Establishing bedtimes

Between three and seven months most babies begin to be able to understand the idea of a routine where one thing follows another. You can make use of this growing awareness to introduce a bedtime routine to help him learn to go to sleep readily:

• Your routine may include a bath, a cuddle, a song, a story, a feed, a kiss and then bed

• Dim the lights and quieten things down

• Stick to the same elements in the same order, at the same time, with the same people every evening, as much as you can initially. After you’ve established a pattern that works, you can be more flexible

• A good routine has a definite end: you want your baby to learn that when he is put in his cot he then falls asleep. Once you have put him down, give him some time to discover that he can go to sleep on his own. Do not give him just one more cuddle, or one more song

• If you lie down with your baby, or stroke him until he’s asleep, be prepared for him to expect this every evening and each time he wakes at night as well

You may need to use a sleep routine to teach older babies and toddlers to go to bed happily.