Get that Perfect Bedtime Routine for Your Baby

A baby’s bedtime is most crucial, as it decides the end to his day. That is why, it has to be seen that it becomes as comforting as possible for your baby. To make this happen, get the right mix of fun and relaxing activities so that the baby dozes off to sleep effortlessly.

Why Should You Set a Bedtime Routine for Your Baby?

It is advantageous for both the parents and the baby if you set a routine at bedtime for him or her. Not only does it help to establish a unique bond between the child and parent but it also gets the baby’s mind and body used to a set pattern, so that sleep comes to him automatically. This will be particularly helpful if you are not around to put him off to sleep or you are in new surroundings, wherein the changed environment will not affect his sleep pattern.

How Do You Set a Bedtime Routine?

There are a few ways and means by which you can put your baby to sleep at night, with no great efforts on each one’s part. I have found them particularly useful and hope that you too would feel the same. Some of 
them are enumerated as follows:

·         Selection Of Activities

Before setting a routine, you need to decide what will be the activities going into it. It is advisable to choose those, which soothe the mind rather than excite it. From my experience, over excitement can drive your baby’s sleep away.

·         Provide Outlet for Stored Energy

An outlet has to be provided to your baby to expel all his excess energy. I have observed that it is best if you bounce your child on a bouncer or on your knees or let him have a ride on his toy horse. Once you realize he is cooling off, change to a more relaxing activity.

·         Give a Good, Warm Bath

Your baby gets a good ache reliever through a nice, warm bath and if you add some drops of aromatic oils which you feel suitable for your child, it could enhance the calming effect on your baby. However if you realize that your baby is not geared for a bath at night, then you can drop this from your bedtime routine.

·         Have a Quiet Sitting Game

You and your baby can have some fun, playing any of his favorite sitting games. They could range from anything like building blocks or any other floor game.

·         Reading Aloud

This is one of the must haves in any baby’s bedtime ritual. The baby learns new words and if you get phonetics to be included in your stories, he learns new sounds. Moreover it also takes him to a different world altogether. I still have a couple of my childhood stories with me, as permanent memories.

·         Singing Lullaby

You can use this technique to speed up the sleeping process of your baby. If you make this a regular feature, then the end of the song signals the baby to close his eyes and go off to sleep.

·         Saying Good Night

Before your baby closes his eyes, you can make a practice to bid good night to all his favorite toys and you can add additional items of your choice like the other members of your family as well as all his stuffed toys. This will help the baby to familiarize with the different items in the house and know their names.
Get your baby used to this bedtime routine and you will have no cause for regret.