Why is my baby screaming before bed?

[GiftWrappedSuburbanDreams]

He's coming up to 6 months. Had the same routine before bed for ages now. He's fed, changed, not too hot or cold, not ill etc. As soon as we go to put him in his room he screams bloody murder! 😣
Last night he did it for so long he ended up over tired, waking up 45 mins later and an early wake this morning. Not good. 😔 We're doing an earlier bedtime tonight to make sure he'snot overtired, but he's definitely tired enough to sleep. He's not been awake too long (yet!) But will not stop screaming...

What do you do with him in his room? Cuddle, sway, feed to sleep?

Teeth? Ears?

Try elevating the head end of his cot - if it’s his teeth, or ears / nose blocked being flat can make it loads worse. Good luck!

• edited to add - it only needs to be a little bit, like a folded up towel under the mattress or head end legs, just to alleviate any teeth/sinus pressure.

Our, usually very cheerful and chatty, eight-month-old loves a good scream before bed, while she's being changed and put into her sleeping bag and only ending once her pre-bed bottle is in her mouth! It's become part of her bedtime routine. We think she's expelling extra energy before going to sleep. She is, however, fine when we put her in her cot and is a super sleeper so happy for her to scream the house down for a while if it's what she needs to settle.

Thank you for replying! I think we know what it could be..it seems he may have a bit of separation anxiety. I feed him and usually dh takes him and puts him into the cot. No issues at all. But last night he only settled for me and tonight I took over putting him down and he settled again. Looks like I'm the chosen one. 🙈 Hopefully it's a short phase as dh likes being the one to put him down and I prefer it tbh! Ah well..
@Springadorable I breastfeed him and usually he falls asleep that way at night (I know, sleep associations) or cuddle and the most gentle sway and shush in his room if he's not asleep from the feed. Ideally we'd like him to fall asleep independently, but we don't really know how to get there without causing an overtired cycle.

@Everlore Aww..ours has a bit of a winge cry when being put into his sleeping bag. Does your little girl sleep independently? If so, how did you get there? 😊

Yes, she does get to sleep independently. Sometimes we can just put her down in her cot and she will roll away from us, which is her way of telling us that we are dismissed, other times one of us will sit by the cot with a hand on her chest, singing to her and letting her play with our fingers for a bit until she stops wriggling and rolls away. We can't take any credit in her being such a good sleeper, we haven't really got a clue how we got so lucky with her so I'm afraid I have no tips to share! The only thing I can say is that she is extremely active all day, she's crawling, standing and even starting to cruise now and is interested in getting in to everything. This means her daytime naps have drastically reduced, meaning that she is pretty worn out come bed time.
I try to avoid saying this to tired parents because I know how annoying it is to here, but she regularly manages twelve hours a night and has done so since she was about five months. She might wake up once or twice if she can't find her dummy, but as soon as that's restored she's off again. Now that she's managing three good meals a day as well as her bottles, she no longer wants a night feed either.
We had to move her into her own room a month ago, which we had not planned to do so early, because she would not stop trying to climb out of her Next To Me crib. Not only was she in danger of falling out of it but she would just not lie down in it for a split second. The big Ikea crib won't fit in our room so we had to move her. She's taken to it so well. Not only is it safer as it's far too tall for her to escape from, but i think she's actually sleeping better without us making noise and disturbing her. I was very anxious the first few nights we were apart but we have a very sensitive baby monitor which allows me to hear her sucking her dummy and our rooms are next to each other.
I don't know if you use dummies or what your stance on them is but we have found them absolutely indispensible, both in helping her get to sleep at night but also in soothing her in the day if she's distressed. Maybe we rely on them too much, but they've been a real god-send.

Sounds like reflux.

@GiftWrappedSuburbanDreams feeding to sleep is totally normal and what they are programmed to do, so please don't stress about sleep associations being an issue. If it works, stick with it. Sounds like he is feeling a little clingy and just needs you more right now.

I breastfed both of mine to sleep until the night weaned at about 13 months. At that point they were more willing to accept other forms of comfort and could move themselves around to get comfy or to come closer for a cuddle (we bedshared). But at six months those aren't options yet. They turned out to be some of the best in my friendship group for falling asleep independently and sleeping through, so ignore any comments about rods and backs etc 😂

I think it’s just tiredness or even over tiredness.

I think it’s just tiredness or even over tiredness.

I think it’s just tiredness or even over tiredness.

I think it’s just tiredness or even over tiredness.