Your baby is becoming more mobile and as his understanding grows he is trying to find his place, so routines may well not be what’s on your baby’s mind with so much out there to explore. It may become harder to keep your baby interested in the quiet routine of bed time that you have been using until now and both of you may become frustrated about what to do and how to stay interested in going to bed quietly.
At 6 months babies are starting to get interested in your food and life might start getting messier! It may be an idea not to have food around as you are starting your bed and bath routine.
At this age your baby will enjoy rolling over and baby is developing toward crawling in the next few months. Keeping baby safe at nappy time may mean keeping one hand on them whilst doing the nappy change, to stop them rolling off furniture or you may consider using your nappy changing mat on the floor – leaving both hands free to change the nappy and you’ll be reassured that baby has nowhere to fall!
Your baby will also begin to realise that objects move and will quickly learn how to move them from hand to hand. Dropping things can become a baby’s favourite game at this age. Be careful how you pick up dropped items as continually picking up incorrectly may cause you a back problem – sitting on the floor with baby and playing ‘dropsie’ may help prevent back injury.
With these new found skills your baby is going to need careful watching that he doesn’t rollover onto his front in the bath and if he is sitting up unaided he may try and lie down. Use a flannel or small towel on the bottom of the bath just so your baby has something non-slip under them. The water level in the bath will need to be quite low and your baby should not be left alone.
Your baby will enjoy hold a water toy or a sponge. A sponge that he passes from hand to hand is a good way of teaching initial hand washing. Babies of this age also enjoy turn taking games and again you could do a bit of washing and then baby could take a turn.
Your baby will soon realise that he can have fun and playtime in the bath, making it difficult to keep to a quiet routine to help baby go to bed but warm relaxing bath can really help a baby to become sleepy. Make sure it doesn’t last too long and turn in to a bubble fight!
Try our Earth Friendly Baby Calming Lavender shampoo and body wash with its soothing aroma which will help relax your little one even more followed by a massage using our Shea Massage oil. The massage could become your new quiet time.
Give your baby time to adjust to this change of routine and try to introduce changes gradually. Too many changes at one time can confuse your baby, making them unsettled and harder to get into a routine again.
