Establishing a predictable 10 month old bedtime routine can feel like running a daily military operation.
Taking roughly 30 to 40 minutes to wind down gives our daughter a clear signal that the day is ending.
Depending on how smoothly we execute the bedtime routine, it usually dictates how much sleep we all get that night!
If you are looking to build structure into your evenings, here is the exact step-by-step evening schedule that works for our 10 month old.
The Evening at a Glance
- 18:00 – 19:00: Family dinner & tidying up
- 19:00: Active play upstairs
- 19:20: Bath preparation & dark room setup
- 19:30: Bath time & splash play
- 19:40: Hair drying, nappy, & evening feed
- 19:50: Teeth brushing & face wipe
- 19:55: Moisturising & pajama dance routine
- 20:00: Nighttime books, sound machine, & cot settling
Post-Dinner Playtime
Our evening begins with dinner between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Once the highchair, tops, floors etc, have been wiped down, we head upstairs for some dedicated play where both Mammy and Daddy are involved.
Because Mammy has been with her all day on maternity leave, this is my time to shine as Dad.
Right now, her favorite game is watching me build towers out of wooden blocks so she can crawl over and knock them down.
She works her way around the nursery anti-clockwise, checking out the bookshelf before cruising back to demolish my latest creation.
Bath Prep & Environment Setup
About 40 minutes before we want her asleep, I step away to prepare the bathroom and set the mood upstairs.
- Start to fill bath
- Place in Toys & Temperature Monitor
- Sort out blinds in bedrooms
- Change into PJs & Set Up Hairdryer
- Temperature Check: We use the Nuby Penguin Bath Monitor (will review this at somepoint) to hit a safe water temperature of 36C. I also fill her little plastic watering can, so once the water hits the top of the can (about 7cm – 10cm high), I know the tub is about ready.
- Bath Toys: I lay out her favorites: a classic rubber duck, suction bath spinners, and a wind-up whale.
- Dimming the House: While the bath fills, I pull down the blackout blinds, close windows, change into my own pajamas early so I don’t disturb her later, and get the hairdryer ready.
Splashing, Drying, & Feeding
When the bath is ready I take her nappy off, carry her into the bathroom, and hand over to Mammy, who loves ‘doing the bath’ with her to splashing around.
Once she is out of the tub:
- Hair Drying: A towel gets the bulk of the water, but we use a hairdryer on low heat to quickly dry the damp spots around her neck and ears.
- Nappy & Feed: Mam puts on a fresh nappy, and then sits down to nurse her while I quickly grab drinks for myself and Mam and check on Benny, our dog.
Teeth Brushing & The Moisturising Dance
Once fed, it’s time to brush those teeth!
She only has 6 teeth at the moment, so we keep it brief.
We sing a custom version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat – 2 verses, 1 for the bottom, 1 for the top:
“Brush, brush, brush your teeth, brush your, brush your teeth…”
Then I rinse the brush and come back and we rinse her mouth (normally get this done in 1 verse.,
“Rinse, rinse, rinse your teeth, rinse your, rinse your teeth…”
Mam finishes off by wiping her face, and they move to the changing table to moisturise her.
Because baby usually hates being moisturised, we play ‘The Happy Song’ by Imogen Heap.
I perform a full interactive dance routine to keep her distracted.
Doing bicycle arms holding the handle bars during “Ring ring on the bicycle”
Steering wheel movements for “Beep beep in the car”,
And periscope eyes for “Ping ping a submarine”.
So on and so forth.
I have a full dance routine for this, if you want me to perform it, comment below.
Books, Sound Machine, & Sleep Training
We have been sleep training over the last week or so, transitioning away from holding her until she falls completely asleep in our arms. Will do a separate post about that and how that has gone.
Before sleep training we did all the books below in mine or Mams arms, before waiting 3-4 mins for her to be deeply asleep.
So now, with our wind-down stories, first the first book, we do that one in the chair in Mams arms, then the last 2 in the cot.
Our 3-Book Wind-Down Lineup:
- Oh Dear! by Rod Campbell: Read in Mammy’s lap while I join in with farm yard animal noises.
- Baby’s Very First Lift-The-Flap Peek-A-Boo by Stella Baggott: Read inside the cot. I stand behind Mammy doing physical peek-a-boo motions to keep her smiling and comfortable inside her cot.
- Touch and Trace Nursery Rhymes – Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star: I turn off the main lights and switch on our Zello Sound Machine. We don’t do the full book, just a quick sing along to along to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat, and Hickory Dickory Dock.
The Nightvision Hand-Off
She is almost always asleep by the end of Hickory Dickory Dock.
If she needs an extra few minutes, Mammy sings a soft rendition of You Are My Sunshine.
Because the room is pitch black, Mammy cannot always visually confirm if babys eyes are closed.
I exit the room, switch on our VTech Baby Monitor, and monitor the nightvision feed.
Once I see her eyes are shut and her breathing has settled, I gently crack the bedroom door, give Mam a quick wave, and she is free!
From there, we head downstairs to enjoy an hour or two of quiet time on the sofa.