Fighting sleep?

[elk4baby]

All the books, everyone I know and even most mums here tell me that a routine is a key to getting DC to sleep.
Well, mine seems to hate routine - that is, he knows what's coming and just starts screaming. I played around with timing - catching his sleep window, getting him really tired and strating the wind down early.
Nothing seems to have solved our problem! He knows I'm putting him down to sleep and resists it with all his might and will. At bedtimes, he even giggles when I do our little bathtime rhyme and enjoys the massage after, but then starts crying as soon as I try to put his nappy on and dress him for sleep (normally, he doesn't mind either of these, so it's not that).

He's 16 weeks old and a few days ago learnt to stand up on his feet (not on his own, of course, I'm holding him and he's wobbly, but he's definitely supporting his weight himself). Instead of relaxing as I'm cuddling him on my lap, he stands up and continues screaming. It's rather difficult to get a standing baby to sleep .

Suggestions?! Do I keep trying to 'trick' him into bed? (I put on one sleeve of his shirt and continue the massage, then the other sleeve - this one sometimes even without tears! The sleeping bag always goes on a screaming baby though)

[cassell]

my ds is 17wks and I'm still feeding him to sleep at night (I know I shouldn't...) it's the only way I can get him to go to sleep and sometimes it takes a number of times putting him down and then picking him up and feeding some more. Anything that is supposed to work (e.g. bath) just wakes him up more and yes he is standing up too and doesn't want to miss anything

no real suggestions I'm afraid but bumping this to see if anyone else has any as I'd be grateful for suggestions too!

[dinkystinky]

Keep at it - they'll eventually get tired of screaming every time sleep is coming. My DS1 was the same but eventually got that sleep time means sleep by 8 months (and has been a great sleeper ever since) and my DS2 (now nearly 6 months) is another wired I dont want to miss anything baby too so I feel your pain. Some days are much easier to settle DS2 to sleep (I try to let him self settle to sleep particularly during the day - at nights he still often needs to be fed back to sleep in the middle of the night) - others are impossible with much screaming being involved (when essentially I shush pat and cuddle the little monkey for hours until he'll finally go down for a 40 minute nap). Developmental milestones (like rolling, crawling, standing etc.) are an arse as they always throw sleep patterns out - as does teething. Is your DC getting too tired before sleep - I find my DS2 tends to go all screaming I will not sleep if he is over-tired. Have you tried white noise in the background when settling them to sleep? Sometimes it helps settle some children.

[DidEinsteinsMum]

Ok, be careful of setting up bad habits kids are very smart and know by this stage that if i scream at bedtime = not having to go to bed then this is always the case and they dont stop screaming. However i had the same problem and used 4 or 5 different routines to get ds to bed. He can be so tired he is falling asleep but refuses and keeps going even longer if you mention the word bedtime. He thinks everything exciting goes on after bedtime (personally i'd swap the cleaning and tidying for the sleep but thats not how he sees it.) If you can stick to your guns it should get better but could take a while. I dont see the harm in the massage whilst he is gettting in pj's and you keeping calm is essential. If you are worried about bedtime the little darlings know about it and get stressed and shouty too. Good luck. There may well be some better advice but best i can offer.

[DidEinsteinsMum]

Meant to say i found evening baths woke ds up so used to bath him in morning which helped.