Siestita Guide
The baby bedtime routine that actually works
Babies don’t read clocks: they read signals. A short routine, identical every night, is the clearest signal that sleep is coming — and one of the best-evidenced tools in infant sleep.
The bedtime routine in 5 steps
Calm bath or wash
Warm water, low lights, no wild games. It marks the switch from day mode to night mode.
Pyjamas and sleep sack
Always in the room where they’ll sleep, in dim light. The sleep sack is a powerful “sleep is coming” cue.
Last feed
With the light on, to separate eating from falling asleep. If they doze off, a gentle position change is enough.
Story or song
A short one, from the same small repertoire every night. The repetition is the point, not the boredom.
Goodbye phrase and into the crib
A fixed phrase (“sleep tight, love you, see you tomorrow”) and into the crib drowsy but awake if you’re working on self-settling.
When to start the routine
The routine should end when your baby’s wake window closes — not start at an arbitrary fixed time. In practice: check when their last nap ended, add their window and subtract the 20–30 minutes of routine. For most babies between 4 months and 2 years that means starting between 6:30 and 8:00 pm; each stage’s exact range is in baby sleep by age.
Adapting it by age
- 0–3 months: short and flexible. The goal is planting the association, not discipline.
- 4–8 months: the full routine shines here. Also the best time to practise “drowsy but awake”.
- 9–17 months: same steps, more participation: let them “help” with the pyjamas or choose between two stories.
- 18–24 months: small controlled choices and kind limits: the routine has a clear, always-identical ending.
The most repeated mistakes
- Hour-long routines that end up as negotiations.
- Screens in the last hour: blue light delays melatonin.
- Changing the steps every night “to see if this works”: the magic is precisely in not changing them.
- Ignoring the window: the best routine fails with an overtired baby.