Nap and Night Routines

I’m often asked about nap and night routines, so I thought I’d write a little about the importance of both- what the routines look like and why we need to have them. I’ll point out here that there really shouldn’t be one or the other. A solid nighttime routine and a solid nap time routine is essential to encourage good sleep habits for your baby. Let’s take a look at how we can achieve this.

Nighttime routines

A good nighttime routine acts as your baby’s cue for sleep. This is 100% the reason why it’s so important and something that all families need to get on top of as quickly as possible. I usually recommend that families start their routine from around 12 weeks. That said, it IS possible to have a good nighttime routine from day one! Even newborn babies can adapt quickly to a good nighttime routine, and if you have other children, it might work well to fit baby in with your existing routine anyway. Just bear in mind that newborn babies can be unpredictable, so don’t stress if they don’t slot into your routine straight away!

The key thing about having a consistent nighttime routine is that your child will know that sleep is coming, which is vital when teaching good sleep habits—being consistent with your routine means that you do the same thing, in the same place and in the same order each and every night at bedtime. Consistently. If you share bedtime duties with someone else, then make sure that they’re on board with the routine too. It’s this predictability that your child will rely on at bedtime to act as their sleep cue- and you don’t want to break that! When babies are faced with a predictable situation, such as a good solid bedtime routine night after night with consistency, they naturally feel more relaxed and calm. And THAT is the state we like them to be in at bedtime!

How long should your bedtime routine take?

A good routine should take between 30 and 45 minutes each night, which is significantly longer than you would take at nap times. The reason for this is that you’re preparing your child for a longer stretch of sleep (hopefully!), and actually, there is more to do at bedtime too. For example, a good routine for your child may involve a bath, a story and a feed. Bear in mind that some children get very excited at bath time, so you might want to skip this at bedtime! If you don’t do bath time at bedtime, or you do it every other night or just twice a week, then your bedtime routine would start after bath time. So that’s when you would need to start the predictability of the order of events that follow. At this point, you could introduce a massage as part of your bedtime routine, which is a great way to help some children to relax and get ready for sleep. It’s interesting to point out that studies have found that children who have a 15-minute massage before bed generally sleep better. Worth knowing!

If you find that you’ve done your bath, you’ve had a massage, and you still have time left to fill, then you can have a little playtime here. Choose activities which are calm, keep the lights dim and voices soft. This can be tricky with children who are a little older, so as always, use our judgement here and adapt your routine according to your child’s temperament. Playing with your child before bed can be a really lovely way to end the day and an excellent bonding opportunity too. And, of course, I always recommend books as part of the bedtime routine.

An important note here is that the 30-45 minute routine is everything that happens before you start to work on getting your child to sleep.

Naptime routines

The nap time routine needs to be similar to the nighttime routine, but it should take less time to complete. This routine should take between10 and 15 minutes maximum, especially for younger babies with more than one nap a day. Again, consistency is the key here as we want your child to feel just as relaxed with the predictability as they are at bedtime. So the routine should be the same thing, in the same order and in the same place (if possible) for each and every nap- just like at bedtime.

So your nap routine could be something as simple as reading a story, closing the curtains and putting your child into bed as long as it’s the same thing every day. That said, don’t worry if you’re out and about at nap time. It’s ok for your child to sleep on the go on days like this, and if you can’t complete your routine wherever you are, that’s ok. Having consistency at home is the key. This will help your child be relaxed, calm, and ready for sleep, and this is vital for good naps!