Baby fighting sleep in the evening

[Jellycatismyspiritanimal]

My daughter is 5 months, she goes down for her naps easily roughly every 2 hours and sleeps a full cycle etc. But getting her down for her night sleep is always a fight, it takes her ages to settle, we have a comfort square for her and a white noise machine, a projector to calm her when needed, but every evening it's a battle. Anyone got any hints or tips please?

[NuffSaidSam]

Is she tired enough? Maybe she needs a longer awake window between the last nap and bedtime.

Or she could be overtired (although unlikely as she's napping well).

How does your bedtime routine differ from your naptime routine?

[Jellycatismyspiritanimal]

I do try and keep her awake longer between naps but she gets so grumpy and give me lots of sleep cues. It doesn't really differ, should it? We tend to bath in the morning as it seems to stimulate her rather than relax.

[NuffSaidSam]

No, I think if you've got a consistent routine going that works then that's great.

I wouldn't worry about the naps earlier on the day, but I would try and extend the last window before bed. How long is her last nap and what is the awake time between her last nap and going to bed?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

How long is her last nap? If she could go down at around 4.20 and wake her at 5, then she would be ready to go to bed at 7.

Sleep cycles are 40-45 mins so she would be easier to wake around this time.

[LizzieMacQueen]

It's not clear from your OP but do you read to her, is she over stimulated by the story/your voice?

Try reading in a really monotone voice, even if it's the tv listings in the paper (was going to say football scores) something dull. Not that it makes much difference as she'll not understand the topic.

[Fatted]

What time is she going to bed and what time does she get up after her last nap? It sounds like she's not tired if she's fighting it. Try a longer awake time between her last nap and bed time. So either wake her up from her last nap earlier or put her to bed later.

[Jellycatismyspiritanimal]

Thanks all, she is awake by 5pm but sometimes before that, I try and keep her awake but she kicks off crying, obviously wanting bed but then finding it so hard to settle. I have been trying to read to her but will try the monotonous tone! I think I need more of a routine during the day with her for consistency, it's just she is so good about naps that I didn't worry too much but maybe better to keep a more established routine. She wakes up about 5.30, can sometimes get her back to sleep but then she sleeps to around 8.30 an I'm not sure if that is throwing out the day!