Overtired dd difficult to feed at bedtime

[toomuchtooyoung]

DD is 5.5 months, mixed fed with breast during the day and a bottle at bedtime and 2 overnight

Once asleep at night she's generally fine but her lack of daytime naps is effecting her ability to take bedtime bottle as she's so overtired it's ridiculous. Trying dsperately to increase daytime naps (a whole other thread which I'm already on!) but still only 30-40 mins 3 times a day if I'm lucky, whichever method I use.

She's bf on demand during the day, and sometimes topped up a bit just before we go out or something, but generally dont have much of a plan or idea of how much milk she is taking or indeed needs. She is also having a spoon of porridge in the morning and afternoon which she quite enjoys.

Bedtimes however are turning into a screaming nightmare. Desperate for milk but cries the whole way thru it and generally won't finish the 150ml made up before falling asleep exhausted, but then awake 4 hours later

Anyone got any advice/tips - as long as it's not get your dd to nap longer !

How about making the bedtime feed a BF and put to bed earlier by half an hour after a very short bedtime routine. You could do the BF in very low light - might be more relaxing and the hormones in the milk will make her sleepy. You could give a bottle before her bath then top up with a BF at bedtime?

Also as for naps (I know you didn't want advice but can't help myself), try putting her down for a nap 60-90 mins after she first wakes up. Catch her quickly and it'll be easier.

Thanks iggly. Have had to stop bedtime baths as it was anything but relaxing, she just gets more and more agitated, and so far this week bedtime has already slipped to 6.30, last night 6.15!

trying the early nap technique in the morning but still getting no longer than 40 mins, and thats after a lot of protest, we are persevering though....

My DS was like this at bedtime for weeks until I started doing that last feed in a dark, silent room. We'd put lullabies on before but I think they got him too excited; he'd fidget and pop on and off, then it'd take ages to settle and scream a lot. He's a lot calmer now we've started to keep that last feed completely devoid of any stimulation.

he'd take ages to settle

I found naps got easier once weaning was established - ok in our case it was 9 months before DS got onto three meals properly - but he started sleeping better when I put him down at set times instead of watching for sleepy signs (but only when he got older. Set times doesn't work for babies under 6-9 months)