Five Most Important Baby Routines to Follow Religiously

Mothers especially new mothers need some tips on how keep the sanity while raising those little ‘terrorists’ they brought to the world. Here are some few appointments doctors never tell you to keep.

• Time

Time keeping is very essential for any baby routine. Babies are suckers for consistency. If you do things today at the exact time you did the same thing yesterday, by tomorrow at the exact same time, the baby will cry for it. And the more you keep a routine on a strict schedule the more effective it will be to teach them new things. Every aspect of a baby’s day/night should follow a strict series of timely activities whether he/she is used to them or is being introduced to. The secret is to keep the days as similar as possible if not replica. While adults and older children may get bored of repeating the same day over and over again, babies love living like little militants.

• Meals

Keep a timed feeding schedule for babies even as young as a week. During the first week babies may be a bit haphazard and are generally confused adjusting to the new environment, but by the end of the first week, they begin to become familiar with surrounding and people. It is this familiarity that shows the early signs of getting used to a routine. While feeding the baby as often as possible, mothers should at least try and feed in regular/even intervals and not every time the breast leak or the baby cries. Whether on formulae or breastfed, the more regular and timed to the minute the intervals are the easier things will be for you and your family when it comes handling the baby.This regular intervals introduces the baby to early routine.  

• Bath

Keeping a bath time routine is most essential for the general well-being of the baby. Most parents with new born babies tend to follow the popular belief that your new born does not have to bath every day, but most mums say their weeks old babies normally sleep better after a warm bath. Though it is most suitable to bath your new when the outside temperatures are their highest, it does not mean that you should keep changing bath time, from morning to mid-day to evening following the sun. Choose a time of the day most suitable for you and your baby, depending on his sleep pattern, then stick to it like religion. Bath your baby at the same time everyday.

• Sleep

This goes hand in hand with bath routine. A baby sleeps better with a good bath routine followed but some feeding and Vualla! Off he/she goes to Slumberland. Younger babies tend to sleep more because their body is used to the inactive mode in the belly, but as the weeks and months go, a sleep routine is essential. Babies can be sleep trained as young as three months.

• Play

Yes, playtime can be put in a routine. Keeping a playtime routine in which the baby knows between this and that activity is time to play, makes the baby look forward to those times. Babies are especially calm and cooperative at the feeding time that comes before a pre-set play time. For example if you have set aside half an hour in the afternoon, to play with your baby, of course keeping in mind not to play immediately after full a belly, then the baby normally feeds well because he/she is looking forward to the playtime.