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How to Create a Bedtime Routine for Your Baby
How to Create a Bedtime Routine for Your Baby
Photo by Cristin More Photography

How to Create a Bedtime Routine for Your Baby

Our top tips for when to start, how to do it and a few things to make bedtime cozy.

author-Briana Engelbrecht
By Briana Engelbrecht
Fact Checked by Shannon Vestal Robson
Published Dec 20, 2024|Updated On Dec 24, 2024
Published Dec 20, 2024Updated On Dec 24, 2024
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Photo by Cristin More Photography

In This Article

When To Start A Bedtime Routine
Newborns: 1 to 3 Months
Older babies: 4 to 12 Months
Toddlers: 1 to 3 Years
Step-by-Step Bedtime Routine 
1. Create a Cozy Sleep Environment
2. Set Signals for Bed
3. Bonus Prep Step

When your baby is a newborn, the idea of having any kind of bedtime routine can seem like a crazy idea. Weren’t they just partying in the womb at 3 a.m. two weeks ago? But if there’s one thing babies love almost as much as eating and snuggles, it’s consistency.

Everyone’s brains and bodies need some kind of wind-down before bed. Not to mention, while healthy sleep patterns are vital for your baby’s physical and mental development, they are just as important for you. Sleep deprivation isn’t entirely avoidable, but anything that can improve your sleep will make new parenting, work and daily life in general much easier. In the long run, a good routine can mean better sleep—not just for your baby, but for your whole family.

When To Start A Bedtime Routine

How you approach a bedtime routine for your little one really depends on their age. Here’s what to know about each age and stage so how you can incorporate a bedtime routine whenever you choose to start.

Newborns: 1 to 3 Months

Newborns don’t know that nights are for sleeping and days are for waking, so it’s perfectly normal for them to sleep in short bursts and wake every two to three hours to eat. They also won’t really get the hang of the whole day and night thing until closer to three months. 

What to Focus on: Ultimately, flexibility is key at this age, and it’s best to go into it with zero expectations. You can start familiarizing yourself with their sleepy cues and including a few signals before you put them down for naps and bed, like swaddling, dimming the lights and turning on the sound machine. A short lullaby is also a sweet idea.

Older babies: 4 to 12 Months

Around six to eight weeks, babies begin to develop their circadian rhythms and usually start sleeping for longer stretches of time at night. (Longer stretches here vary from baby to baby and can be anywhere from three to six hours.) This is also the time you might experience baby’s first sleep regression. They happen around the time of big developmental spurts—four months, eight months, 12 months and 18 months. 

What to Focus on: This is when establishing an actual bedtime routine can help nudge them in the right direction in getting them on a more predictable daily rhythm. And one thing that’ll make it easier to stick with a nighttime routine is sticking with a regular daytime routine, so try to keep naps and feedings at regular times. You can also try using similar cues and patterns when putting your baby down for naps as you do for bedtime (and if your baby is with a caregiver during the day or at daycare, see if they can do the same. Most structured daycares will tend toward routine anyway). This can be simply feed, diaper, swaddle then naptime—don’t stress too much on the whole thing.

For a baby who is at least four months, you can add a sleep sack (if they’re rolling, since swaddling is no longer safe at that point), dim lights, sound machine and a short bedtime story.

Though it’s completely normal for babies to wake up at night and seek proximity to their caregivers, this is also the age range some parents choose to really focus on getting their babies to sleep through the night, through various methods of sleep training. There are different ways to do this (more on that below) and a ton of resources out there so you can find something that aligns with your beliefs and works for your family. 

Toddlers: 1 to 3 Years

As babies grow older and eventually become toddlers, there will be new sleep-related challenges to navigate. The good news is that if you’ve already started a routine, you can keep it up and just shift as necessary. 

What to Focus on: Bedtime stories are a great idea for babies but especially for toddlers. You can read one to two books before bed as part of your nighttime routine, and a lot of parents rave about using products like the Yoto or Tonies story players to help their little ones fall asleep independently. Toddlerhood is also when you can start implementing an “Ok to wake” clock, so they know when it’s time for bed and when it’s time to get up in the morning. Pro tip: many white noise machines have this feature built in, particularly Hatch and Nanit sound machines.

Step-by-Step Bedtime Routine 

1. Create a Cozy Sleep Environment

A cool, dark room can make all the difference when it comes to helping your baby sleep. Aim for a comfy 68-72°F—cooler is actually better for sleep and even helps reduce the risk of SIDS. Blackout curtains are a lifesaver if your baby’s room gets too much light (they even come in cute nursery-friendly styles). If you live in a hotter climate or somewhere that only occasionally gets hot (and you don’t have AC), putting a fan in baby’s room can help keep air circulating so they stay cool. Just be sure it’s not pointing directly at them.

For a safe sleep setup, keep it simple: a crib or bassinet with a tight-fitting sheet and nothing else—no blankets, pillows, or stuffed animals. A white noise machine works wonders for drowning out creaky floors or barking dogs, and it can signal to your baby that it’s time to snooze. And don’t forget to consider a humidifier; it can make the room more comfortable for baby if you live in a drier climate (they also come in handy when cold and flu season strikes).

2. Set Signals for Bed

Once the environment is conducive to sleep, you’ll want to figure out a routine that includes a few things to signal it’s time for a snooze. We’re sharing a few ideas here, but remember to pick and choose whatever works best for your baby and family. Any or all of these ideas are great to stack together, but it’s totally fine to keep your routine quick and easy. Think of this as a menu of options to take what you need. 

Bathtime

You don’t have to bathe your baby every night as part of the routine, but it can be a cozy step if you choose to do so. I personally bathed my babies every night as part of our routine (partially because this is what my mom did with me and it feels comforting to me). But babies don’t really need a full scrub down each night, so many parents choose to bathe a few times a week. 

Diaper + Pajamas

A fresh diaper and cozy jammies are a super simple way to get your baby comfy and ready for sleep. You don’t necessarily need a specific nighttime diaper, though some parents like the reassurance they provide. Hot tip from one parent to another: if your baby is frequently peeing out of their diaper it could just be time to size up!

Swaddle or Sleep Sack

Swaddling prevents newborns from startling themselves awake while providing a cozy womb-like cocoon to sleep in. If your baby has already started rolling over by themselves (typically around two months, but the timing is different for each baby) you’ll want to stop using swaddles that restrict their arms. Opt instead for a swaddle that lets them sleep arms out, like the Halo SleepSack (same snuggles, but safer for babies who can roll on their own). And once they get a bit older, you can switch to a sleep sack (aka wearable blanket).

Bedtime Stories

Reading a bedtime story with your baby is a great way to wind down and connect with them before putting them to sleep. Here are a few of the books that are sure to become a permanent part of your nightly story-time rotation.

Toddler Sleep Helpers

As your baby becomes a toddler, you might want to nudge them to fall asleep on their own and also stay in their bed until a decent hour in the morning. Things like a story player and nightlight can set them up to feel cozy and safe to drift off to sleep without you sitting there with them. As far as letting them know it’s time to get the day started, we love a toddler alarm clock. You can customize the schedule and they signal via changing colors that it’s okay to get up.  

3. Bonus Prep Step

If you know nothing about baby sleep (which most new parents don’t), reading a book or taking an online course to familiarize yourself with what to expect is a great idea. As someone who believed I could swaddle my baby up and simply lay him down, doing this preparation would have saved me a ton of stress in the beginning. 

There are a ton of methods to get a baby to sleep, ranging from gentle to cry-it-out. While the “debate” can feel very polarizing, you just have to decide what feels okay for your family and what aligns with your values. Here are a few resources, keeping all families, needs and values in mind. 

Online Courses

Sleep Training Books

Once you start implementing the routine that works for you, give it some time. All babies adjust and figure it out eventually. And know that developmental sleep regressions, colds, teething, vacations and other life interruptions can throw schedules out of whack, so be patient with your little one and yourself.

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