Calming Bedtime Routine for Your Baby

What’s the secret to your child getting a good night’s sleep? A consistent bedtime routine! A series of calming activities lets kids wind down, and keeping it consistent helps them anticipate what’s coming and learn how to self soothe. A bedtime routine doesn’t need to be difficult or time-consuming. How to soothe your baby to sleep varies by family. Choose the activities that work for you and your baby from these parent-tested favorites.

1. Read a book or two

Babies love the sound of their parents’ and caregivers’ voices, and they enjoy looking at the pictures as you page through books. Leave the action-packed and funny books for daytime reading, and select books with calm themes and repetitive words to signal sleepytime.

2. Give baby a bath

Doesn’t a warm bath make you feel relaxed? It’s the same for babies. Follow it up with a massage using a baby-safe moisturizer or oil. After putting on a diaper, place your baby on a towel or blanket. Slowly and gently rub each body part while talking softly to your child.

3. Sing a bedtime song

Save a few special songs for your bedtime routine so your baby associates those tunes with sleep. Choose a favorite lullaby, pop song or TV show theme song, whatever makes you and your child happy.

4. Rock or roll

Some babies love to be rocked into dreamland in a glider Some like to bounce or roll on a yoga ball, while others want their parents to walk around while holding them. The key here is movement and quiet snuggles in the darkened room your child will be sleeping in.

5. Love on a lovey

Many babies need to touch a soft lovey to fall asleep. Since we can’t put loose objects in bed with a baby (read more about sleep safety for babies from the American Academy of Pediatrics), Snuggy Buddy created a wearable blanket with a safely attached plush lovey butterfly, perfectly positioned so your child can reach it while self-soothing. 

Thanks to this butterfly, your child has something soft and familiar to touch while falling asleep. It’s still there, just where they expect it to be, if they wake up and need help going back to sleep. 

In fact, babies who are used to wearing a Snuggy Buddy wearable blanket will often pull on their shirts where the butterfly is on a Snuggy Buddy, signaling that they’re sleepy. So Snuggy Buddy wearable blankets mean less guesswork for parents about when to kick off that bedtime routine, and happier babies who can communicate their needs for sleep.