Bedtime Routine/Bath question

mommmyz

We've had a pretty simple bedtime routine since DS was about 2 months: massage, pj's, sleepsack, 2 books, nurse. We've always just tacked bath on to the beginning every other night/every third night or so. We continue to have some big sleep issues (he goes down okay - with nursing, but wakes 4 times, like clockwork, during the night. I would love to get it down to 2!), so we're trying to really work on it with a few different solutions right now, including revamping our routine a bit. We're going to focus on quieter play in a dimly lit room for about 15 min. before starting the routine.

 My question is, does the bath part need to be every night for it to really help with the routine? I know some people do just a bath for the warm water every night, not necessarily soap. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

I know it won't solve our sleep problems, we're just starting at the beginning!

Sofka

we started a nightly bath (really, a soaking of the skin, with soap only for the diaper area) when DD was 3.5 mo old on advice of our allergist, DD had (and has again this winter) really bad eczema and the dr suggested soaking her for 15-20mins each night. In her words, "if we all sat in a bath for that long each night, we'd all have amazing skin."

now it's part of our routine, but for us - no, having a routine did not help w/ sleeping/waking issues. I BFed DD to sleep til 14mo old and Ferberizing at 9.5mo helped somewhat (but your baby is way too young for Ferber/CIO).

 

Mrs.Ram

1. I'm glad you asked this, and am curious to see the responses. We bathe DD every other night, and while I think it might be helpful from a consistency perspective to do it every night, I don't want to dry her out. Her skin is fine. I moisturize her after the bath, but that's it.

2. I love your DS's pictures, both the one you have up now and the one you had previously of him in jeans. He looks so happy, they always make me smile!

eeclem

We only do a bath a few times a week, so I personally don't think it has to be every day to be part of the routine. But, I would guess that your problem isn't so much the bath as the nursing to sleep. I would try nursing earlier in the routine so that you break that sleep association and just do rocking (with or without a pacifier) before sleep.

C has never been a particularly good sleeper, but we did Ferber at 5 months and it was very helpful for reducing night wakings. Before you even get to the CIO part, there's a lot of good info about routines and sleep associations.

fatjavacat

I bathe DS every few days.  If he seems particularly upset/tense sometimes it helps him relax a bit.  And now that we are on solids - he gets icky faster.   That being said - I don't think he sleeps better the night he has baths.  

mlvmd

We do playtime on his changing pad for about 10-15 minutes before a bath every night.  DS spits up a lot so a bath is a good idea anyway, but we do it also for the amount of energy he expends.  He will splash wildly for as long as we let him so by the time we go back to his room he is already getting drowsy.  We also keep his room really dark, I noticed he sleeps much better this way.  (However, this is becoming a challenge now that it is lighter later.)

MrsTiara

We still do bath every other night (or playground days even if it's an off night) and it doesn't affect the routine at all.  BabyCrown gets so wound up for baths that it certainly doesn't help to calm him down.

mommmyz

Thanks everybody! I know the nursing to sleep is the big issue, we're just trying to work on it all right now. Well, next week especially because I have spring break so I can stand a few less hours sleep a bit better then. I'm not ready to CIO, but I am ready to try getting him to sleep other ways. Last night was our best night in a LONG time, he had an almost 5 hour stretch and a 3 hour stretch, then some shorter ones, but I was so proud of him for that 5 hour one! He used to do that regularly, so I'm hoping we can get back there. We did do a bath last night...but sounds like the consensus is that doesn't matter too much.

 Of course, now I've probably jinxed myself for tonight...fingers crossed!

 

Sofka

a lot of people will say that nursing to sleep is a problem but IMO it's a very natural thing and it's not like it'll last forever. I did it for 14mo and I have no regrets b/c it really helped to calm down and comfort DD and I loved the closeness, it is something I'll never have w/ her again. And what's 14mo (or even 2yrs if you decide to do it longer) in the grand scheme of things?

smittendorff

We have never given either of our boys a bath every night and never made it part of the bedtime routine.  The pedi recommends bathing only every 3 days or so.  With my 5 week old, we do diaper, jammies, swaddle, and nurse.  His Halo sleepsack swaddles are what really set the tone for night time.