April 3, 2019

Our 6 month old’s bedtime routine

Thank you Baby Dove for sponsoring this post.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably really curious about how nighttime looks in our house. Since my oldest was a baby, we’ve been all about routines. It’s very rare that we steer away from the routine because babies love consistency. Plus, my husband and I don’t play when it comes to bedtime, we break out all of our night time tools including Baby Dove‘s New Night time line! The sooner and quicker we get the kids to bed, the sooner we get to enjoy our “us” time, which typically includes talking about our day, catching up on shows or finishing up work.

Within this post, I’m going to share only Laila’s routine. I will do another one sharing the boys’ routine and how we handle 4 kids in the infamous witching hour. So with Laila, we start her nighttime routine BEFORE the boys, typically right before we eat dinner. We do it this way because, at this time, the boys are playing or finishing up homework, and my husband is finishing up dinner (yes, my husband cooks 80% of the time). This is what works for my family, and our schedule.

Laila’s Bedtime Routine

6:30pm: Give Laila a bath: We wash Laila with Baby Dove’s new Calming Nights Tip to Toe Wash. It’s a calming warm milk and chamomile scent, which is perfect for setting the mood for a relaxing night for your little one. (read more about it below)

6:45pm: Detangle her hair and apply Baby Dove Calming Nights Baby Lotion all over her. The soothing scent of chamomile and milk in her bath, and now her lotion just gets her all nice and sleepy for bed time.

6:55pm: Put on her jammies.

7:00pm: Put her in her rocker next to the dining room table, so we can all eat dinner as a family.

7:30pm: While we get her brothers get ready for bed, we will let Laila roll around on her bedroom floor to get some tummy time and tire herself out.

7:50pm: After we tuck the boys in and put them to bed, I rock Laila, while reading her a story. And then I nurse her (to sleep). After she has fallen asleep, I will lay her down in the bassinet inside our room.

Laila will then sleep until about 2 am, and then wake up to nurse/pacify herself back to sleep. We are still working on nighttime feeds, and eventually dropping it because she definitely has the ability to sleep through the night, it’s just a matter of finding her something to soothe herself with.

6 Nighttime Essentials

Baby Dove Calming Nights Tip to Toe Wash: Since Baby Dove first came around, my family and I have always been fans. Our family is prone to eczema and have sensitive skin, so what attracted us to Baby Dove is that they are hypoallergenic and tear-free, free of dyes, parabens, phthalates or sulfates. They replenish essential moisture and skin-natural nutrients in babies’ skin. Their new nighttime range is carefully formulated to smell like warm milk and chamomile to help soothe and calm baby before bed.
Baby Dove Calming Nights Baby Lotion: It soothes baby’s dry skin, even from the first use. It leaves Laila’s skin soft and lightly scented of warm milk and chamomile just like the wash. Best part, when she wakes up in the morning, her skin is still smooth! Because we come from a family of allergies, the boys love how soothing it is on their skin. To us, that’s so important because now we know Laila feels the same about it, even though she can’t vocalize it.
Comfy and cozy pajamas: I am all about pajamas that are the perfect mix of comfy and cozy. Something that keeps them warm, but not too warm especially since my kids’ are always hot. Love a good pajama set!
A good bedtime story: I love reading stories with my kids before bed. Since my oldest was a newborn, I’ve been reading him bedtime stories. So this is something we’ve done with Laila since she was born, too. Below are a few of my favorite books.
Sound machine: Another thing I am a believer in is a sound machine. During the day, Laila is such a good napper because there is just so much noise in the house between her brothers acting like fools or packages being dropped at our door, she actually becomes a light sleeper when there is no noise. So we like to keep it running when she is asleep at night.
Set the AC to 68 degrees: No one sleeps good when they’re hot. I read online somewhere that the ideal sleeping temperatures are between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.