What Is Baby Routine

Routine means that something is repeated and reinforced. Babies need routines as they really important for them to have structure in their days. Establishing a good baby routine makes babies less anxious because, if they know what to expect then they become more cooperative as they feel they have some control over situations. Routines are the way parents handle the things in their baby’s life like waking, eating, bath time, bedtime etc.

Usual Daytime Routine For Babies

Most parents do a lot of different rituals unconsciously, like kissing their babies goodbye, give them a morning hug or a goodbye wave. These habits enable your baby to understand what they can expect and what is expected of them. It helps them make better sense of the world around them. By the end of your baby’s first month, try and aim towards this feeding and sleeping pattern:

• 7am – Awake and feeding
• 8.30-9am – Nap-time
• 10am – Awake and feeding
• 11.30am -Nap-time
• 2pm – Awake and feeding
• 4-5pm – Nap-time
• 5pm – Awake and feeding
• 6pm – Bath and bedtime routine
• 10-11pm – Awake and feeding
• 2-3am – Awake and feeding

By 6 to 9 months a typical routine might be:

• 7am – Awake, milk feed followed by breakfast.
• 9-9.30am – Nap-time of no longer than 30-40 minutes.
• 11.30am-12pm – Lunch.
• 12.30pm – Nap-time of up to two hours.
• 2.30-3pm – Milk feed.
• 4.30pm – Short nap if he slept less than one hour at earlier nap.
• 5pm – Tea.
• 6-6.30pm – Bath and bedtime. Routine.
• 7-7.30pm – Asleep

The Average Sleep Routine For Babies

You can start establishing a routine as soon as you want. Routines help babies learn to train themselves on how to be great sleepers. It also helps your baby deal with separation from their parents and allows them to feel secure and safe.

For baby’s age 0 to 6 weeks, the average number of sleeps per day is 5 to 6 times. During the first weeks of your baby’s life, routine is more about each feed, activity, sleep cycle and these cycles happen every three to four hours. For 6 weeks to 3 months, the average sleep is 4 to 5 times a day. You will also feel more in control and your baby will start to develop more of a pattern with their sleeping and feeding. If your baby has reached the age of 3 to 6 months, the average sleep is 3 times a day. This time, babies can get into a nice routine. Remember that babies have short sleep cycles that last about 40 to 45 minutes.

During your baby’s 6 to 9 months, your baby sleeps twice a day, 1- to 12 hours per night. Babies should ideally be sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night and be reducing daytime sleeps to two sleeps a day for about one and a half to two hours each. And finally, from 9 months to 12 months, the baby’s sleep is usually the same when he was at 6 to 9 months. Babies should ideally be sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night and be having two naps a day for about one to two hours each. That’s it! But always remember that your baby should have some kind of activity after a feed instead of going right to sleep, so that your baby wouldn’t associate eating with sleeping.