The 21 Day Rhythm Reset

Day 16: Sign Posts

Listen here (speed it to 1.5x if you're like me!)... or read below!

Imagine you go to a foreign country. You don't speak the language and none of the sign posts make sense to help you know what to do or where to go.

How would that make you feel?

That's potentially how things can feel for our babies. They are new citizens to this planet, and don't have the language to understand what is going on.

One of the gifts we can give them, and ourselves (because they will be so much more regulated if we do), is some sign posts they can actually understand.

A great way to do that is routines.

Routines are a predictable series of events that signal something that is happening, and while they often take place at a certain point in your day, they don't have to be at a certain time.

In my experience they seem to be most important after and before sleep because they are also opportunities for connection (if you view them that way). Babies are usually hungry for reconnection post-sleep, and in need of a full tank of connection to go to sleep.

It is totally fine to have different, novel things that you do during the day, especially as your baby moves into toddlerhood. But predictable anchor points go a LONG way in supporting their feeling of safety.

And when babies feel safe? That's also when their natural drive to explore comes out.

Here are my top tips for routines:

Make time for them. Rushed routines undermine the connection time and make kids and adults energy crazier.

Start the day with the same routine. Bonus points for a song. Wyatt's for awhile now has been: Good morning song, snuggles, clothes and diaper change, then go downstairs for breakfast.

Have a routine before sleep. We do dinner, bath, pjs, books, lights out, story of our day (where I narrate what we did that day) and then Good Night Moon themed deep pressure massage. "Good night, feet. Good knight knees." Also teaches great vocabulary.

These routines help your child feel safe- which leads to a more regulated nervous system and a calmer feeling day.