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May 2015 Moms
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night time routine - bath every night?

SmrBrd2012SmrBrd2012 member
in May 2015 Moms
So H and I are running into huge challenges when it comes to getting LO down for the night. We start at 7 or 8pm with a goal of him being down by 10 and it's an ongoing process until 11!

His afternoon nap time can vary a lot but he's usually up for a couple hours before we try to put him down for the night. One of the deviations from our routine is that we do not do a bath every night. LO gets one about every 2-3 days. I was reluctant to do them more frequently because I was worried about it drying his skin. Also, although he has no problems being in the bath (usually very calm), once we take him out, he screams because he's cold, so bath time seems to not be a restful experience for him. What do you all do/recommend?
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Re: night time routine - bath every night?

  • ltcamacholtcamacho member
    We do a bath every night but only use soap every other night. Her skin is just as soft as it was the day she was born :) DD also screams when we take her out. I put lotion on her and that seems to calm her back down.
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  • justkeeptryingjustkeeptrying member
    We don't bath every night. We do it every few days unless there's been a big poop explosion. And when we do bath it's not right before bed. It's usually an hour or two before his last feeding of the night.

    I'm not sure what your routine currently includes but here's ours:

    We start between 9:30-9:45. I feed DS, then DH takes him to burp and change him, put into swaddle me. Then DH rocks DS in our glider while I read a bedtime story. I sing 2 short songs, DH says a prayer and then I say a prayer. I kiss DH goodnight and then DS goodnight. I go to sleep (my favourite part) and DH rocks him until he falls asleep which is usually an hour to an hour and 15 minutes from the time I started feeding him (sometimes he's fallen asleep by the time we finish the story). Then DH lays him in his bed.

    I have no clue what your daytime routine is like but often babies have a hard time going to sleep if they're overtired. My sleep consultant recommends under 3 months to only be up an hour and a half maximum at a time. So if your LO has been up for 2 hours before you start bedtime routine, he very well may be overtired before you've even started.

    As for bathtime cold: we immediately take DS out and lay him in his hooded towel. We have another large towel underneath it that we then wrap around as well and DH gives him hugs. It seems to warm him up.

    Hopefully that's somewhat helpful. Sorry if it's not. Good luck!
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  • arfx412arfx412 member
    I do a bath everynight. My son knows that's the nightly routine plus he loves his baths
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  • montanchelsymontanchelsy member
    I don't do bath every night and I don't think you need to do one to establish a nighttime routine.
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  • erin79erin79 member
    chambersbaby2015 said:
    I have no clue what your daytime routine is like but often babies have a hard time going to sleep if they're overtired. My sleep consultant recommends under 3 months to only be up an hour and a half maximum at a time. So if your LO has been up for 2 hours before you start bedtime routine, he very well may be overtired before you've even started. 
    I agree with this.  It's possible your nighttime routine is just taking too long.

    LO is up for 2 hours max between her last nap and bedtime.  This time chunk includes a nursing session when she wakes up from her nap, a little playtime, a bath, another nursing session, and then swaddle and rocking to sleep.

    My DS also freaks out after we get her out of the bath and get her in her diaper and jammies.  I don't get it, but my son did the exact same thing, so I just accept it. 
    :-S  I just put her on the boob as soon as I can after she's dressed and that calms her down.


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  • danibonellodanibonello member
    So glad to know my DD isn't the only one that cries when out of the bath. I always feel so bad because she's so happy in the tub, I hate to take her out because I know how quickly her mood is going to drop. I would have always thought being wrapped up in a hooded towel and cuddled would be warm and cozy. Guess not!
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  • erin79erin79 member
    danibonello said:
    So glad to know my DD isn't the only one that cries when out of the bath. I always feel so bad because she's so happy in the tub, I hate to take her out because I know how quickly her mood is going to drop. I would have always thought being wrapped up in a hooded towel and cuddled would be warm and cozy. Guess not!
    We even warm the towel in the dryer for her. It's like a spa! Why all the crying?!  :P
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  • LadyBloodLadyBlood member
    Our night time routine usually starts between 9 and 9:30. He gets a shower with dad (soap on tues, thurs, and sun, or when he's had a bad poop) then he gets passed to me with a towel I dry him off and then dad takes him and puts a diaper on him and sleepy time lotion, then puts his pjs and sleep sack on him, I feed him in the bedroom and then once he's falling asleep we give him his pacifier and put him in his pack n play where he falls asleep between 5-15 minutes after being put down. So he's usually asleep between 10-10:30
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  • kaycorey89kaycorey89 member
    We do baths every night, occasionally we don't if we have been out somewhere and didn't get home at a decent time. He usually wakes in the mornings around 10, then I feed him and let him play for a bit and look around. He is usually asleep within the hour at most an hour and a half. Then he sleeps til about 2 in the afternoon, wakes up and feeds sometimes he will go in his swing for a bit, he doesn't like to fall asleep in the swing he's too nosy haha. Then he's usually out again around 4 and sleeps til 630 or 7 gets up and feeds again, then has a short nap til usually 9-930, sometimes its 10. Then we start the bedtime routine, I'll feed him half his bottle, then get him into his bath with the bedtime soaps and then the bedtime lotion. Then get him into his jammies and read a story sometimes depends on if daddy is home or not. We finish his bottle and get him burped and then some cuddles and he's usually out by midnight, sometimes if he's really fighting it he won't go to sleep completely until 1. Long stretch for him to be up, but he's so nosy and scared he's gonna miss something haha. Then he's usually out for 8 hours.
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  • smashbaby111smashbaby111 member
    We opted out of including baths in a sleep routine, LO gets all worked up when we take her out, so it's not soothing for her... We do baths morning or midday
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  • morgansWed105148morgansWed105148 member
    We are doing 2 days a week and adding a 3rd next week. I have read a newborn only needs 2-3 baths a week
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  • rachelarynxorachelarynxo member
    Trying bedtime bath or lotion or a combo may work for you. I bathe DS every other day like suggested, and usually about an hour or so before I give him his bedtime bottle. The lotion smells like lavender and so does the bath, and it's made him a little calmer at night, even when tired and cranky. It's hard to get them on a schedule, but if you try starting to put him down the same time every night, say 9 (that's when my LO usually goes down and sleeps till 6 or 7), start the routine 2 hours beforehand if you're bathing them. Putting them in PJs at night lets them know is night and time for sleep. If they wake up for a feeding at night still, keep the lights low and don't try to chat like you do during the day. Then burp them and put them right back down. My guy fought it at first, but now he's able to get himself to sleep even if I don't put him down passed out, because he's used to it being bedtime. Worth a shot! It's made by Johnson and Johnson FYI
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  • shelles423shelles423 member
    We started doing a bath every night just so she will know It's time for bed. She enjoys them a lot but also hates when it's over and we take her out. We only use soap every other day or so. She seems to fall asleep much quicker when she gets a bath. We had to skip abath one night and it took a while to get her to sleep
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  • duynguyen51duynguyen51 member
    My LO get a bath every other day and he loves it. It seem like a lot of peoples are having issues with their baby screaming after a bath. What I do is that before I even bath him, I turn the space heater on and close the RR doors so that it could get warm and cozy. Then, I get all his clothes, diaper, towels, etc ready and as soon as he get out of the water I wrapped him in a towel and lay him down on the restroom counter (I put a thick towel where he lay and and then hubby & I get him dried off and changed). He only cried about 30 second or so, so it works for us. Also he loves the sound of water so while I changed him , I turn water on so the sound could soothe him and it works every time.
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  • kerriam26kerriam26 member
    It sounds like perhaps you should start the bedtime routine later? If your LO isn't falling asleep until 11, why are you starting the routine at 7 or 8? Until your baby is sleeping 10-12 hours, it's okay to start the routine later at night.

    I start our bedtime routine at 10pm. I give LO a bath every other day but sometimes if he's really sleepy I'll skip it to not over-stimulate him. He also seems to enjoy the bath part but cries when taken out because he's cold. Recently I've taken his hooded towel and lay it across my chest. I take him out of the bath, put him on me with the back towards me and then wrap the towel around him with my arms in a hug. That way he's wrapped in the towel and against my body with my arms around him. He likes that a lot. Then I take him into his dimly lit room, put on his PJs, turn on the sound machine, feed him while softly singing, burp him and he's usually asleep right after. In total it takes about an hour so he's asleep by 11pm and wakes up at 7:00am.

    If he starts sleeping longer, I'll then push his bedtime back earlier.

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  • nursej519nursej519 member
    Wow, a lot of you have very intense sleep routines. We do not have our LO on a set routine and that is on purpose. We don't want her to be thrown off if we aren't doing something exactly the way she is used to. When I can tell she is getting tired, I use the J&J nighttime lotion, put pajamas on her, swaddle her, bottle, burp, and laid down while still awake. She sleeps 8-10 hours. Sometimes she goes down at 8, other nights it may not be until 10 or 11.
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  • MrsWhiteToBeMrsWhiteToBe member
    caseheela said:

    Call me gross or lazy or whatever but my babe gets a bath maybe once a week. Basically when her hair starts to look a little greasy or if she gets a funk. She hasn't had any skin problems (cradle cap, acne, eczema, or dryness) so far. She's not rolling around in dirt or running marathons so it's not like she's getting filthy on a daily basis.

    We bathe DD once a week. The dr said we didn't need to do it more than twice a week as long as we were spot cleaning her with wipes.
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  • Amber WoodsAmber Woods member
    Every night at 830 I change LO diaper, put nighttime lotion, read him a book for about 15 min and then feed him. The whole thing takes until about 9. He passes out every night when done! I only bathe him every 3 days. We have very hard water where I live and it's not really good for him
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  • caseheelacaseheela member
    MrsWhiteToBe said:

    caseheela said:

    Call me gross or lazy or whatever but my babe gets a bath maybe once a week. Basically when her hair starts to look a little greasy or if she gets a funk. She hasn't had any skin problems (cradle cap, acne, eczema, or dryness) so far. She's not rolling around in dirt or running marathons so it's not like she's getting filthy on a daily basis.

    We bathe DD once a week. The dr said we didn't need to do it more than twice a week as long as we were spot cleaning her with wipes.
    I felt so alone! I had everyone chewing my ear off because I do this!
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