SolveYourProblem
eLearning Series:
A Proud Parent's Guide To
Your Newborn Baby's First Year
(
17 pages )
How
To Establish Your Baby's Bedtime Routine
There are many
ways that you can establish the bedtime routine. Here are
some tips and ideas for bedtime routines that you might
want to consider:
- Start the
bedtime routine with a bath, some cuddle time, a song
or story, a feeding, more cuddling, and then bed.
- Sing a soothing
lullaby just before you put your baby to bed.
- Try to do
things in the same order, with the same people involved,
at that same time each night so that you create a pattern
that your baby will recognize as a pre-sleep routine.
- Make sure
the lights are low and dim. You want to make your baby
recognize that when it’s dark, it’s time to sleep.
- Make sure
that whatever routine you set up for you and your baby
that there is a finality to it at the end. Your baby
should learn that when you put him into bed, no matter
how pleasant the bedtime routine has been, that it’s
time to sleep. Give him some time to fuss.
Number five
in the above list is a very important point to remember
when it comes to establishing your bedtime routine. If
you cuddle your baby, lay down with him, or sing to him
one more time after you have put him to bed, he will come
to expect that anytime he isn’t ready for sleep all he
has to do is fuss and the pleasure of being rocked will
be his again. You are not trying to play a game of control
with him or deny him your affection after he has been put
into bed. After all, it’s normal for him to want to be
with you. What you are trying to do is make him understand
that after the bedtime routine is complete, it is time
to sleep.
A quick note
on nighttime feedings. If you are
feeding your baby during the night you won’t be able to
establish that bedtime routine. If your baby needs to have
a feeding at night, you may have to delay a good sleeping
pattern until he is ready to stop feeding during the night.
Most babies stop feeding during the night around five to
six months.
Lullabies
Still
on the subject of sleep, but on the more entertaining
side: Lullabies. Using music to lull and soothe your baby
to
sleep can be an enjoyable experience for both of you.
The Lullaby,
or Cradle Song, has been around for centuries. Whether
you are singing Brahm’s Lullaby or stumbling through a
tune from Sesame Street, what matters is that you are using
the power of music and your voice to communicate with your
baby. Singing a lullaby at some point during baby’s nighttime
routine will settle him down and prepare him of the stillness
of sleep.
There is so
much more that can be covered under the “sleep” topic when
it comes to your baby. You will have to establish your
own nighttime rules by trial and error. As your baby grows
older you will find that his sleep patterns are constantly
changing. What you will have established with the use of
baths and lullabies are certain characteristics that can
be adapted to whatever nighttime routine you come up with
to fit to your baby’s age and needs. With a lot of patience
and love you will able to make it through the ever-changing
world of baby’s sleep.
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