Children love routines. These repeated gestures, day after day, give them security because they learn to recognize them, and they also help them understand “what comes next.” Among the most important routines for our little explorers is nap time: a solid sleep routine gives them the opportunity to feel less disoriented at exactly the most difficult moment of the day, when they have to detach from their parents to be enveloped by the warm embrace of the night .

That's why establishing a sleep routine for children is a wise choice: for them and for you, too! But let’s see how to do it and when to start.

What is the sleep routine

During the day, your little one took many naps (like all newborns, who sleep up to 18 hours in the first months of life!). They rested like an angel, and everything went smoothly. You even managed to read a few pages of a book: incredible!

At some point around 8 PM, you noticed they were in a deep, peaceful sleep and decided to move them to the crib, hoping the night would continue with your little angel lying on a cloud. It’s 11 PM, you go to bed but... an hour passes, and you hear someone calling you with little cries: your little explorer is awake!

This is how the most classic nightmare for a parent begins: they look at you, they don’t even try to close their eyes, and you breastfeed them in the hope that they’ll fall asleep. It works! You put them back in the crib, and it’s three in the morning when the story repeats itself. This time, there’s no way to get them to close their eyes. You just want to sleep, and you can barely keep your eyes open anymore because yesterday the exact same thing happened—and you’re so tired that you even fell asleep while breastfeeding.

“He confused day with night! During the day, you need to keep him more awake!” say the grandmothers, but... Yes, our little explorers need to learn everything, including how to sleep...

That's why setting a good sleep routine is so important. Children need certainty: knowing what’s happening helps them relax rather than feel alarmed. Think back to the situation we described a little earlier: your little one fell asleep in one place, was moved to a completely different spot while sleeping, and when they opened their eyes, they found themselves somewhere else entirely. Of course, every parent does this in good faith, but without realizing it, we sometimes forget that our little ones already understand much more than we think; in doing so, we can leave them completely disoriented. Try to put yourself in the same situation: what if it were happening to you?
It is therefore important that the child is accompanied to sleep with gestures that are repeated every evening in the same way : step by step, the little one understands that the day is ending and night is beginning, and it’s time to sleep.

How to create a sleep routine

First of all, to create a proper sleep routine , the ideal conditions must be present in the room.

• 
  If your little one eats before sleeping, lay them down in a state of absolute relaxation .
  

• Check that the room temperature is between 18 and 20 degrees. And don’t panic if that seems low to you: it’s the right temperature for sleeping!
  

• Always keep the lights dim: not the chandelier turned on, but a table lamp or one of those soft night lights made specifically for children.
  

• If it pleases them, put on a soft lullaby —or sing one yourself!
  

• Watch out for the diaper: Uncomfortable diapers don’t guarantee peaceful sleep. Neither do those that don’t absorb enough and risk making your little one feel wet in the middle of the night. Our LILLYDOO Diapers are designed to adapt to all conditions, conform to the body without leaving marks, and guarantee maximum absorbency. In the morning, your little one will wake up dry and without irritation.
  

And now: how do you set up a sleep routine?

Everyone has their own habits, but some gestures are repeated every evening—try to notice them! Usually, the steps done in the evening are:

• 
  bath
  

• diaper change
  

• put on the pajamas
  

• poppata
  

You can also add:

• 
  reading a book
  

• a lullaby
  

• saying goodnight to the stuffed animals in the room
  

Try to think about what you do most often and when your child usually starts to show signs of tiredness. Around 8:00 PM, do they start to seem nervous and tired? Then at 7:15/7:30 PM, give them a nice bath, put on their pajamas, and then head to the bedroom for sleep. Dim the lights, give them the bottle, read a few pages of a fairy tale, and then give them a kiss. This routine must be repeated every day and always at the same time. .

Does it seem like it’s not working? Be patient! Of course, it won’t take just one day to establish a sleep routine. So, once you start, there may still be a few sleepless nights—but trust the process.

When does a newborn start to have a routine?

In fact, it may seem incredible, but children start to become attached to routines even while they are in the womb. At 6-8 weeks from the estimated due date, the baby will already have a properly developed brain and be open to embracing the joys of a comfortable routine.

So yes, your life as a couple will soon change completely, and you certainly won’t have time to chat until late at night anymore. Start establishing a routine for yourselves, too, so your little one can get used to the idea of something that repeats every day at the same time.

It’s not about a sleep routine, of course (who knows how many of you are already not sleeping because of a growing belly or the little one kicking!), but about adopting calmer, more relaxed habits from a certain hour onward to ease into the night.

Is the little one already born? Start establishing a sleep routine as soon as possible!

Not just bedtime: routines are also useful for when they go to school

Routines continue to provide reassuring certainty even when little explorers grow older and start preschool or kindergarten. Once again, try to establish a routine together that gives your child a solid structure for their day: in the evening, prepare the backpack together; in the morning, wake up, cuddle, have breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, put on shoes, and head to school.

A cuddle with mom or dad before going in, and off they go to start the day. These rituals are very important for the child, who, in another difficult moment of separation and opening up to a whole new world, is reassured by the certainty that days will repeat themselves in the same way. That way, every day, mom or dad will take them to school—and will also pick them up at the end of the day.