Sleep can be very hard to come by in a home where you have a newborn baby. If you are struggling to get your baby to sleep, then you will also struggle to get sleep and life can seem very tough. From an early age, it is very important to install a set routine for sleep, this will help straight away, but also later on when your child is a little older.
The secret to having a peaceful night’s sleep yourself, is to make sure your child is in a bedtime routine that gives them the understanding of what is expected from them at night.
Start Your Bedtime Routine Early
There is no such thing as putting your children in a routine too early. Start their bedtime routine as soon as you possibly can, and make sure you stick to the routine every single day if it is possible. As you get into the routine, you can afford changes from time to time, but when setting it up, it is important to repeat it day after day.
We started our bedtime routine with our son from when he was around three months old. This allowed us to get early visitors out of the way, and Christmas, so we knew we could really work hard on the routine, without anything getting in the way.
Our routine is as follows:
– 6:15-6:30 Settle down and watch a cartoon while cuddling up with mum or dad.
– 6:30-6:45 Take a warm bath, using the bedtime bath wash that is available.
– 6:45-7:00 Read a book and have a bottle of warm milk, hopefully falling to sleep during this.
We stuck to this routine for weeks, and we very rarely had any trouble putting our son to sleep. We came across a few problems, like when he was teething, or when it was really hot in his room, but apart from that everything went great.
Even from a young age, it is all about association to me. Our son knows that when he settles down to watch a cartoon with us, that it is time to relax and keep quiet. He then knows it is time for the bath, and the bath is also associated with bed time. When we read a book to him and give him his final bottle of milk, he knows that it is time to go to bed and often falls asleep while having his milk.
Of course, from time to time we do have our bad nights, like any parent does, but most of the time our bedtime routine works very well. Starting a routine for bed at a young age is a great idea and in my opinion, something every parent should try to do. We have seen the benefits of this and hopefully you can do the same. You don’t have to do the same as us, or at the same time, just make sure you stick to the same thing day in day out at exactly the same time.