Routines are a very important part of our daily lives, and even more so for children, as they help them maintain order.
In short, routines are key to helping your baby sleep better .

Why are nighttime routines important for babies?

Routines help little ones maintain stability. By repeating the same action every day, learning occurs. They eventually understand what's going to happen, and that reduces their stress (yes, babies suffer from stress too). Once they learn the routine, everything works better, even their sleep is better.

For example, getting home, playing for a while, giving him a bath, putting on his sleeping bag , having dinner, reading a story or doing a relaxation exercise before going to sleep.

How and when to implement a routine?

Normally, until 6 months, a baby's sleep is more disordered. Since babies don't distinguish between day and night, they need to eat and sleep every two or three hours. Therefore, routines must be related to this cycle.

Starting at four months, you can start establishing a mini bedtime routine so they can understand that the rhythm slows down just before bedtime and know it's "time" to sleep.

Important things? Eat at the same time every day and put them to bed shortly afterward. This way, they'll always associate that nap from the beginning, which is one of the most important. Above all, it's important to avoid letting them rest anywhere other than their crib (whenever possible). If they rest in their crib, they'll sleep better than in a chair, in the arms of a family member, or anywhere else.

What is the best routine?

We give you some steps.

1. Do some activity before dinner (game, walk) something active so you can rest better afterwards.
2. Move on to the bathroom , where it can be associated with some kind of game or distraction, later they will assimilate it with being clean before going to sleep.
3. When drying him off , give him a massage, try a sweet almond cream, for example. Cuddle him and show him how much you love him. Do everything to relax him as much as possible, preferably in dim lighting.
4. Time to put on the sleeping bag!
5. Once the baby is clean, dry, and in the sack, it's time for dinner or the appropriate feeding. It's best to feed your baby where he won't be sleeping, so he doesn't associate feeding with sleep.
6. Story time arrives, the first few months, it can be an explained story and then a physical story so they can feel the textures and see the colors.
7. And last but not least, sleep!

*We know this last point is the most difficult, so I encourage all the families who are in this process!