Establishing a routine
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Babies learn best through routine and this is the age when baby is ready to get into the habit of eating and sleeping according to a fairly consistent timetable. The best way to accomplish the challenge of getting your baby to go to bed at a regular time is to follow a well organised day with a consistent bedtime routine. A bedtime routine can include all or some of the following: bath, feed, story, massage, cuddle, lullaby. It culminates with the baby in her place for sleep on her own or with you. A little trial and error is needed to see which techniques relax your baby. In time you will develop a unique bedtime ritual of your own but you should follow this advice:
• Set a bedtime and try and keep it as consistent as possible. Bedtimes can vary from as early as 7pm to as late as 9pm. Your lifestyle and work commitments may determine this for you. The important factor is consistency. Don’t set a late bedtime thinking baby will get exhausted and sleep right through. This is bad news and usually doesn’t work. She’s far more likely just to get overtired.
• Try and make the elements of the routine come in the same order: babies love predictability and will be much calmer if there are no surprises.
• Also try and make sure it’s practical. There’s not much point in having a routine that’s easy to follow at times and difficult at others.
