As creatures of habit, babies tend to naturally establish a routine in their daily activities. From mealtimes to bath times, their body clock adjusts to the activities that they do during a particular time of the day. This characteristic is particularly helpful in establishing your baby’s bedtime habits. Enabling your child to sleep at the same hour of the day or night should give you enough time to spend quality time alone or do other activities, hobbies or chores.

The best time to establish your baby’s sleeping routine is as soon as possible. Some may argue to wait until your baby grows older. Actually, introducing your baby to a regular sleeping schedule early on enables you to predict his rest or sleeping hours with greater precision. This way, you will be able to make more convenient schedules for bathing, feeding or going out. Even as you travel, helping your baby sleep during the same hours of the day will keep him pacified through the entire trip.

During his/her waking hours, allow your baby to expend all his/her energy through play and other physical activities. The idea is to make your baby tired enough to fall asleep. One way of introducing your baby to a sleep routine is by following his activities with some relaxing cool down activities that will help him/her fall asleep. Just remember that during cool down time, refrain from doing anything that may stimulate or get your baby excited.

Once your baby managed to relax, treat him/her to a nice bath. This should further establish a calming and soothing effect on your baby. You may use baby washes with lavender and other relaxing essences to bring about a sense of sleepiness. This can work on most babies. However, there are babies that respond differently with bath time. Some babies get too excited to be in the water, which of course defies the idea of “relaxing bath time”.

Another trick you can follow is doing quite games before tucking your baby to bed. Join your baby in some downtime play like building blocks or peek-a-boo. You may also try reading children’s books during your baby’s bedtime. This will not only develop and enhance language skills but also help build a good vocabulary.

Babies love lullabies, especially when sang by their parents. Playing soothing music in the background and singing soft lullabies always work in calming babies. In most cultures, singing lullabies to babies is an age old tradition. Exposing your baby to classical symphonies, nature music and other forms of relaxing music is helpful in developing his/her creativity and imagination. Playing soothing music or singing some lullaby allows your baby to associate it with sleeping time. So, before you run out of lullabies to sing or before your CD runs out of tracks to play, your baby will soon be asleep.

Associating some bedtime rituals with sleeping time is also helpful in establishing regular sleeping hours for your baby. For instance, some parents love tucking or cuddling their babies before putting them to bed. This will not only foster a strong bond and attachment between parent and child but also bring soothing comfort that will help the baby fall asleep. Some parents allow their baby to sleep with his/her favorite comfort toy like a doll or teddy bear. Allow your child to say good night to you, to your other children and to his/her favorite toys before sleeping to bring about a sense of security in your baby. Just remember to remove the dolls and teddies the moment your baby falls asleep to avoid baby sleeping accidents such suffocation and choking.

There are more ways to introduce your baby to a bedtime routine. Be creative enough to find the best soothing and relaxing technique that works for your baby. Don’t be afraid to do try other tricks and techniques. Remember that your baby roots for you and that your touch, attention and voice are sometimes enough to keep them relaxed, secure and cosy enough to fall asleep.