Meltdown after bathtime

[Beingblonde]

I was just wondering if anyone else has been through this and might have any tips/tricks!

My DS is 8 weeks old and loves his evening baths. However as soon as he comes out of the bath, he goes into total meltdown as I dry him and put his sleepsuit on, screaming blue murder. It's got worse recently as I used to be able to give him a quick massage before dressing him, but now it's impossible. He only calms down once he is swaddled and on the boob. It's not that he's starving I don't think, as he tends to cluster feed a bit from 4-6 when he has his bath. I also make sure the room is really warm and have his towel and clothes on the radiator.

It makes me sad as I love giving him his bath and really look forward to it as he loves it so much, but the hoo-ha afterwards is really hard to deal with! Anyone else been there and found anything which helps?

TIA!

I'm sorry you're going through this, but your description really reminds me of my DD. She was just the same as a baby. She adored being in the bath and screamed blue murder as soon as she was taken out.
It's hard to deal with and I'm afraid I don't have any specific tips other than keep him warm and get him dressed as quickly as possible.
The good news is that it is normal, quite common and that he will grow out of it.
It's hard, but you can be happy that swaddling and a feed calm him down. That means that he is a happy baby who loves his mummy!

Both mine did this two. I cant remember for how long it went on, dd2 is now 18 months and it seems like a long time a go. No tips except have everything ready so you can dress them quick.

He's probably very tired. Bath time routines at this age are more for the parents than kids. Babies that small cant stay awake for too long and a bath is incredibly simulating, which is why they freak out after a long tiring day.

My DS didn't really enjoy baths until he was quite a bit older and less easily overtired, probably around 5/6 months. So we skipped baths most of the time and went straight to change, feed then bed.

At 8 weeks old, DS used to nap after 45 mins of awake time and could stay awake for 2 hours maximum. That 2 hours included wind down time - a bath wasn't wind down time as he'd be over stimulated by the touching, the water, the smells etc etc.

I'd consider skipping the bath for a month or two and try when they're older and can handle it?