4 month old bedtime routine -help!

[Nickname1980]

So all was going well until about 2 weeks ago with my 17-week-old's bedtime routine. Now it's a disaster! 30-40mins of traumatic crying while his dad and I sing and sush him until he eventually falls asleep.

Can anyone tell me what works for their LOs?

This is what I do:
6:30-6:45: naked play and massage (no massage if he's feeling fussy)
6:45-7pm: bath
7pm: breastfeed and sleep. This is when it totally falls apart. He rejects the boob and howls for a 30-40mins until he's exhausted and falls asleep. He is such a mellow baby the rest of the time!!
10:30: dream feed of formula

He then wakes up for a feed at 1am, 3am and then at 6am for the day.

Am I starting bedtime too late?! The crying is awful! Please help!

I'm definitely no expert and I only have a 4 month old DS but I start the bedtime routine at 6 pm, give bath, massage etc then bottle at around 6.40 and he's usually asleep by 7 pm. He wakes at about 6.30 am. I read that you should be aiming for a 12 hour day so as your DS wakes at 6 am I'd say he might be too tired by past 7 pm and may need an earlier bedtime? Worth a try maybe?x

I suspect the key may be when his last nap was and may be overtired for bedtime? This link shows the amount of sleep needed and latest nap time. www.mybabysleepguide.com/2013/02/average-sleep-charts-by-age.html

This is very useful! Thanks both!

Can I ask if you're both on a routine during the day too? My days are ad hoc so maybe I need to get the whole day and evening in a proper routine.

I don't have a fixed routine as her naps vary in length but I do clock watch like a hawk and make sure she doesn't go longer that the link indicates between each nap and feeds are between 3-4 hours as her cues indicate.

I aim for bedtime at 7 but she's dropping her 4th nap now she's awake for longer so this has been earlier on occasion if she's too tired.

I am going through exactly the same problem with my 4 month old! Bed times have become a nightmare, I literally dread them all day. Feel like I'm doing everything wrong!!! DS screams uncontrollably at bedtime and like you suggested I'm sure it is over tiredness. Tried bringing bedtime forward but finding it quite hard. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Started to bath him at 6 then try him with a bottle then I relax him by putting him in his chair and gently shaking/rocking it and this does seem to do the trick then strategically put him in his cot.this will work for a couple of times then it all goes out the window! Haha! Still struggling with the night feeds too, was beating myself up thinking that I was the only one with a baby who wakes up for feeds and started stressing myself out, but I realise that every baby is different. Anyone else wish they had read the Gina Ford routine book?
I did install the 'wonder weeks' app and found this to be quite useful as it tracks baby's development milestones and does say baby can become quite fussy at this age. Ahhhh sorry if just wrote lots of babble! Need to vent!

I find that if our DD falls asleep at 7 then she'll be up and down until 10. However is she has nap at 5:30 for 30 mins and then we do bedtime bath and feed at 8 then she sleeps well (touching all the wood in the world).

Mummymeltdown My LO at 4 months is still feeding twice a night. Not awful, not amazing, just her.