Newborn Bedtime Routine

The past three months, we have learned A LOT being first time parents. The biggest takeaway has been that sometimes trial and error is the way to go. This was definitely true when it came to Emerson’s sleep! Our, now 3 month old, sleeps between 8-10hrs straight just about every night.

Below, I’m going to run through the nighttime routine that we have found successful for the past 7 weeks. We started this routine when she was about 6 weeks old and we also put her in her crib around this time.

Keep in mind… every baby is different! I do believe a lot of what we do in our routine helps Emmy get those long stretches of sleep, but it could also be attributed to her just being a good sleeper. However, I do hope that you takeaway something from this post that ends up helping you all in the sleep department.

NEWBORN STAGE SLEEP: 0-6 WEEKS

When we first brought Emmy home from the hospital, we were mainly focused on breastfeeding and getting her fed as needed. She was waking up every 2-3hrs to feed, so I would either sleep on the couch and have her next to me in a portable bassinet… OR Zach would do the same and just come to wake me up when she needed fed. We would swaddle her in the Love to Dream Arms Up Swaddle, which she did seem to like, but she was still starling herself awake multiple times a night.

These first 6 weeks were really just survival mode when it came to nighttime sleep. She was hard to calm down, even after feeding, and also seemed to have a lot of gas.

OUR OFFICIAL BEDTIME ROUTINE: starting at 6 weeks

At 6 weeks, we decided to try a weighted swaddle. The one we went with, and still love, is the Dreamland Weighted Sleep Sack. We also started incorporating the below routine. We used to start this routine around 9PM, but now (at 13 weeks) have gotten it moved up to around 7PM.

BATH TIME:

We LOVE this infant bathtub and we use the Tubby Todd products when we soap her, which is about 3 times a week. If she’s being fussy and crying before bedtime, she IMMEDIATELY calms down the minute we turn on the water. It’s like she knows it’s bedtime!

LOTION, DIAPER, PJ’s:

We love the Tubby Todd lotion and All Over Ointment and use it on her face and body every night! We also put her in double zipper onesie footies and use Huggies diapers (they have been our fave and we find that they don’t ever leak on us!) During this time, I also make sure her sound machine is on!

BOTTLE and BOOK

I exclusively breastfeed, but I found that giving her a 4.5oz bottle at night before bed tends to work best to get her those long stretches of sleep! We use these bottles and then we will read her a book while she feeds. Since I feed her the bottle before bed, I pump around 10:30PM before I go to bed. This pump is what I use for the next night’s bottle.

SLEEP SACK and ROCK

As the last step of our routine, I change her diaper (if needed) and swaddle her in her weighted sleep sack. I usually have to rock her for about 10-15mins, but then she is out for the night! I turn off her Hatch night light with the app, but keep her sound machine on throughout the night and place her in her crib. I actually feel like I have an even better eye on her with our monitor and her sleeping in her crib, than I did when she was in the bassinet!

ANDDD that’s our routine currently! I can definitely tell that Emmy knows it’s bedtime when we start the routine, which I think definitely helps! I also believe that the weighted sleep sack is a game changer! I will watch her on the monitor get startled and then immediately get calmed by the weight of the swaddle.

I will link all products down below that we use during her nighttime routine! Again, keep in mind that every baby truly is so different, but I do hope this has helped to rundown what we do!

Now… don’t ask me about a daytime nap routine, because we don’t quite have her on a schedule yet. She is VERY alert during the day, so stay tuned for us to figure that out haha!

Xx, Liz