Our Baby’s Sleep Routine

There are so many different methods and techniques on how to get your sweet baby to sleep. Today, I want to share what works for my family. First, I want to remind you all that every family is so unique and different that not one sleep method will work for everyone.

I could talk all day about the struggles we have had trying to get our baby, and now toddler to go to sleep. I swear we have tried everything! Rocking, stroller, bouncer, swing, car ride, baby carrier, co-sleep; you name it and we have tried it!

Many families use a “cry it out” method, however this did not work for ours. I respect parents who choose this, and I understand the benefits, however it just wasn’t a good fit for my little one. Every night here is a little different but is all focused around one thing - gentle sleeping.

Let’s chat about our bedtime routine. Now, this has changed a little bit as she has gotten older, so I am going to share what worked for us when our daughter was around one.

First we start with a nice warm bubble bath. After her bath she is buttered up with lotion and put in her diaper along with some snuggly pajamas.

After she is dressed we have family prayer with the rest of the family then have special “nana” time (aka nursing). When she was younger than a year she would usually fall asleep while nursing, however now most nights I cuddle her in my own bed and tickle her back until she falls asleep. Sometimes, if she is teething or sick it is a little more difficult and it requires using a baby carrier or pushing her in a stroller. Once she is in a deep sleep I transfer her into her crib in her room and turn on white noise (via her baby monitor).

Once she is in her own bed she can usually sleep alone anywhere from 3-6 hours. During this time we use our baby monitor to keep our eye on her.

We have gone through a few different brands of baby monitors, but I wanted to share the one that has helped with the gentlest sleep. We are currently using the Levana Aria 7'' Touchscreen PTZ Video Baby Monitor. I actually was recommended trying this from a gentle sleep group. The reviews were online were also excellent so I thought I would give it a try.

It was and still is very important that I can keep my eye on the baby, while she is sleeping in her crib. This is a huge part of gentle sleeping for us. For me, gentle sleeping isn’t just keeping the baby comfortable and happy, it is to be gentle on the parents too. This monitor helps with this. It is by far the easiest camera to set up and seriously took me less than 5 minutes (as opposed to others that took hours).

This camera has great night vision so we can still see her in the dark.

It also looks great during the day. Sometimes, while I am working in the other room I even take a peak to see how she and daddy (or sitter) are doing. You can even move the camera left, right, up and down. It has a really wide range. Sometimes it is pretty funny what I see!

Now, I could also chat about this monitor for hours, so I will sum it up- I LOVE IT. It has really helped with my anxiety of leaving her alone and helps us know when the little one needs us.

Once we see (or hear) she is awake from her monitor, we bring her to our bed and she usually goes right back to sleep

Now I know what some of you are thinking, she must be spoiling her baby and teaching her bad sleeping habits (or something along that line). It is okay! As long as you are doing what you think is right for YOUR baby, it is probably the right thing. :)

If you are looking for a baby monitor, I highly recommend this! They are having a sale right now for $70 off, which is such a great deal. Check it out here!

XoXo