MANILA, Philippines - A good sleep can help boost children's mental and physical growth.

The trick, however, is to train your baby at an early age to sleep at regular times. The challenge is also to help them sleep fitfully through the night.

Here are some bedtime routine tips, from a workshop by Johnson & Johnson and the Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines Inc. held last Saturday (January 30):

BATH TIME. Some parents are afraid to bathe their babies too frequently, but it is good practice to bathe them twice or thrice a week, according to physician Dr. Susan Echiverri.

Just like with adults, making baby feel fresh and clean can help send them on the road to a deep and fitful sleep.

• Prepare all the bathtime materials for your child like a hooded towel, "tabo" or water scopper, face towel and a small bathtub filled with 2 to 3 inches of lukewarm water (90 degrees Fahrenheit/ 32 degrees Celsius).
• Test the water's temperature with your elbow, not your palm, for a more accurate feel of whether the water is too hot or too cold for your baby.

• Wipe your baby's face with a damp face towel or cotton from the inner part of the face, going outwards to push dirt away from the nose, eyes, and mouth. Do not use the same cotton ball or towel surface twice.

• If a warm bath is not available, or if your baby is younger than 1 month, you may opt to just wipe the baby clean with a damp towel.

• Gently slip your baby into the bathtub. If your child is still too small (below 6 months old) to sit up inside the bathtub, hold your baby with one hand firmly below the small of his or her back. Make sure your baby's head is also firmly supported. Even when the baby is seated in the tub, support his or her back. Slowly pour water over the crown of your child's head.

• Avoid pouring water onto the child's face. Use soap or baby wash sparingly. Place a small amount on a damp face towel or on your palm and gently lather against the baby's skin, hair and genitals. If you want to put soap on the baby's back, you may flip them over gently and place a firm hold on their stomach and head. Pour water over parts of their body to rinse out the soap.

• If your baby still has an umbilical cord stump attached to the belly button, it is safe to wet it. Expose the cord in the air to avoid infections, and wait until it falls off within 2 to 3 weeks.

• Pat the baby's skin dry with a towel quickly so they won't feel cold. Wrap them in a hooded towel.

MASSAGE TIME. When they are massaged in the first 2 to 7 months after birth, touch therapy can help babies improve their weight gain by 12%--especially among premature babies.

It can also be a great bonding system for parents and babies.

According to IMAP experts, it is ideal to start touch therapy when your baby is around a month old. This can be done daily, once in the morning and once before the baby goes to sleep.

Make sure that the room is quiet (or underscored by relaxing music) and the atmosphere is relaxed when giving your child massage therapy.

Babies respond to gentle smells so you may use calming lotions, oils or talcum/ diaper powders on your hands if the baby is not allergic to them.

Make sure that your hands are not too cold or your nails too long so as not to startle your baby.

Apply gentle pressure: not too hard to hurt your baby but not too soft to tickle them. The baby does not need to be completely unclothed when you do your massage.

Here are 3 major massage techniques you can try:

You may repeat these motions as long as your baby is enjoying. A telltale sign that your baby wants to stop the massage is when they become irritable or they cry.

If your baby becomes more alert than sleepy when you massage them, then set touch therapy at another time of day instead of bedtime.

When done properly, these massages can condition your baby to think that it is time for a long and relaxing sleep.

SLEEPING TIME. The best time to start the bedtime routine is at least an hour before 9 p.m. every night, and when your child is 3 months old to 6 months old.

Help your baby relax through "sleeping aids" like relaxing bedtime stories (with characters or themes that do not overexcite them), lullabies, preparing a comfortable bed or making their surroundings quiet and conducive to sleep.

J&J Brand Manager Bea Dalma suggests that parents should establish a consistent bedtime routine to "train" their babies to sleep at regular intervals.

Since babies sleep longer over a day but in shorter bursts compared to adults who sleep in one fell swoop, they need short naps during the daytime and afternoon before preparing for a relatively longer sleeping time at night.

"Before the bathing happens, you should already condition your baby that it's sleeping time. They learn through routines. Little things like toning down the lights, making sure that the TV isn't noisy anymore [and] playing soft music [can help]," Dalma said at the "Bedtime Discoveries" workshop, part of J&J's advocacy to help parents care for their babies better.

"They recognize that these are signals that when this happens, it means sleep is about to happen," she said.

Though bedtime routines and child care techniques seem complicated at first, parenting expert and TV personality Tintin Bersola-Babao said parents should not be scared of trying.

"You might think you don't have it in you. But trust me, the instinct of a mother [and parent] is so powerful. Don't think you're not well-equipped with skills and knowledge," she said.

"There's an innate skill and it becomes natural to do everything in order to raise your child the best way you can," she added. Report, photos and video by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.

For more information, visit Parenting tips website www.babycenter.com.ph/bedtime which has various web tools to help you establish a workable sleeping routine for your baby. You may also visit Tintin Bersola-Babao's parenting website www.parentin.tv for webcasts on childcare tips.