hour, it could be that you’re not quite ready to sleep yet. Most people then lie in bed, getting more and more frustrated. And in the worst case scenario you can end up tossing and turning all night and getting very little sleep. So the key is to get up, go into another room, have dim lighting only and repeat some of your routine. After 15 minutes you can then go back to bed and try to fall asleep again. However, if you feel that you’re wide awake, it might be better to stay up longer until you notice yourself feeling sleepy. Just don’t lie in bed suffering in silence. Do you have a bedtime routine at the moment? Do you repeat the same ritual every night, or just once in a while? Are there any activities here which you think you might like to try? Are there any ideas missing which you think other readers might like to hear about? Feel free to share your ideas in the comments below.