Baby Bedtime Routine

People always ask how we get Zac to sleep through the night. The truth is he has always been a pretty good sleeper, even from newborn he usually went straight back to sleep after a bottle in the night. From around 5 weeks old his sleep routine was 10pm-4am-6am and then from 6 weeks old he slept through from 10pm-6am. Now at 6 months old, he sleeps 7pm-7am. I know I’m going to have a lot of mums rolling their eyes right now, like we have no clue how good we have it, but I know how lucky we are! Although, I don’t just put this down to luck, we have always had such a strict routine and I think this has really helped!

Our bedtime routine starts at around 6:30pm.

We start by giving Zac a bubble bath. He absolutely loves bath time and it is just getting even more fun the older he gets. The bath helps to tire him out as he kicks and splashes away, while at the same time being calming and relaxing. We use the Childs Farm baby bedtime bubbles and baby wash. They smell incredible and are great for Zac’s skin. Eczema runs in our family so I was always worried about Zac’s skin being sensitive. I’d seen so many amazing stories about Childs Farm products helping to improve and help soothe eczema prone skin.

After his bath we dry him off and then I give him a nice relaxing massage as I moisturise his skin. I love the Child’s Farm moisturiser, its always been so good for Zac’s skin and keeps it feeling baby soft! Baby massage can be a great bonding time too, we sing songs and rhymes while we do it like “this little piggy”.

After his massage we dress him in his fresh pyjamas and he has his bottle. We use MAM bottles as they are anti-colic and found that Zac brings up his wind really well when using them. This helps to make sure that he is comfortable and can sleep well after.

From a few weeks old we started the tradition of reading a bedtime story. I want to encourage Zac to read and hope this tradition sticks ! I love reading him his story, its a nice, calm, bonding time at the end of the day, where we can snuggle up together. I think it also helps him to recognise that this means its now time to calm down and get ready for bed.

After his story we have a little kiss and cuddle and then we put Zac into bed with his taggy comforter. We make sure his room is ready with the lights off and his sensory projector on. His night light projector has helped to get me lots of extra sleep over the months! Zac will lay there watching the lights until he falls asleep, and if he wakes up early he will watch them for quite some time until he starts making noise and wanting to get out of bed.

We put Zac in a sleeping bag as he is a proper little fidget bum and so kicks absolutely everything off! By using sleeping bags I can make sure he stays warm and cozy all night and doesn’t wake up by getting too chilly. I love the Mama designs Babasac, they are really soft and well made … and they come in some gorgeous designs. But to top it off they convert from a 1 tog sleeping bag to a 2.5 tog … therefore saving money as you don’t have to buy different sleeping bags for different seasons. Clever aye!

Finally one of our best bedtime products, which I think has helped the most with Zac sleeping through the night is his Myhummy bear ! This is a white noise sleeping aid. But not just any sleeping aid, it has a sensor so if Zac stirs in the night it starts playing again, to send him back off to sleep. We were bought this as a gift and it is honestly one of the best gifts we have received! I really believe this is one of the reasons he has always been such a good sleeper.

So that is our baby bedtime routine! There is no miracle secret to sleeping through the night, every baby is different, but this is what works for us. I think routine and structure is key. Babies learn best through repetitive behaviours, having a routine and familiar sounds and surroundings, helps them to recognise that it is bed time.

I hope this may have helped some of you to establish a routine and maybe get a little more sleep!

Bye for now,