Screaming after bath

[boopdoop]

My DS is 8 weeks, and whilst he's ok in the bath (wouldn't save he loved it, is a bit cautious and unsure still), but then within a min of coming out he screams until I feed him (but it takes time to get clothes on him and so it feels like he screams for ages!). Any tips on how I can help him feel more happy after the bath?

I have towels ready and waiting, scope him up in my arms in those, to keep him warm and secure etc...

Trying to do it as part of bedtime routine but don't think him screaming is all that helpful, but really want to keep it as a bedtime thing. Any suggestions appreciated.

Is he just really tired? Have you tried the bath half an hour earlier?

Why don't you feed first, then bath? He's probably just hungry. It's easier if he doesn't feed to sleep anyway

As above. Had exactly same problem - solved with going to bed earlier in the evening.

I used to have this problem with my ds and I felt awful about it.

In the end we decided it was a mixture of him being hungry and too tired (he was going to bed at 7pm from 8 weeks - he fell into this schedule it wasn't forced).

So for a while, I took to giving him a bath in the morning after food which worked much better so you could try that if time allows?

My ds is 24 weeks now and I have recently reverted to evening baths (I go back to work in a couple of months and morning baths won't be possible). He still goes to bed at 6.45pm/7pm and I do bath at about 6pm.

He's much better - no screaming! I usually have a musical toy for distraction while drying/dressing him which helps.

I found at that age DD was simply too young for routines like this (even tho it would have been lovely to establish one!)
We did morning baths - she just found them too exciting to be able to calm down easily afterwards.
(also even now at 11 months we don't do every day but 2 or 3 times a week on the nights when we've got lots of time to allow for a wind down afterwards as she still wakes up rather than is snoozy after the bath)

I think some babies are triggered to cry when the bath ends. My 11 month old is like that but his brother wasn't.

However his brother cried through every nappy change, dirty or wet, in winter or summer. My 11 month old has never cried during a nappy change.

The best thing I find is to dress him on the bathroom floor with a bath toy in in hand, as quick as I can, trying to ignore the racket! As soon as we're done and he's having his milk it's back to tranquility.

I honestly think if they're built that way there isn't a lot you can do until they grow out of it.

Our dd was like this, we found a few thing helped. 1 was keeping the bath warmer so she wasnt getting cold before we took her out, and ending the bath before she started to show signs of being unhappy.

Then stay calm, if youre anticipating the screaming they pick uo on that. Wrap her up tight and cuddle lots as you take to the bedroom/wherever youre doing the drying and dressing. Keep talking with a big smile on your face and lots of eye contact, i have a monologue that goes something like, that was a lovely bath, now lets get you warm and dry, warm and dry and cosy ready for bed, lets dry our arms, 1 arm, 2 arms, now your legs, 1 leg, 2 legs etc etc

And we usually get nappy and vest on then cuddle and feed an then sleepsuit on.

Hope this helps

Unfortunately my 7 month old is a post-bath time screamer and has been since the very beginning. Just waiting for her to grow out of it!! We've changed things up so often, we just can't figure out how to make it better. Earlier bath, later bath, milk before, milk after, half milk before, other half after, get dressed in bathroom, warm towels, etc etc etc.

I think she is just unfortunately made this way! Doesn't make it any less stressful, you have my sympathy!

I posted a thread just like this a few weeks ago! I found she has started crying slightly less and is willing to be settled more now, but what is really helpful is distraction when getting her dressed. We have a mobile hanging on our light above the bed where we dress her. I give it a quick nudge and she watches it while being dressed which helps a lot.

Definitely agree with the distraction idea. I too posted the very same thing not too long ago, desperate for some advice. I've found that really he just hated, and still hates, being laid down on his back (makes all nappy changing quite stressful!!!). I now sit him up on my lap to dry him and he always has a toy in his hand to suck on and distract him. Reading with him immediately after calls him down quickly.

I used to wrap in towel and stick straight on boob/bottle

I used to play music after the bath to distract DD (Bach not heavy metal).

I think baths are quite stimulating for very young babies and I've avoided them at the very young stage, preferring to top and tail on the change mat. Babies dont get dirty, they just need their folds cleaning such as armpits, knees etc.

Plus the sensation of being in a deep white thing in water with a big face looking down at you must be quite freaky. Why not leave the whole bath thing until three months... Or go in with him if you're brave enough!!

Mine was like this too. What worked for us was singing. It kept me calm too, and I don't know whether it helped her or whether she was growing out of it anyway, but she did stop crying. Even now, at 15 months, she has the occasional post-bath scream, but singing seems to distract her. I also only bathe 3 times a week.

Thanks everyone... Doing the bath an hour earlier has made a massive difference, he was happy afterwards, smiling and wanting to play - so lovely! Now for him to relax a bit more in the bath!!! But all moving in the right direction. Thank you.

That's such good news boop

My 9mo DD is also a post-bath screamer. We actually manage to distract her by giving her her rubber duck to play with while we dry her. It works for us! She loves that duck.