How Bath Time Helps Babies Sleep Better: The Benefits of a Warm Bath in Your Baby’s Bedtime Routine
Parenting can often feel like a constant puzzle—especially when it comes to getting your little one to sleep. One of the easiest yet often overlooked solutions? A simple, warm bath as part of your bedtime routine. Including bath time in the ‘evening wind-down’ can work wonders for babies' sleep, relaxation, and overall development.
before I dive into the importance of bath time — If you’re struggling right now with getting your baby on a consistent bedtime and sleep routine, take a look at my easy-to-digest age-based sleep guides!
In this post, we’ll explore why bath time can be such a powerful sleep aid, share practical steps for creating a bath routine, and discuss the many cognitive and emotional benefits it brings to babies and toddlers. Here’s why a bath before bed can be an essential step for your baby or toddler and how it might just become your secret weapon to more restful nights.
The Science Behind Bath Time and Baby Sleep
Getting babies to sleep is one of the biggest challenges many parents face, and establishing a bedtime routine can significantly help ease this process. Research has shown that predictable routines help babies feel secure, reduce bedtime struggles, and improve overall sleep quality. Bath time, when used as part of a bedtime routine, provides the perfect opportunity to signal to your baby that it’s time to wind down for the night.
Not only that, it assists in that tricky transition time between active play to bedtime, creating a clear signal to help them understand when it’s time to wind down. Bath time provides a natural bridge between wakefulness and sleep.
But what makes a bath such an effective part of the bedtime routine?
Baths work wonders in calming a baby down because of the physiological changes they bring about in the body. A warm bath raises your baby’s body temperature slightly. When your baby is taken out of the bath, their body starts to cool down, which mimics the natural temperature drop that occurs before sleep, thereby encouraging drowsiness. Studies have shown that this gentle temperature shift helps relax the nervous system, calming babies and promoting easier transitions to sleep.
Warm water has a soothing effect that activates the parasympathetic nervous system—often called the "rest and digest" system—helping babies calm down, slow their breathing, and prepare for sleep. According to a study published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology, bathing can have a positive impact on the autonomic nervous system, which regulates functions like heart rate and relaxation. The warm water’s calming effect reduces stress, slows the heart rate, and even changes brain waves toward relaxation, helping to create a "sleepy state" for the baby. Additionally, gentle water pressure stimulates nerve endings on the skin, releasing endorphins—the body's natural "feel-good" hormones. This process promotes relaxation and emotional comfort, making your baby more receptive to falling asleep. Not only does this make bedtime smoother for the little ones, but it also brings some much-needed calm to parents.
Cognitive and Emotional Benefits of Including a Bath
Bath time is more than just a way to clean your baby—it’s an opportunity to bond, support their development, and create beautiful memories. Gently rubbing your baby’s skin, watching them giggle at the feel of water, and even playing with simple bath toys all engage their senses in positive ways. During a bath, babies experience touch, sight, and sound, which helps with their cognitive development. Bath toys like bubbles or stacking cups also add to their sensory experiences, helping them to understand how things work (like how water pours and splashes).
Physically, gentle skin-to-skin touch while bathing can have a deeply relaxing impact on your baby, slowing their heart rate and helping them feel secure and loved. This sensory-rich experience not only supports brain development but also builds your emotional bond with your baby, creating feelings of comfort and trust
Building the Routine: Bath, Feed, Bed
Introducing a consistent “Bath, Feed, Bed” routine is one of the simplest and most effective ways to establish positive sleep habits for babies. By keeping bath time consistent, you’re not just establishing a good hygiene habit but also creating a predictable environment that helps babies know what to expect next. This predictability reduces stress and encourages a calm bedtime. This is also especially helpful for toddlers who thrive on predictability and often need environmental cues to assist them with tough transitions (like from playing and being social to bedtime).
The "Bath, Feed, Bed" sequence is powerful because it provides both physical and emotional comfort for babies. The bath helps with muscle relaxation, the feeding provides nourishment and closeness, and then sleep comes naturally. Repeating this sequence night after night helps your baby understand when it’s time for sleep, which makes the entire process smoother for everyone involved. Once your little one reaches the toddler phase, the feed is no longer a necessary part of the bedtime routine itself — but the bath time into the rest of the bedtime routine remains important.
Practical Steps to Establishing an Enjoyable and Safe Bath Routine:
Bath time is not always without challenges—some babies or toddlers may resist or cry during bath time, leading parents to give up and miss out on all the benefits! If your little one is not loving bath time so far, check out the tips below to see if there’s anywhere you can implement a change and possibly get a different outcome. Also, make sure to check out my favorite bath time products that I find help keep little ones engaged and loving bath time!
Timing is Key: The best time for a bath is usually when your baby isn’t too tired or hungry. Ideally, it should be part of the initial wind-down phase of the bedtime routine, about 30-45 minutes before bedtime. If your baby always falls asleep while feeding - you can try moving the feed to the beginning of the routine, before bath time. Then, follow the bath with the remaining steps of your routine to ensure they get a full, efficient feed before their long stretch of night sleep.
Prepare the Space: Before starting, gather all essentials—towels, body wash, shampoo, toys—so you won’t need to interrupt the bath and to ensure you never leave your baby unattended (even for a second!) to grab something you forgot. For toddlers, you can even come up with special ‘themed’ bath times that get them super excited for bath time and create an awesome core memory for both of you — whether it’s ‘popsicles in the bath,’ or ‘under the sea with bubbles,’ or a ‘glow in the dark party!’
Temperature Matters: Make sure the bathwater is warm enough—one of the biggest mistakes I see parents making who believe their baby ‘hates bath time’ is not making the water warm enough. If your baby is cold, they will not enjoy bath time and it won’t go well. I recommend getting a bath time thermometer and keeping the bath water between 99-100 degrees Fahrenheit. I know this seems really hot, but I promise this is the perfect temperature to ensure they’re not cold inside the bath or when they get out! Bonus points: throw their towel in the dryer for 10 minutes before the bath to make sure it’s nice and toasty when they get out. But regardless, for babies: make sure you wrap them with a big towel right out of the bath to help maintain their warmth and keep the relaxation going. This is particularly comforting after their bath as they transition into a cozy, cuddly post-bath state, ready for bedtime.
Add Fun Elements: Incorporating small things like bath toys, bubbles, or even some calming music can make a world of difference. Adding some favorite toys to bath time can also help toddlers feel more in control and keep them engaged. If your baby is super upset, jump in the bath with them to help them get used to it! And remember, if the water isn’t warm enough for you or you are cold, so are they. Warm it up! We want your little one to associate fun, positivity, and zero stress with bath time. If the experience is positive, it won’t be too difficult to coax them out of playtime and into bath time for years to come!
Stay Safe: Safety should always come first—keep bathwater shallow and always stay with your baby. If you forget something or need to leave your room for any reason (even for a second!), your baby comes with you. Babies can drown in even an inch of water. Use an infant bathtub until your baby can sit fully unassisted, and at that point, I recommend using a non-slip bath mat to help keep your sitting baby safe. Using non-toxic, mild soaps designed for sensitive baby skin helps avoid irritation and keeps the experience positive for your little one.
Should Newborns Take a Bath Every Night?
Newborn skin is delicate and we want to do all we can to keep that sweet skin soft and smooth for as long as possible! So, while a nightly bath has a whole host of benefits for both you, your baby, and your baby’s sleep habits — we also want to ensure we aren’t drying out their skin too much. Here are some tips for bathing your newborn that can help:
Only use soap 1-2 times per week — although your newborn may be getting covered in spit-up or blowouts, they aren’t rolling around in the dirt just yet, so soaking in warm water will suffice for cleansing their skin. Not using soap can protect their delicate skin from drying out.
Use mild, unscented soap — when you do use soap, ensure you’re using something that is formulated specifically for young infants that is mild and doesn’t contain and scents (unless they’re naturally derived). Opt for a ‘tear-free’ option as well, just in case soap gets near their sensitive little eyes!
End the bath with lotion — whether you use soap or not for their bath, always rub a gentle lotion on your newborn baby afterward. Opt for a lotion specifically formulated for a baby’s delicate skin and free of toxins, scents, and harmful ingredients. This is also a wonderful opportunity to integrate some additional physical touch into the bedtime routine by doing a calming baby massage. Check out this Instagram post for some easy infant massage tips!
Use a warm washcloth instead — if a nightly bath isn’t in the cards for your newborn or you’re worried about their skin being too sensitive, you can always opt for a warm washcloth on the face, hands, and feet instead! This is a great way to still incorporate some of the benefits of bath time without having your newborn baby soak in the tub.
Bath Time is More Than Just for Sleep: Bonding and Beyond
Bath time isn’t just about getting ready for bed—it’s a wonderful bonding opportunity for parents and children. It’s a time when you are focused solely on your baby, free from other distractions. Babies can pick up on this attention, and it becomes one of the most precious times of connection throughout the day.
It’s also a time that you, as a parent, can enjoy—watching your baby’s fascination with water, their giggles at the bubbles, or the way they splash. These moments help build a positive connection with bath time, making it something you both look forward to, rather than a chore.
Including a warm bath in your baby’s bedtime routine is a simple yet powerful tool for helping your baby fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly. It’s not just about getting them clean—it’s a comforting and sensory-rich experience that builds positive sleep cues, supports cognitive development, and strengthens the bond between you and your baby. Research shows the positive impact that skin-to-skin contact between parents and babies has, from bonding to cognitive and physical benefits for babies, and bath time is a wonderful opportunity for lots of extended skin-to-skin contact. Bringing your baby into the shower with you and/or getting in the bath with your baby each night is a fantastic option for this.
With consistent practice, "Bath, Feed, Bed" can become a cherished part of your daily rhythm—one that leads to better sleep for your baby and peaceful evenings for you.
If these tips helped, be sure to explore more of our resources to make bedtime as smooth and comforting as possible for your little one! And if you find yourself still struggling with your little one’s sleep, please know that you are not alone and that I am here to help. Check out my comprehensive sleep courses for babies and toddlers 0-3 years old.
