Bedtime Routine With Aveeno

September 2, 2016

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In the weeks prior to little miss’ arrival, one of the topics that TJ and I talked a lot about was sleep…. the inevitable deprivation, how we were going to try to support one another through the nights, and how we were going to try to create a schedule to help facilitate structure. When Harper arrived, the deprivation was real… after a few weeks, I immediately realized the importance of implementing an evening routine. I’d done so much research on the benefits it could have on infant sleep, so TJ and I talked about what we felt would be important and started to put the routine in place.

Over the course of a couple weeks, the routine evolved into what we still use today. Around 6:45pm we start to prepare Harper for bedtime…. and by that time in the evening, girlfriend is more than ready. Here is a breakdown of our nightly ritual:

1. Bathtime: Dad duty time. TJ uses this time to jam out with Harper. They pick a Pandora radio station, sing, and laugh. She plays with her rubber ducky, and TJ dances (if you can call it that… just kidding).

2. Hygiene: At this point in the evening we do all the grooming preparations… do the nails need to be cut? Diaper rash present? Is the skin dry? We check all those out because if one of those is present it could mean a middle of the night awakening (and believe me… I’ve come to cherish our evenings and sleep). Since its been a particularly dry summer, Harper’s skin has had dry patches popping up here and there. We’ve been using Aveeno® Baby Eczema Therapy Nighttime Balm since it’s an intense moisturizer that provides her with immediate and all through the night relief (read: no waking up due to itchy skin.). I love the balm like consistency and we use it nightly. We typically massage it into her little legs and arms, which provides her with a soothing feeling… essentially preparing her for bed. After that we put pajamas on her (ones with footies so she doesn’t wake up cold!) and move onto the next step.

3. Story: Together we read her the same story nightly.

4. Nurse: Not sure this needs much explaining, pretty self explanatory!

5. Prayers, Song, Bed: After I nurse her, we take her into the room, and I typically rock with her in our glider. We say our nightly prayers, sing her a bed time song, kiss her goodnight, and she goes down for the evening.

It’s a pretty seamless routine that takes about 40 minutes from start to finish. What I love most, is that we all get to experience small #tinymoments as a family, after a long, busy, day. I’d love to know what your #tinymoments are with your family!