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MarionSleep help for families

A bedtime routine

The foundation, and the only approach that is universally recommended.

The short version

  • A bedtime routine is the one approach every UK source recommends, from about six to twelve weeks upwards, with no upper age limit.
  • The best-evidenced approach here: children fell asleep faster, woke less often and for less time, and parents' mood improved.
  • Follow the NHS sequence: bath, night clothes, teeth, into bed, story, dim lights, goodnight kiss, lullaby. Move the times to fit your household.
  • Keep it to 30 to 60 minutes, end with a fixed phrase or song, and do not extend it for one more story.
  • Give it at least two weeks. A short routine done nightly is worth more than a long one done twice a week.

The rest of this page explains where this comes from. You do not have to read it tonight.

About 3 minutes to read

1. A bedtime routine

The foundation, and the only approach here that every UK source recommends for every family. It suits children from about six to twelve weeks upwards, with no upper age limit, and it sits underneath all the other methods.

A bedtime routine in sequence Six stages joined by a line: bath, night clothes and a fresh nappy, brushing teeth, into bed, a story, then dim lights and a goodnight, ending with sleep. BathNight clothesTeeth Into bedStoryDim light,goodnight
The NHS bedtime sequence. The order matters less than doing roughly the same thing, in roughly the same order, at roughly the same time.

The NHS suggests this sequence:

  1. Bath A signal that the evening has changed gear. A wash does the same job.
  2. Night clothes and a fresh nappy Changing clothes marks day turning into night.
  3. Brush teeth Part of the routine, not an argument afterwards.
  4. Into bed The rest of the routine happens there, not downstairs.
  5. Bedtime story The same book every night is fine, and often better.
  6. Dim the lights The NHS adds that too much excitement and stimulation just before bedtime can wake a child up again.
  7. Goodnight kiss and cuddle A fixed ending, the same way each night.
  8. A lullaby A song or a set phrase closes it.
The Sleep Charity's timed version, worked backwards from an 8pm bedtime. About an hour in total.
TimeWhat happens
7:00pmDim the lights, all screens off
7:05pmA calming hand-eye activity: colouring, jigsaws
7:15pmLight supper
7:30pmBath, about 30 minutes before sleep
7:45pmPyjamas
8:00pmBed, with a consistent goodnight

Move the clock times to fit your household: the point is that consistency is key, not that 8pm is correct. Cerebra adds three refinements: keep it to 30 to 60 minutes; end with a fixed phrase or song that "could be completed again if the child wakes up in the night"; and avoid extending the routine to one more story. Anyone else who does bedtime needs the same sequence.

If your child is autistic

Cerebra suggests a distinctive change: deliberately vary the order of the elements from day to day, "to prevent the routines from becoming too rigid", so that the routine is one your child can still manage when a night goes differently.

Evidence. The best on this page. Mindell and colleagues ran a randomised controlled trial in Sleep in 2009: 405 mothers, infants aged 7 to 18 months and toddlers aged 18 to 36 months. A consistent routine significantly reduced how long children took to fall asleep and the number and duration of night wakings (P less than 0.001), and significantly improved maternal mood. Mindell and Williamson later found a dose-dependent pattern across 10,085 children aged 0 to 5, holding across cultures and income groups. Honest note: the 2006 American Academy of Sleep Medicine review said a routine "has yet to be systematically evaluated as a stand-alone intervention", having only been tested inside larger packages. The 2009 trial changed that.

How long, and who it may not suit. The Sleep Charity asks for at least two weeks before judging it. Almost anyone can use some version, but if your evenings are shaped by shift work or other children, a full hour at a fixed time may not be realistic. A short routine done nightly is worth more than a long one done twice a week.

Where this comes from

  • NHS, Helping your baby to sleep, the bedtime routine sequence and the note on excitement before bed.
  • The Sleep Charity, Bedtime routines, the timed routine, "consistency is key" and the two-week rule.
  • NHS Lothian, Graduated withdrawal (PDF), the six stages, the pacing and the "boring parent" instruction.
  • East London NHS Foundation Trust, Sleep Basics (PDF), the camping out protocol including "start where you are", and the warning about abandoning a technique halfway.
  • Cerebra, Sleep: A Guide for Parents (PDF, version 4, October 2025), "choose whatever works for you", the controlled crying and bedtime fading protocols, the contraindications, the autism routine change, the sleep diary columns and "this is normal, keep going".
  • Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, sleep information for parents of babies aged 0 to 12 months: responsive settling, and falling asleep during a feed or while held.
  • Mindell et al. 2009, Sleep 32(5):599-606, the randomised trial of bedtime routines in 405 mothers.
  • Mindell and Williamson 2018, the dose-dependent pattern across 10,085 children.
  • Mindell et al. 2006, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine review: 52 studies, the 82 per cent average improvement, the classification of methods, and the comparisons finding no difference in long-term efficacy.
  • Hiscock and Wake 2002, BMJ, and Hiscock et al. 2007: the controlled comforting and camping out trials, and the loss of significance at four months.
  • Meta-analysis of behavioural sleep interventions, Scientific Reports 2022, 10 randomised trials, including the outcomes that were not significant.
  • Price et al. 2012, Pediatrics 130(4):643-651, the five-year follow-up of 326 children finding no marked long-lasting effects, positive or negative.
  • Gradisar et al. 2016, Pediatrics 137(6), 43 infants, cortisol and attachment at 12 months.
  • Douglas and Hill 2013, systematic review, the case against intervention under six months.
  • BASIS, Sleep training, the critique of the evidence base and the Middlemiss cortisol finding.
  • UNICEF UK Baby Friendly, their stated position that controlled crying is not recommended.
  • Trial report, 26 of 91 families discontinuing or not completing.
  • Pinilla and Birch 1993, Pediatrics, the 26-parent focal feed study.
  • Scope, Keeping a sleep diary, the practical tips and why memory is unreliable when you are sleep deprived.
  • Sleep Action, Scotland, gentle strategies without cry-it-out methods.

Last checked 1 August 2026. This page is general information, not medical advice. If you are worried about your child, speak to your health visitor or GP.