A good bedtime routine is essential for your baby’s sleep
What is your bedtime routine? You should have something like changing to night clothes and movie time or brushing, bathing, listening to music or something else. Likewise, your baby too needs a sleep routine. This will act as a signal for your little one to relax and sleep.
In the initial stages when babies cannot understand words, they can understand actions better. Having a bedtime routine helps babies to learn that it is time for sleep. The bedtime routine should be repetitive in nature. Your baby will get used to the bedtime routine only if the same steps are repeated every night. So, it is important to keep the bedtime routine simple. If it is complicated, you will not be able to follow it daily .
Why is it important to start a bedtime routine?
- A good bedtime routine helps the baby to differentiate between day and night
- It is useful to develop the circadian (24hr biological clock) in your baby
- It is helpful for you and the baby because it allows you both to have a peaceful sleep.
The benefits of developing a good sleep routine are not short living but will last for several years to come.
When can you start the bedtime routine for your baby?
You can start it when your baby is 5-weeks old. Up to five weeks, it is impossible and unnecessary to set a bedtime routine. Six weeks is the ideal time to start developing a sleep routine. However, you can use sleep aids right from the first week. Sleep aids like a baby shusherand baby lavender balmcan be of great help. The Sleep Helper ™ kit from Nasobuddy contains a baby shusher, a colic swaddle belt and a baby lavender balm. All threehelp in calming and helping your baby to sleep.
Some points to remember:
- Follow the same order of events
- Keep the atmosphere calm and dark. Dimming the lights will help your baby to learn night from day
- Keep voices low
- Make sure the routine suits you, your baby, and the whole family.
- It is better to start the routine at the same time every day but don’t stress if you are a little late. Bedtime routine is for you to relax and not to add stress.
What is a good bedtime routine?
There are a few things that you can add in your bedtime routine. They are listed below. You can include a few, skip a few, or develop a routine of your own. It is left for you to decide.
- A warm bath followed by massage– Give a relaxing warm bath and gently massage baby’s chest and back.
- Feeding – Feeding after giving bath because feeding before bath can cause digestion issues.
- Massage – A gentle massage with lavender essential oil is not only one of the best sleeping routines but also has other benefits. It tightens the bond between you and the baby and also helps to treat colic and gas. Theayurvedic Baby Lavender Balm in the sleep helper kit is best suited for this.
- Dress baby appropriately for sleep.
- You can sing a lullaby but remember singing the same song is important in the initial stages to set a bedtime routine.
- You can play white noise froma baby shusher. The white noise that you use should be soft and relaxing. The baby shusher in the Sleep Helper ™ kit from Nasobuddy produces sounds that resemble the sounds of the womb.
- As your baby gets older you can start reading stories.
A good bedtime routine will put an end to your bedtime miseries but you should be patient with your efforts. Don’t expect instant magic. Adding sleep aids like Sleep Helper ™ kit from Nasobuddywill be of great help to you. Learn more about the sleep helper kit here.