Bedtime routine for 3 month old

[ally1986]

Hi all,

I'm after some bedtime related advice if possible please!

My LO is 3 months old and is in a lovely routine during the day from around 5am until around 5pm. She's EBF and fed on demand but has herself into a nice routine where she will feed every 3/4 hours with little plays and naps in between and is generally delightful! But when it gets to around 5pm all bets are off and she becomes a fussy little grizzler! During this time she hates being put down and is either happiest feeding or being walked around the house upright!

She's a nightmare to try and get off to sleep and if she does go off she will wake instantly as soon as she's moved or put down. She usually goes off between 10pm and midnight and more often than not I end up co-sleeping so I don't disturb her just so I can get some kip. To be fair to her she will then sleep to around 4am/5am and that is when her nice routine starts!

I'm just wondering if anyone has any bedtime routine suggestions that I can try to get her used to the idea of going to sleep. I know babies are generally fussier in the evening and the dreaded 'witching hour' but just wondering if there is anything I can do to guide her in the right direction! I read about these babies having a bedtime of 7pm and think she'll never be like that!!

TIA x

We had this I remember it well, it's nothing a routine will fix. Many people call it the witching hour. It will pass x

My DS is 11 weeks old and I had to start a loose routine with him at 8 weeks due to a dreadful evenings with him from about 5/6 he would scream continuously and be inconsolable. I also have a 3.5 yr old so needed to know what my evenings would entail to sort her out.
I started with bath or massage then he would lie on his changing mat with a light mobile on and then move into our room for songs and milk. Then laid him in his crib into his sleeping bag and white noise. We would start this as soon as he became really difficult in evenings so around 6pm. For the first week we would lie in with him stroking his head and it took a long time for him to settle (I mean hour or so!) but now he will only take 15/20 mins to settle and normally asleep by 7 no matter what. We still get the screaming but if we time it right with the right amount if 'awake time' he is ready to fall asleep. It is so hard but he has eventually got used to the wind down routine and I actually have my evenings back

Does she feed a lot during the evening? Sometimes at this age they are just tanking up for a long sleep, if so you might just want to roll with it as she'll probably phase it out when she weans.

A routine is still a good idea but it doesn't need to be anything extensive (a feed, quick bath, sleepsuit, book/song) just something to clear mark the change from 'day' to 'night'. After 'bedtime' just make sure you keep the lights low, noise to a minimum and no interaction... feeds and cuddles are fine but playtime is not on! Once you're set up and have settled into a routine I'd just keep edging it back by 15-30 mins or so every week.

She does feed quite a bit during the evenings but I'm not sure if she's just doing it for comfort as she's very on and off and messes around quite a bit. Then if I take her off she screams the place down like I starving her or something!

At the moment she is coming to bed with us at around 9pm and will have a feed until she eventually drops off to sleep on the boob. She's just done that now (earlier than normal!) and I've successfully moved her to bed without waking her. Fingers crossed she stays that way!

I'm also worried that she will wake earlier in the night if she goes to sleep before her usual time so perhaps I should just roll with it. It is so hard to know what to do for the best!

Between 5pm and when sje goes to sleep for the night at 9-10pm, she will need to nap.

The more over tired baby is, the harder work it is to get her to sleep. I'd try a bouncy chair nap if she doesn't seem interested in feeding. Perpetual and rhythmic bouncing throughout this sleep.

I'd also suggest a dummy for comfort sucking.

So my little one is 10 weeks and becoming more difficult to settle at night. Normally she'd go down well during the night after a feed but she has been up since 4 currently and each time she falls asleep on me I put her down and within 5 minutes she's woken herself up and is screaming again.

She won't take a dummy - no matter how much I try.

I swaddle her.

She hates white noise (used to like it).

I've tried the 'shhhh' pat pat method.

Can anyone help or give me some supportive advice? Much appreciated!

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