Help! Baby not going to bed

[Inversnecky]

Hi all,

Just after some reassurance, tips and advice for a baby who's suddenly stopped going to bed!

Our son is 10 weeks old. When he was very little he was difficult to settle, but we soon got into a bedtime routine of bath, feed, sleep. He took to it really well and would be down by about 9pm. Then a few weeks ago he started getting really cranky about 7pm, so we moved the routine forward and he was down by about 8pm. Again he took to it really well and used to sleep into the early hours.

In the last week though he's started getting really agitated after his bath. He normally cries after coming out but settles down once he's on the breast. But now he's just constantly crying and refusing to feed after his bath. I think he's overtired as when we put him down after a lot of settling, he doesn't wake up till around 2am.

Over the last few days we've really focused on day naps to make sure he's not too tired by bedtime - he normally does 4 hrs in the day, broken up into 1 hour naps - he seems to wake up after each sleep cycle. We also stopped doing bath time at night to see how he responded. Settling at bedtime was great, he had a nice long feed then went down easily, but an hour later he was up and was very difficult to settle for the rest of the night. Not sure if it's because we changed up his routine and he just needs to get used to it again?

Any ideas on why he's started getting restless at bedtime? Could it be an early sleep regression or something? We thought we'd cracked it but now it seems like we're going backwards.

Thanks in advance!

I think this is pretty normal. My DD went through periods of being easy to settle and sleeping well and then not settling and multiple wake ups. Even at 22 months it can still be hit and miss.
Have you looked at the wonder weeks app? It might not be a sleep regression but could be a developmental leap which can cause clinginess, grouchiness and sleep upset.

Thanks Winterweather. No I haven't heard of that app but will have a look! Do you reckon it's worth keeping the same routine of bath, feed, sleep for a bit longer to see if it's just a phase?

He does really like his baths, but my concern is if he continues to get consistently ratty every night, when he gets to around 6 months and we're trying to teach him to go to sleep by himself, he won't be able to because he's so agitated.

It sounds like you're doing great... Sometimes babies don't like to pay attention to how good you're doing. I would keep routine consistent!

Yes, I always keep the routine consistent even if the bed time changes.
The app is a god send. I found it really accurate for my DD and it helped massively to understand when they are being fussy and just want constant cuddles.

Cluster feeding? My DD did it and it nearly drove me crackers, on and off my boobs like a bloody possessed little thing. Stopped after a few weeks.

Thanks all! Don't think it's cluster feeding, as he's not normally hungry when he stirs. It's a nightmare though when it happens!

Maybe we'll keep the bathtime where it is for the moment and see how he gets on next week. Hopefully it's just a phase like you guys say and he'll sort himself out!