You’ve no doubt come across the idea of a ‘consistent bedtime routine’, but how realistic is it when you’ve got a tiny human (with no sense of day or night) to look after? Getting into a consistent routine is one of the top tips for improving baby’s sleep (trust us, you’ll see it everywhere). Plus, a daily routine can be great when it comes to reducing stress levels. But how do you actually do this? Loads of alarms? Spreadsheets? Filofax? You’ve got enough on your plate with a new baby on board, so why not let Bluebell help?
One of our top goals when designing the Bluebell Smart monitoring system was to help parents with their daily routine. We want to take the pressure off and keep you organised so that you can focus on more exciting things (like bonding with baby or getting some well-deserved ‘me’ time). Bluebell isn’t just a baby monitor. It has so many cool features to help you with parenting, including helping you with planning and tracking routine. We’ve taken a look at why consistent routines can be so helpful and how our baby monitor can help with this!
Is routine that important? Can’t we just be young, wild and free?
Well, when it comes to a newborn’s routine, they are definitely young, wild and free. They feed little and often, up to 12 times a day, and may also need changing up to 12 times a day (what goes in must come out, right?). They also sleep for most of the time (on average, eight hours in the day and eight hours at night). As they grow, they’ll get more in sync with night and day, and eventually start to sleep through the night (woohoo!). They may start doing this from around five months.
The earlier you start focusing on their routine, the easier it will be to keep it consistent as they get older. This predictability can also help to manage their stress (nawh). It’s especially important when it comes to bedtime as it helps babies associate certain things with sleep. This means they’ll drift off faster and easier as they get used to it.
A bedtime routine doesn’t have to be complicated. Bath, feed, cuddle, story time, bed (or something similar) will do!
Let’s look at some evidence:
This study looked at over 10,000 children (age 0-5) and found that a consistent bedtime routine led to better sleep, including:
- Earlier bedtimes
- Less time spent falling asleep
- Reduced night wakings
- Increased sleep time
It also had other good outcomes:
- Less problems with behaviour
- Less sleep problems for parents
They concluded that, “The more consistently a bedtime routine is instituted and the younger started the better.” How’s that for an argument?
If your little one’s no longer a newborn, don’t fret! This study looked at infants (age 8-18 months) who didn’t have a consistent bedtime routine, and gave them one to follow for two weeks. They found that it actually only took around three nights of a consistent routine to start seeing their sleep improve. Amazing!
So, how can Bluebell help with routine?
Bluebell not only helps with getting your baby into a consistent bedtime routine; it helps with your daily parenting routine too! Here’s how:
Tracking
- Every time you or your baby do a routine activity (see below), you can track it using Bluebell.
- You can use either your Parent wristband or Mobile app to track, so it can even be done when you’re out and about.
- By logging the date and time of these, you’ll have a full history of parenting activities to help you keep organised and remember what you have and haven’t done (e.g. did they have their normal 2pm feed? Have they tried avocado yet? Who knows? Bluebell knows!)
- It’s important to keep a log of their changes and feeds, including amounts, so that you can see how they’re developing. This information can then be shared with your doctor if needed.
- It also helps mum, as you can track when you’ve breastfed or pumped, and what side, to keep you evened out.
Planning
As a new parent, it’s super easy to forget things. We go through so many unique experiences and there’s always so much to do. Bluebell lets you plan your time so that you have everything in one place: on the Mobile app.
- You can set reminders for all of the routine activities shown above.
- You can choose to have them repeated daily, weekly, monthly, only on weekdays or only on weekend days.
- This is very helpful for getting into a consistent bedtime routine. Plan baby’s night feed, bath, story time (using other) and bedtime and set them to repeat daily. Then your Parent wristband and app will let you know when it’s time to start winding down and you don’t have to worry about remembering – sorted!
- Bluebell will send reminders straight to your Parent wristband and Mobile app. You can use the mobile up to see how your day looks in detail, and look at past and future days. You can view this in a clock layout or timeline – up to you!
- This is super helpful if you have friends, family or babysitters looking after baby, as they can follow their routine too so that it doesn't get messed up.
Clock
Timeline
There’s no exact routine that your little one should follow. All babies are unique; some sleep a lot more than others, some need changing a lot more, etc. Bluebell will help you figure out what’s right for you.
As you can see, our Smart monitoring system is so much more than just a baby monitor! Check out how it can help with sleep and wellness for both you and your baby. You can also order your own system from our website, and your baby could even be sleeping better by this time next week! Well, what are you waiting for?
We’re here to answer any questions you have about Bluebell. We’d love to hear how it’s helped with your routine!
