Bedtime Rituals for your little one

Sleep is a beautiful thing, and only a sleep deprived mom can tell you the importance of same :)Sleep time is the time when our body gets to revive itself. For babies good sleep is even more important, as that is the time they grow more. I am not a mom yet but I am a mom to be very soon. Already in my 36^th week of pregnancy I am preparing to welcome our bundle of joy by buying all necessary items for him/her. I keep reading and collecting information through net and by talking to other moms to understand things I need to do for my baby's well being.

I have a sister who has a toddler and I have seen her first struggling with her small baby to make him sleep on time and stay asleep for long. But slowly she came up with some bed time rituals which helped her son sleep longer and better. I am sharing few of them here with you all:

1.       Relaxing massage: Massage helps even adults to relax and for babies also it does the same. Light massage with oil or baby lotion helps the baby relax before going to bed. If your baby is comfortable you can also give him quick bath in warm water before the massage. I have seen my sister doing this for her baby and that actually helps him sleep well. 

2.       Proper feeding before bed: Once the baby is 6 months old it can take some solid food too and then it does not need to wake up multiple times during the night for feeds. Make sure that the baby is fed well so that it does not wake up multiple times during night because of hunger. Giving warm milk before bed also helps.

3.       Reading a story: Reading a story or telling story to toddlers makes them fall asleep easily. Reading in soothing voice helps the baby calm down and slowly puts the baby to sleep. I have seen my sister telling stories to her 6 month old son, I thought that he is too young to understand the stories but then I saw him listening to her carefully and then falling asleep slowly. So even I am planning to learn some bedtime stories for my baby, which will help us connect more and will help my baby sleep. 

4.       Using good Diapers: Other then hunger wetness can also break your baby’s sleep multiple times at night. Using good diapers for your baby ensures that they are not wet at night. I have seen my sister using pampers for her baby from his very first month and she uses the same brand till now also. Her loyalty towards pampers made me decide that I too will use the diapers from same brand only. And guess what, I have already stocked some in new-born size for my baby :) 

Other then these few rituals we also have to create fix time and schedule for baby’s sleep, so that they start relating to the surrounding with their sleep time and get a sound and break free sleep throughout the night. This will make them wake up fresh and smiling every morning and will ensure that the parents also get sound sleep full night :)