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This week, I am going to share with you my 9 month old nighttime routine.
Ever since Cora was little we started a nighttime routine for her. That way it helped her wind down and get ready for bed. At the end of this post, you’ll find a schedule that you can reference and tweak as needed for your baby. You can even start a routine while your baby is young like this. You’ll have to keep in mind that you’ll have night feedings with younger babies. For us though this 9 month old nighttime routine has worked on a consistent basis.
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The 9 month old nighttime routine starts between 5:45-6:00 in our case. This is the time we typically have dinner. Cora is eating table foods so she eats whatever we eat. Dinner will last for about 15 minutes. Close to the 15-minute mark, Cora will let us know that she is getting tired and ready for bed. She usually gets pretty cranky around this time of night, because she knows what is coming next.
After dinner, we immediately put her in the bath. Cora gets food EVERYWHERE on herself and she needs a bath to clean it all off. She also really loves the bath and will stay in there for as long as we will let her. I only wash her with soap every other night because she has sensitive skin. We have bath toys and we will let her splash and play with her toys for up to 15 minutes. It varies from night to night how long she will last (usually depending on how good her afternoon nap was).
Once she is out of the water I carry her across the hall in a towel getting her dried off. As soon as I walk into her room I turn on her white noise machine (I use this one). Immediately after drying and before a diaper I lather her body with lotion (I use Aveeno Baby). Taking into consideration her dry skin (due to my genetics) I put lotion on her legs and body after her bath.
After her lotion, I put on an overnight diaper (my favorite kind is the Target Up & Up Overnight Diapers). Some babies are fine with a normal diaper but not Cora. She is a peeing machine at night.
Immediately after a diaper, I dress her in a fleece footie sleeper because it is winter. As soon as the weather warms up, I will switch to a non-fleece sleeper. After her sleeper is on I put her in a fleece sleep sack. I use this one. It is by far the best quality sleep sack I have used so far.
After she is all dressed she usually gets even fussier. Cora is fussy the whole time while she is getting dressed because she is cold and she knows she gets her bottle next. Cora is on a high-calorie formula that is prescribed to her through her doctor. Since she was born premature and IUGR, her nutritional needs are higher than a baby who was born full-term and not IUGR. I cradle her while sitting cross-legged with a Boopy around me. We have used this Boppy ever since she was born because when we first took her home she was so itty bitty that we needed more support while feeding her. She loves snuggling up and drinking her bottle at night.
After her bottle, I give her a binky (her favorite is the elephant Wubnub knock off) and stand up and walk over to her crib. Before I place her down I rock back and forth and say a prayer with her. If she is fatigued at this point, she has started to dose off. But if she isn’t, she is smiling and giggling. Either way, I put her down in her crib, and then close the door. Most nights she will immediately go to sleep, other nights she will fuss for only 5-10 minutes before falling asleep.
I took the Taking Cara Babies newborn course to help me sleep train. (Reminder: I am an affiliate with Taking Cara Babies so if you purchase one of her courses I get a small commission). I HIGHLY recommend it because it is life-changing in learning how to take care of your baby. She teaches you how to read your baby’s cues with eating, sleeping, and overstimulation. By implementing her course, Baby C slept through the night consistently at 6 months. She will sleep 13-14 hours a night.
Below you’ll find a schedule that you can reference and tweak as needed for your baby. You can even start a routine while your baby is young like this. You’ll have to keep in mind that you’ll have night feedings with younger babies. I hope this 9 month old nighttime routine helped you to set your own schedule that makes life simple and consistent.
