Experts agree that the best way to help your child transition from play to nap is through a calming, consistent ritual. You can begin creating nap time rituals for your baby as early as 6 to 8 weeks of age. A wind-down ritual should start 20 to 30 minutes before the scheduled nap.
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Animal Good Night
“Good night. Sleep tight,”
said the cow with a lazy moo.
“Good night. Sleep tight,”
said the owl with a quiet whoo.
“Good night. Sleep tight,” said the cat with a dreamy mew.
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Which nap time rituals work?
Depending on the age of your child, a bottle or a snack usually helps prepare a child for nap time. It’s always easier to fall asleep with a full belly.
Giving your baby a bath and changing into sleep clothes is another good nap time ritual.
Cuddling and snuggle time.
A bedtime story, soft music or singing a lullaby can help your little one know it’s time to sleep.
Wearing a nap cap can help relax baby, by blocking out light and distractions.
A special stuffed toy in the bed can even be part of your nap time routine.
Some parents use a swing or rocking as part of the nap time ritual.
For my son, a bottle followed by some rocking and singing lullabies always did the trick. I don’t know what I would have done without a rocking chair when he was a baby.
Creating nap time rituals is the best way to help your child go to sleep during the day.
Which nap time rituals work for you and your little one?
I think having a nap time ritual is just as important as having a bedtime routine! Great tips!
I still do this most of the time with my kids who are 11 and 13. A half and hour before bed its time to just chill. They go in their bedroom and lay and watch TV for a half and hour, if they are lucky they get an hour (LOL)
Also placing the little ones in a bath with lavender soap at night will help them relax to go to sleep for the night too.
When you get the chance I would love it if you can come and say HI at my blog. I was out for awhile and not blogging because of school, but I am back to it and trying get into touch with all my old blogger friends 🙂
Have a wonderful day 🙂
Kirsten
Lavender soap is a great idea. Thanks!
We love having our naptime ritual. Although it’s more for my 3 year old son than my 16 month old daughter. I turn on his favorite show and let him sit on the couch and watch it to unwind after playing outside or doing an activity outside of the home. Then I put my daughter down (usually 30 minutes of nursing).
When she’s down I go back to my son and lay him in his bed, read him a story, and leave him with a few other books as I leave the room. Sometimes he looks at the books for a bit before falling asleep and other times he just curls up and goes right to bed. I love the ease of it all!
Now we just have to nail down a good bedtime routine!
I try to keep my daughter super active in the mornings so by the time she’s done eating lunch, she’s asking me to go to sleep and then we sing songs and I lay with her for a few minutes.
During the day, my baby usually rubs her ears (which is my signal to nurse her) and she nods right off! Loooove the snuggles. The bedtime routine is a little more complicated, because she likes the reassurance of both her Daddy and me there as she drifts off – still, we’re lucky she makes it easy on us. Unfortunately, she’s been waking up at 3 or 4 AM lately – I would really love a routine that would get her back to sleep then!
It does seem that a bedtime routine is a bit more difficult. Love the snuggles too!