P is now 3 months old and we are having trouble getting her to settle at night. For the first few weeks she was fine and we would put her in the crib awake and she would shuffle about for 5 mins then nod off. Its been getting progressively worse. I started having to bf her to sleep even though she had just had a big bf and ff top up but now even that doesnt work and she thrashes around and pulls at my nipples and gets very agitated. I think this is because she wants to suck for comfort but doesnt want milk! She refuses to take a dummy.

I try and have the lights dim etc downstairs and i put her in her crib chilled and sleepy but the moment she is in there she is wide awake and almost like she is hyper! She waves her arms and legs about and then starts crying. Last night i did a bit of baby massage on my bed to try and calm her but it didnt really do much. We had a nightlight on next to her bed toi in case she doesnt like going from light to totally dark but that didnt seem to help. We have ordered a slumber buddy which we will try hopefully tonight.

I think there are 3 issues - 1-she is going to bed too alert with not enough winding down so looking for ideas to try. 2-she wants to suck but i dont think this will be cured till she either wants a dummy which i am persevering with or finds her fingers. 3-she is always bunged up (this is an issue i am sorting with GP hopefully and a whole other story!). I put a bit of baby olbas on a muslin last night and it helped her a lot so that issue is being sorted.

So please share your bedtime routines with me!! 

TIA x

I'm not sure that ours will help, but E has dinner with us, then a bath or shower around 7pm, we have a cuddle and play in the nursery away from all tv and crazy ness and then she has milk, grobag and into bed with her white noise app if she's still awake ten mins later, same for dummy..

Re the stuffy nose, have you tried a humidifier, or a calpol plug in, suitable from 3m? I thought Es stuffy nose was one of those things but my cousin, who's daughter is also lactose intolerant has the same so I wondered if it was related. I also put s futile balm on my chest when I'm feeding her the last bottle so she can breathe in it then too.. She'd lick it off herself so don't put it on there unless absolutely desperate haha. Otherwise told snuffle balm on their feet too.

I started turning the lights low and tv quiet from about 7ish, tried not to stimulate him too much from then.

We start the wind down bout 7 with him going to bed about 9 at the moment. (we are hoping to get the time down over the next few weeks)

He gets bathed, which isn't really a wind down event as he get's very excited in the bath and then very upset when he's been dried. He then gets his jammy's on, growbag and then has a bottle in the bedroom which is dark with only a red light to allow us to see by without it being so bright that W gets fired up again. He gets his bottle, and then we put him in his crib whether he's Awake or asleep.

I am finding getting a routine going a nightmare as he seems to be sleeping right through the time when I would be doing it. He gets a feed about five or six then has a bit of a chat and usually falls asleep at about seven through to his next feed. Should I wake him up? I can't bath him after a feed as I think it makes his reflux worse, we have a tummy tub.

I do find that the Johnstons baby bedtime bath and lotion are great (when I get a chance to use them!).

JRJ personally I'd be treating 7pm as bedtime so working the routine up to then, and the giving next feed as a dream feed, how old is your LO? This is for my 29w old :)

He's 9 weeks but don't think a dream feed would work as he has reflux so I need to make sure he is winded properly and stays upright afterwards for a while after. He woke after a short nap and has had a bath and tummy massage and is taking a feed now. Planning on giving a top up feed at half ten before I head to bed and hope that sees him through. He wouldn't settle at all last night and ended up sleeping in his bouncer for a few hours so anything will be an improvement!

What dummies have you tried? I feel like I bang on about it all the time but I practically bought tesco out of dummies. The only ones that worked were tommee tippee cherry ended - life saver! First night I introduced it when he was tiny I got 5hrs unbroken sleep.

I can't help with the routine bit as we used to wind down upstairs in dim light, bath and feed then I'd put him into bed and shhh him. Before 10weeks I stayed up with him watching tv quietly. But after that I felt happy with the monitor downstairs and checking on him every hour or so.

I didn't bother with a bedtime routine til he set his own sleep time at about 20 weeks, even then it was a lot after that that it was consistent.

S is 15 weeks and has to fit in with her sisters routine so bath then big sister has her milk and goes to bed (she fortunately is an amazing sleeper) then take S into our room around 7.30 and feed her if she wants it then pace and rock her to sleep put her in bed, she wakes and repeat process until she stays in bed asleep usually by 9.  

Tonight I tried putting her down groggy and shushing and after 59 minutes of her not having any of it firstly giggling and trying to play then crying I got her up as she was so hot by this point I was worried.  She fell asleep within 5 mins and went to bed no problem.  This was around 9.30 by this point.

I so don't remember it being this hard with #1, I must have rose tinted glasses on!!!  I said to H I think we may have to go to university with her as she will still need to be rocked to sleep.  

Thanks everyone!

VE i feel the same. It definitely wasnt this hard with G and she was sleeping through every night by 8 weeks!

The slumber buddy made no difference either....

We started a bedtime routine at 3 months too, and I know its against guidelines but I put her down in the cot in my room to settle. She has some naked playtime from about 6.15, bath at about 6.40, feed, then in bed at 7.30. I put lullabies on her monitor and she cuddles a very soft toy to her cheek. Sometimes she takes about 30 mins of chat, but she generally goes off

mcsquirtle I agree, p will only take the tt cherry ones too!  

I've started giving p a dream feed before i go to sleep but she's actualy woke sooner than without it so far. she wakes every 3 hours (sometimes 2 :-( ) but settles pretty easy.

I try to have some routine of bath/wash, dark room etc  feed and put her down but doesn't always happen. I've found she prefers to go down in her crib now all of a sudden and she hated it before!

Was the slumber buddy no good then?