Baby Bedtime Routine Example

Hello and Happy Sunday!

This week is all about packing, packing, packing, and getting ready to fly out to MN to visit family next weekend! I have been going over what I will need to pack for Aria in my head for a couple of week now, so it is just a matter of getting it all packed up! This will be Aria’s first airplane ride! I will admit, I am very nervous! I read that baby’s can experience a lot of pain when their ears clog up, so I am going to have a bottle ready to go! Our flight is in the afternoon, usually when she takes her longest nap, so fingers crossed she will sleep through it!

Ever since Aria was just two weeks old we have done the exact same bedtime routine with her. At 6pm it starts and by 7pm she is drifting off to sleep. I think that because of this, she is such a good sleeper at night! She has ALWAYS slept through the night, and I know how lucky we are for that! This next baby will probably be the opposite lol! I hope not! I will do the same bedtime routine with this new little angel too, and let you all know if that makes a difference! Either way, Aria knows when it is bedtime, and is yawning and rubbing her eyes by the time the routine is finished, every. single. time.

SO! Today I am sharing my secrets, and delving all the details on the steps we take to get Aria ready for bed each and every night! Enjoy!

So at 6pm every night, or within minutes of that time, I take Aria upstairs to her room. I immediately strip her down to her diaper and put her into her crib to play while I run her bath. I usually turn on her mobile and give her one of her favorite stuffed animals or teething toys. She knows once she hears the bath water running that her bath time is coming soon so she is always happy and babbling. So cute! She loves bath time!

Once the bath is all ready to go, I go into her room and turn down the lights, turn on the night light, white noise machine, and cool mist humidifier (This is so important to keep her from getting a dry throat, stuffed up, or have trouble breathing!). This sets the room to a soothing mood for when she gets out of the tub. I also put on sleep baby sleep radio on pandora, and play this soothing music while she takes her bath.

Once the mood is all set, I grab Aria from her crib and take off her diaper and put her straight into the bathtub.

I usually let her splash and play for about ten minutes and I just sit by and watch her and talk to her. After she wears herself out a bit I begin washing her up. I always tell her what part of the body I am washing as I go along in hopes that it will help her to learn. Plus it makes her giggle so it is worth it just for that!

After her bath is all done, I take her into her now dim and soothed room, and begin drying her off. I try to make sure the room is warm so she doesn’t feel cold either. Next I always, always massage her whole body down with baby lotion mixed with a tiny drop of lavender essential oil. This is not only soothing and relaxing, but it helps her to loosen up from the days activities and helps her muscles to grow and be strong. The lavender of course helps to lull her into a sleepy state.

Following the massage, we put on her diaper and clean out her nose and ears. I use a Q-tip for both of these because I feel they do the best job. I know not everyone agrees with this method, but it is just what works best for me. She actually loves getting her ears cleaned out, its so funny! She goes “ahhhh…” teehee! Then I put on her PJs!

By this time she is rubbing her eyes and yawning already.

We brush her hair and then head downstairs to say her goodnight to daddy while I make her bedtime bottle. At about ten to 7pm I am heading back upstairs to rocking Aria in her rocking chair, wrapped up in her favorite fuzzy blanket, and she sips her bottle while I read her a bedtime story! Within those ten minutes she is asleep! I simply lay her down right before she drifts off into a deep sleep, and there she lays until about 6am in the morning!

Of course there are nights that are not perfect, but this routine has been exactly what I have done with her since she was just two weeks old. Never once have I skipped her bath! I truly believe that keeping this same routine has taught her what bed time is, and trained her to sleep so good through the night! I hope this is helpful to some of you mommies out there! If you have any special routines that you follow I would love to hear about them! I will be honest and say that nap times are certainly not as easy!

SHOP THIS POST