How would you like if your baby went to bed earlier, stayed asleep longer and had less nighttime wakings? Having a newborn bedtime routine can do exactly that. Now the question is, when should you start a newborn bedtime routine? 4-6 weeks is a great time to start a newborn routine. Let’s dive into why 4-6 weeks is a great option and what to include in your newborn bedtime routine.
And by the way, CONGRATULATIONS on becoming a parent! The greatest job in the world, but sometimes the most sleepless. However, by starting a newborn bedtime routine, you can help your child fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer and decrease nighttime wakings. I’m not saying your newborn will be sleeping through the night, because they won’t. They have too many needs to be met to sleep 12 hours a night, but it will help with the number of times they wake as well as length of sleep stretches.
A bedtime routine is especially important to children because it is a time of day that parents are present with their children.
Wake Windows + Your Newborn Bedtime Routine
Here’s a chart that shows wake windows for your newborn. To say that a routine should be started at 4-6 weeks does not mean you can’t start one earlier. The only issue that comes up is that you just may not have time for everything you need to do. When your newborn is only 2 weeks old, their wake windows are only 30 minutes long. During that window you have to feed (which can sometimes take up the entire window!), change a diaper, etc. That might mean your time has reached 30 minutes and you don’t have time to do infant massage or a tub.
At 2-4 weeks, wake windows are elongated to 30-45 minutes, but again, may not be long enough for everything you need to do. Also, based off your family’s schedule with other siblings, it may not be feasible to fit everything in. Again, you can absolutely start a newborn bedtime routine, but to have a consistent newborn bedtime routine is the most important factor in order to see results. Consistent meaning at least 4 days a week, will give you the best outcome. Again, it does not mean that you should wait until 4 weeks, it just means that at 4 weeks, you can see tangible benefits from doing your bedtime routine.
Now your baby is 4-6 weeks old and your wake windows have lengthened to 45 minutes to about 65 minutes. You have enough time to feed or give a bath, infant massage, etc. You can implement this CONSISTENTLY as mentioned for at least 4 days a week which is going to give you the best outcomes. Let’s discuss what to include in a newborn bedtime routine and why it’s important.
What to Include in a Newborn Bedtime Routine
Let’s discuss the time of bedtime first. If your newborn is 0-6 weeks, bedtime is 8:00-10:00pm. After your baby grows and is now 6-12 weeks, bedtime shifts to 8:00-9:00pm. This just means that your newborn bedtime routine will start earlier along with an earlier bedtime. The four pillars of a solid bedtime routine include nutrition, hygiene, communication and physical touch. Here’s a mock routine for you and your newborn;
- Bath
- Lotion (with infant massage)
- Read
- Cuddle/rock
- Feed
- Sing
Nutrition
Nutrition in your newborn’s bedtime routine includes a bottle feeding or breastfeeding session. A feeding before bed improves physical health, proper growth as well as illness prevention. Having a feed during your bedtime routine also promotes a parent-child bonding/attachment. In terms of illness prevention, breastfeeding has been shown to prevent illness from the antibodies shared with infant. By bottle feeding, you can easily switch the caregiver who does the routine allowing mom to rest.
Babies have a few needs to be met in order to have a good night sleep. Hunger is one that can deter your little one from falling or staying asleep. A newborn is fed so frequently so having a feed in a bedtime routine makes sense. A full belly first and then bedtime!
Hygiene
Hygiene for newborns includes a bath and oral care. Oral care might sound silly, but it’s never too early to start. Oral care in a routine provides good oral hygiene, but keeping a positive association with oral care is most important. Are you wondering how the heck to do oral care with a newborn?
A simple way to do oral care on your newborn,
1.) Cradle your baby with one arm
2.) Wrap a moist washcloth around your finger from your free hand
3.) Massage baby’s gums
Bathing and oral care can help prevent illness and disease. Bathing can help with regulating temperature as well as gas exchange and hydration. There are many ways to do a bath for your newborn so you can find what works for you. A kitchen sink, a plastic tub or just your tub with an infant seat are a few different ways.
Communication
Communication activities during bedtime routines includes reading and singing. Reading aloud to children is associated with language development, earlier ability to read and write as well as positive intellectual ability. Now, is your newborn going to be singing the ABCs? Ofcourse not. However, if reading is consistently included in your bedtime routine at an early age, the easier it is to continue with that through early childhood.
A child’s brain grows and develops exponentially the first three years which makes the communication component so important. Frequent high-quality interactions around reading and singing have been shown to prove early literacy and cognitive development. With that being said, reading and singing is not only important just during a bedtime routine. One easy way to make reading more easily accessible is to scatter books throughout your house. Your living room, playroom, bedroom, bathroom, you name it! Put books everywhere because the more you see them, the easier it is to just pick one up and read with your child. Reading has a snowball effect for positive outcomes and the earlier the better. Newborns are visually developing so high contrast books at such a young age are a great option.
When it comes to singing and lullabies, there is a link to a positive parent-child attachment. It has also shown to help children with early literacy, specifically with how words sound. Your voice is a voice your baby has heard for 9 months so hearing it may lull them to bed can be the most comforting thing to them. It allows parents to be emotionally available and therefore can promote secure relationships and helps with coregulation. Lastly, singing and lullabies with babies at bedtime can decrease child arousal and increase relaxation.
Physical Contact
A few different ways to include physical touch in your newborn’s bedtime routine include massage, cuddling and rocking your child. Physical contact helps with parent-child bonding, a better mood for your little one and better sleep (yay!).
Infant massage can be an incredible addition to your bedtime routine. It can decrease cortisol and increase dopamine in your baby, which is just a fancy way of saying, it decreases stress and increases your baby’s mood. Massage also allows moms to understand and respond to her baby’s cues, which can be tricky to figure out especially when sleep deprived.
Cuddling and rocking is another great way to involve physical contact in your newborn bedtime routine. This allows a parent to be emotionally available and therefore helps a parent understand and respond to your newborn’s cues. Just the same as infant massage, cuddling and rocking can decrease bedtime arousal and promote relaxation. To reiterate, as long as mom or dad is emotionally available while rocking or cuddling, the benefit of better sleep still stands. This is a good time to be reminded that time is a thief and if it means that checking out of the crazy busy world and being present during a bedtime routine, then allow yourself.
Conclusion
To conclude, newborn routines are the foundation for your child’s sleep habits. You can start it right away, but more specifically will be beneficial around 4-6 weeks. Now you know the four categories that make up a newborn bedtime routine are nutrition, hygiene, communication and physical touch. Each section serves its own purpose and a big purpose at that. A bedtime routine implemented at such a young age is helpful for parents to keep their brains organized. Furthermore, the consistency of a routine with a newborn will make a smooth transition to a routine during toddlerhood where it’s even more important and we can physically see the benefits.
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If you have a newborn and have questions about their sleep, please reach out. I’m more than happy to help any way I can. My email is clementineparent2020@gmail.com