Sleep Routine for our Newborn Baby Girl

Oh my gosh!!

Today marks the day I hit publish on my first YouTube Video!

I’ve been asked so many times over the past few weeks how it is that I am doing XYZ on my Instagram stories, from cleaning the house to having romantic dinners with Ian. The secret is that I implemented a sleep routine with Emilia from the moment she got home from the hospital.

The quickest way for me to summarise how we manage our day to day routine and sleep routine was to create a video however I wanted to accompany it with a visual guide to the routine which I decided to outline in this blog post.

I hope it helps you as much as it has helped us 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ormedLMI14&feature=youtu.be

Before I get into the good stuff I want to add a few key bits of information on getting into a good sleep routine:

Be Consistent

In order for bubs to get used to the routine, you have to be as consistent as possible. Being consistent with your practices around sleep is so important.

If things don’t go to plan one day/night or… 5 don’t give up. It takes time but if you persevere it will pay off

also…

Create a predictable bedtime routine.

Babies thrive on a routine, I remember Henry’s midwife telling me that and it hasn’t changed as he has got older, the days we try to have fun and do something different like letting him eat his dinner in the lounge things go wrong. He likes to know what is expected of him! Consistency and predictability are really important. With a routine, he knows what to expect and when to expect bedtime which makes the process much more calm and enjoyable.

So here is what our current routine looks like for Emilia who is 6 weeks old:

7.00 – wake up, good morning song, nappy change

7.15 – feed

7.30 – play

8.00 – nap (for 80% of her naps she is swaddled, in her cot with the curtains closed and white noise on)

10.00 – wake up, nappy change and outfit for the day

10.15 – feed

10.30 – play

11.00 – nap

13.00 – wake, nappy change

13.15 – feed

13.30 – play

14.00 – nap

16.00 – wake, nappy change

16.15 – feed

16.30 – play

17.00 – nap (I usually have her take this nap in the sling on me because it is so short)

17.45 – wake

18.00 – nappy off time

18.15 – bath time

18.30 – low lights, lullabies, massage and feed

19.00 – swaddle, white noise, lights off

23.00 – dream feed, wake just enough to feed but don’t turn the lights on or unswaddle

4.00 – feed

I have linked a few of the items that I swear by and mention in the video here:

Baby Secrets Book: https://amzn.to/2VOiDLH (only available in kindle edition)

Swaddles: https://amzn.to/2Rc1jgy

White noise machine: https://amzn.to/2yNhyL1

Shhsher: https://amzn.to/2VIb9K2

Johnsons Lavender baby lotion: https://amzn.to/35dPCMg

Sling: https://funkiflamingo.com/products/baby-wrap/

I think it is also worth mentioning that we are using the Cubo Ai baby monitor which has built-in sleep analytics so that I can track her night time waking and see her natural sleep pattern emerging. If you haven’t yet purchased a baby monitor check out this POST as it is truly amazing