Easing Your Baby onto a Routine

There are lots of exciting milestones in a baby’s first few months of life. One of the more exciting milestones that we see around this 6-8 week mark is a baby’s first social smile. Those first smiles make it all worth it! You know those first spontaneous smiles that aren’t caused by gas and aren’t happening while they’re asleep - they’re actually just so delighted to see you.

Along with those first smiles, this is when we typically see sleep become a little bit more organised, day/night confusion begins to dissipate and we see some much-needed longer stretches of sleep at night time. As a child sleep consultant, this is a great time that I recommend beginning to establish a healthy foundation for sleep by paying attention to a baby’s sleepy cues and practicing a gentle routine. 

How can we do this? Putting your baby to sleep in the bassinet or the cot is a great place to start. A cot can often feel cavernous to such a tiny baby so a top tip is to place your baby’s feet in the corner so they don’t feel like they’re in such a giant space. This is also a great time to implement a bedtime and a bedtime routine. It’s likely that bedtime will move and change and it will certainly be very flexible in the early months, but practicing a routine can help your baby to recognise that sleep is coming. A simple routine could look like having a bath, moisturising your baby’s skin, dressing them for sleep, and singing a song before placing them in their cot. We want to begin to reduce the use of props to help the baby get to sleep, things like soothers, etc. as we don’t want the baby to rely on anything external to fall asleep. 

Throughout both day and night, keep a lookout for your baby exhibiting sleepy cues. And always keep in mind how long your baby can stay awake which at the 8-week mark is 45 minutes to 1 hour. What do these sleepy cues look like? They’re really the same things that we do when we’re tired, babies will begin to zone out or stare off into space, and their eyes or the skin around their eyes and eyebrows will turn red. As they get progressively more tired they will begin to rub around their eyes or grab on or swipe at their ears, and will begin turning their head side to side. Pay attention to these early cues and bring your baby to a conducive sleep environment. 

Just like our baby gives us cues that they are ready to sleep, we can give them cues that sleep is coming. These cues can include swaddling, putting them in a baby sleeping bag, using white noise, etc. Remember that it is our job to provide the environment for your baby to fall asleep and it is completely outside of our control how long they will sleep for. We can do all we can to encourage them to return to sleep at night by keeping the room dark. Conversely, during the day between naps ensure to expose your baby to natural light and allow them opportunities to explore the world around them. As your baby begins to draw closer to the 16-week mark, the period that they can stay awake for in-between naps will start to lengthen and their circadian rhythm will begin to develop. You might begin to notice your baby waking at a similar time each day, or needing their first nap of the day at the same time in the morning. This is when you can begin to ease your little one onto a clock based schedule. If you are ever struggling with implementing a gentle routine or schedule for your baby, please reach out for help. As a child sleep consultant, this is my area of expertise and I’m always happy to speak with you. See below for further information on the packages I offer.

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