Bath time makes baby hyper before bed - change of bedtime routine

[Jellybabie3]

Anyone else experience this? For weeks we've noticed 5mo DS gets very difficult to settle before bed. Its been taking up to 90mins from getting to our room. His arms flail and he chats, stares at the ceiling, curtain, any light in the room (we make it as dark as poss but have a groegg and night light which make shadows). He feeds well but then gets very cranky which either results in me trying to bounce and shush or feed (which ultimately results in comfort feeding). This really does take 60-90min so added on to his bath means hes awake for 3 + hours.

We thought it was overtiredness but have really been nailing the naps atm. Hes stopped feeding to sleep for naps and going down alone. Night times are a nightmare in comparison. Albeit he cant self settle and wakes 5 or 6 times.

His routine is roughly

6-7am wake up
Nap 1 hour 15 later
Awake 1.30 - 1.45
Nap

Repeat irrespective of number of naps until 7-8pm where we would take up for bath, massage, story and feed before bed.

I'm thinking we may need to ditch the evening bath which is shame for both daddy and for a routine hes used to.

Did anyone else have similar and did you find a good routine minus the bath??

That would be ideal but the little mite wakes up the second we try to put him down! Sideways from our bed into the next to me is fine but down asleep into the pram, no way. Frustrating but its just the way it goes!!

Before you start controlling his sleep, please read "Why we sleep". Sleep is vital for baby's development so I personally would be baby led at this stage to ensure he's getting the sleep he needs when he needs it.

I cant force him to sleep. I never wake him. But i have looked at my app and hes averaging 12 hours sleep in 24 hours. This i believe is because hes waking every hour at night for 20 - 30 min (cant self settle and feeds). He wakes like clockwork in the morn. I know its less than recommended but i cannot force sleep on him.

Blissful baby expert is excellent, she has a book this is a recommended routine.

Got to laugh. After all that hes zonked after 1 hr 50min from that fourth nap. Babies huh..... Been a hyper little possom for weeks and the first night we try something new hes a okay. Bless him. Parenting is hialriously random

Well. After my excitement he only lasted 30min so essentially another nap. Fell back to sleep at 9pm again and woke at 7pm so for whatever reason hes naturally wanting to sleep 9pm til 7am?? Which means hes not ever gonna meet his daily requirements. Hes woken with hiccups 😕

I say he woke at 7am i mean for the day. He woke 5times in the night

9pm-7am sounds fine for overnight sleep?
He'll just need 4 naps in the day rather than 3 and don't let him nap past 6.30.
Morning nap, lunch time nap, afternoon nap, evening cat nap.
Babies and children do thrive on routine though even though it's not very exciting for adults, so if you want to do different things everyday so no regular naps then he is unlikely to sleep well at night unfortunately.
It's actually easier when you have multiple children I think as your day will have a strong natural routine and the baby will be able to nap at the same times every day.

Yeah i guess I was concerned about the night waking (on his part) as he doesnt self settle but it starting to look like thats what he wants to do. We had a 3 hour and 2 2 hour stints last night so getting abit better at linking cycles..

Are you feeding at every wake up? Feed when you go to bed (10/11ish) then get dad to resettle at any waking before 3ish, should sort out frequent night waking. I gradually pushed the 3am out to 5 and then would bring in to bed with me. He's unlikely to be able to drop the 10/11pm feed until he's on solids though.

The feed seems to have moved away from the baths question but personally I can't understand why so many people have a daily bath as part of a baby's bedtime routine. Of course a bath will wake them more, they don't get the memo on candles and a relaxing soak, that's a hugely adult concept! Clothes off, splashy splashy, drying, lots of temperature changes, it's not at all restful.

Why do they need to be clean for bed? Mine stays in the same sleepsuit (or at least same vest, if he's had more of an "outfit" on) then gets a bath (every other day, generally) and clean clothes in the morning.

@childmindingmumof3 you mean wake him at 10/11pm? Dream feed? Worth a go i guess!

Mine are often filthy after dinner

Some people wake some don't. I just pick the baby up and feed them in the dark, they usually stay pretty drowsy if not asleep.

This was my son's routine at 5 months
Wake at 7am
Bottle and play till 10am
Nap 10-11
Bottle
Play till 1pm
Nap till 3pm
Bottle
Play till 5pm
Nap till 5.30
Play till 7pm
Bottle
Bed
In regards to SIDS, my son is premature with feeding problems, and used to have apenoea and bradycardia episodes during feeds (fine by this age) and he still slept alone at night till we came to bed so we had a couple of hours to spend with each other. As long as baby has a safe sleeping environment the risk of SIDS is minimal and you are making life harder for yourself by watching him constantly

Jellie this is useful for how much sleep baby is getting. It’s on the lower side of normal, but it’s still normal, as are cat naps.

Great thanks. Going to leave things as they are other than making sure the bath comes at the beginning of the wake up time so he has time to wind down. Seems no matter what we do he thinks 9pm is bedtime which is absolutely fine for now. I am sure it will come forward as he becomes more active. So its over to him to do!

Jeez Louise
Don't you go insane with all this over thinking

Why on earth have you dragged up an old thread just to be critical?

You mean truthful

No, I meant what I said.