A early and good start to the putting routine:

To you who would like to read the blog:

A topic that I believe is really important for many of us mothers and fathers is finding a good bedtime routine. Sleep is one of the most basic things – one of our most essential needs – and as parents, we really want it to work well. Both for our baby, of course, but also for ourselves.

Therefore, I would like to share some of the things that have worked really well for me.

I started quite early to establish a routine – this was recommended by friends, other mothers, and from what I read. Among other things, in the book by The Sleep Nanny, who has written a really good book about baby sleep.

The advice I have taken to heart and that has worked, I would like to pass on.

I was introduced to a very special book called The Night Bear Tjugga. There are different versions – a little board book and a slightly larger one. I now use the larger one for my son when we read bedtime stories – he is soon three years old, so it can have a few more words. It makes it fun to read together. The small board book is perfect for the very little ones because there isn’t so much text.

What is special about the book is that it is actually a sleep meditation book. It contains small "yawning sounds" that you can make when you sit and read and sing to the baby. It is made to stimulate sleep – and I was really happy with it. Therefore, I would like to share the tip with you.

Another thing that worked well for us was finding a stuffed animal quite early that would be the stuffed animal – the one that the baby could bond with and feel secure with. Of course, they don’t know that at first, but it's about them starting to associate the stuffed animal with safety. It smells of something familiar, and they can fumble with it a bit. It becomes a stable reference point when it’s time for sleep.

You can also choose to use sound – a specific melody or a particular sound that the baby associates with needing to sleep. It can be something soothing, something recognizable and nice. I didn’t use much music myself, but I actually used my own voice as the melody. I chose one specific song that I sang regularly – The Elephant's Lullaby. It was sung on repeat, again and again, every time my son needed to sleep. It was to create a safe and recognizable routine for him. When he heard it, he knew: "Now it's bedtime." It became a signal that created calm and recognition.

There is also something important regarding light. Make sure to have a lamp that doesn’t shine too much – so you can create darkness, but without it being too dark for you to orient yourself. I use a nursing lamp where I can turn the light all the way down. It can be dimmed so that it only shines very faintly – and it is really nice to use as part of the bedtime routine.

And when should you start with these routines? Well, I started while I was still breastfeeding my son to sleep. That means, there wasn't really a need for a routine at that time, but I still began gradually. Already when he was 2-3 months old, I started to introduce it all – the stuffed animal, the story, the song.

The stuffed animal was next to us while I breastfed him. I read the story to him before we started nursing. And I sang the same bedtime song while he ate. It was about making the rituals safe and recognizable, so when the time came for him to sleep without the breast, it was still the same things he knew. Not everything changed at once. He still had his little reference points – the song, the stuffed animal, and the story.

That worked really well for us. And I have since read in several places that it can indeed be a good idea to get a little ahead with the bedtime routine. I probably wouldn’t have thought about it myself if no one had mentioned it to me. Therefore, I would also like to pass this tip on to you: Even though the baby is currently falling asleep quickly at the breast or with a bottle, and it all works fine – it can really make sense to start introducing a fixed routine already now.

For then the baby will naturally start to associate these elements with sleep. It provides calm and security when at some point you need to change something.

So that was a bit about bedtime rituals – and how it can actually be an advantage to start earlier than you might think. If you have questions or want to hear more about how I did it, please feel free to write. I'm right here and would love to share more.

Happy reading ❤️