Hi, this is Jessica Sawicki of Luli Sleep Consulting. And today on the Sleepy Q’s podcast, we’ll be talking about routines. So routines, not to be confused with schedule. What is a routine? A routine is basically a predictable sequence of events that you consistently follow in the same order every single day and every single night. Routines really help ease the transition from playtime to sleep time. It really helps the child know what’s coming up ahead, which causes a lot of security, comfort and calmness, as they prepare for bed. Consistent routines also really help for a better night’s sleep.
What is a sleep routine?
So, what are we talking about when we talk about routines? It’s that one-on-one time. Those few minutes right before your child goes to sleep; that wind down, period. Why is it so important? The repetitive nature of a parent doing the exact same thing over and over again before bed, before nap, really help cue your child’s brain and body that it’s time to go to sleep.
A good bedtime routine really helps soothe them, calm them, and get them ready for sleep. And it also helps them develop good sleep habits for now, and even later in the future. They thrive on that familiarity, just like at school. At preschool they have snack time, have play time, they have circle time, same thing.
We want to have a familiar routine, before we put our child to sleep so that they know it’s time to go to sleep. That familiar routine causes your child’s brain to start producing melatonin, set the tone, and get them sleepy and ready for bed.
What time to start your routine
It is suggested to start a bedtime routine 30 to 45 minutes before going to sleep. Now, it depends on how long it takes you to do the whole routine, but you want to make sure that you are done with the routine by the time it is time for them to go into bed.
So you don’t want to start the routine at the time that they should be in bed, when they should be sleeping. You want to kind of work your way back and figure, if they need to be in bed by seven, I need to finish my routine by seven. So maybe I start that routine between 6:00 and 6:15, and then I’ll be done by seven.
What should your routine look like?
Now, how can you do a routine? The best routine that I like to suggest is one called the four B’s. Bath. Bottle or breast. Book. And then bed. So let’s talk about each. The first one is, bath. I know a lot of parents don’t necessarily bathe their newborn every single day.
And that’s fine. You don’t necessarily have to do a bath. As they get older, I’m sure they’ll get a bath everyday cause they’re getting really dirty. So a bath should be first, and then comes the feed; a bottle or a breast. Once your child is 12 months or older, in this case it would be a sippy cup.
Then comes the book. The book is great! It’s a great way to spend one-on-one time with your child, to increase that vocabulary, but it also ensures that your child is not asleep before they enter their sleep space. This will be very crucial when you start the same training.
And then the last B; bed, sleep space, crib, bed, whatever it is .
So the four B’s; bath bottle or breast, book, and then bed. That’s the bedtime routine. What would the nap routine look like? Samething, but just half. Only two B’s: book and then bed. So we’re not going to do a bath every time they take a nap. And most babies don’t need a bottle or breast right before going to sleep.
So you’re left with the book and bed part of the nap routine. So a few minutes before nap time, you’ll go into their room, set up the sleep space. Turn off the lights, close the shades, get your child ready for the nap. Read a few books, turn off the lights, sing a song. And then into the bed awake.
The best part of it all is that anyone can do a nap and a bedtime routine. Mommy, daddy, grandma, nanny, anyone can do it.
What age to start bedtime routines
When should you start those bedtime routine? I strongly suggest starting it as early as a newborn stage; six to eight weeks. Babies can begin to appreciate a bedtime routine that early, because this is when they start to recognize patterns.
You want to keep the routine all through their childhood years, preschool, years. You’ll just do a few modifications. So for instance, you might not do a bath right before bed. But they’ll take a bath, they’ll have some wind down play time, and then when it’s time to go to sleep, we brush our teeth and we go into bed and then we read our books and then we go to sleep. So my three boys, my six, 10 and 12 year old, they’ll take a bath, they’ll play. And then when it’s time to go to sleep, they brush their teeth, they get into bed, and they each take their book and they read for a few minutes and then lights off and go to sleep.
The one suggestion I would stay clear from are those screens. I strongly, strongly suggest against those screens before bedtime. So no iPads, no phones, no TVs. They’re not ideal before bed. It is suggested to turn off all screens, 30 minutes to an hour before bed.
So a few tips:
- Make sure that you choose the bedtime activities wisely. You definitely don’t want anything that is too stimulating.
- You want to create a calming environment in your child’s room before they go to sleep. So close those shades for both nap at night, turn on those noise machines, make it dark once it’s time to go to sleep.
- For the younger ones, make sure that they have a good feed, whether it’s bottle or a breast, make sure that they have gotten their full feed.
- Make sure you limit distractions
- And make sure you’re consistent with bedtime.
