A bedtime
routine
for your baby is unmissable. Fun and easy to
do, the recognisable sleep
routine effectively helps your baby with
winding down,
self soothing and settling for better sleep.
It is one of the basics to help your baby sleep through the
night.
A mathematician's bedtime routine
A story about
David Hilbert, a professor of mathematics at the University of
Goettingen.
One night ... there was a party to be
held at Hilbert's house. Just as the first guests were arriving,
Hilbert's wife noticed that her husband's shirt was soiled; she quickly
sent him off to put on a clean one. In response to her request, Hilbert
went upstairs.
After 20 minutes or more had passed,
he still had not returned. The guests were milling about waiting for
him. Somewhat concerned, Mrs. Hilbert went up to the bedroom. There she
found the great mathematician peacefully tucked into his bed, fast
asleep.
"You see", explained his friend, "it
was a natural sequence of things. He took off his coat, then his tie,
then his shirt, and so on, and went to sleep.". Most of us are not so
susceptible to the cues that signal our bedtime, but we do
become conditioned to the natural sequence of our own routine and it
does assist us in falling asleep.
Taken from Sleep
Thieves by S. Coren - ISBN 0684823047
A bedtime ritual or routines is a set of actions and words
you do with and say to your child at each bedtime.
Your
baby learns to
associate these with sleep and that is enough for her body to get ready
for it.
Good
bedtime routines (see below) are
simple and recognisable, quiet and pleasant, and you are
consistently
sticking to it.
You can start this from the first weeks with your
newborn baby and you will continue to do it to help your toddler
sleep.
Your
baby's bedtime routine will evolve as she grows.
Easy settling for sleep with a routine is just as
valuable for growing up kids and adults actually.
It is
one of the many things one learns
from sleep research. The anecdote in the box says it all ...
An
example of a baby sleep routine
As one simple example, your winding down sleep routine
can be
like this:
announcing bed time
-
to the
bathroom to change nappies, softly talking about the nice sleep coming
up
-
extra hug for the sleepy baby
-
walking
past and showing a picture on the wall
-
saying goodnight to a
favourite toy
-
lullaby
-
putting down and then "good night, sleep tight"...
This is just one, typical, bed time routine but it
can be any set of similar quiet things you and your baby like to do.
A good bedtime routine is ...
Always the
same
Since your baby must recognise the routine, it
must naturally be the same each time. Hmm, I even sang exactly the same
lullaby for almost a year (because it worked once and I didn't
want to
change a winning team) ...
You can of course vary with different lullaby
songs, as long as
the routine is recognisable to your baby.
Not too
long, not too short
Too short and your baby will not easily
recognise the routine.
Too long and getting baby to bed will
become a chore.
Relaxing and
pleasant for baby and for you
Make the bedtime routine a quiet moment you
can both enjoy.
Hugging and holding her close, talking and singing
softly, ... It helps you both wind down and relax and leaves your baby
feeling
relaxed and ready for sleep.
Guided by
you, without hesitating
Also here, be determined. There is a clear
ending to the routine, don't let your child stretch it. As
she grows
older, towards one year and above, she may try to extend this pleasant
time. Saying goodnight to another toy. And another one. Asking for a
second song ...
If you go along in this, it becomes more
difficult to end the routine and start her sleeping. Avoid giving her
choices as well, like choosing the lullaby. It can take a looooong time
before you agree on a song ...
Any thing she asks about, simply tell her
"yes, we'll do that later on", and finish the routine as usual.
Of course also here you can experiment, and by
all means include more
flexibility if your baby still settles well.
A bedtime routine is the
best start of any nap and night. The
recognisable cues help your baby, also physically, get ready for sleep.
There's never any magic of course, and having a
routine is not a guarantee that your baby will sleep. But it is one of
the many tricks that help towards the best sleep she can have right now.
