Need help with bedtime/bath routine gone wrong!

[meredith1851]

Hello,
I hope I have posted this in the correct place.  I think I need to revise my bedtime/bath routine.  I have a very spiritied/high energy almost 13 mth old DS who gets miserable when tired...rubs the eyes, wines, gets clingy etc.  For the past 9 mths we start his bedtime routine at 7PM when he first yawns and gets a little clingy. We give him a bath and then put him down.  The problem is that he gets hyper during and after his bath and gets a 2nd wind of energy.  It is almost impossible to ge thim lotioned, diapered and changeg as he starts running around like crazy and does not sit still.  He wines when getting dressed and is quite uncooperative.  I feel like I am wrestling with him.  Is this normal or should I alter his routine?  He does go to sleep ok....sometimes needs to be settled down as he fools around in his crib.  If I wait to put him to bed a little later then he is just so miserable/cranky after his bath etc still but is even worse.

[skatty]

I've been there with my spirited dd! Sometimes you just have to skip the bath or do it earlier! I think this is a very common situation with spirited children as they are so easily over stimulated. Even at 2½ when my dd started nursery I would bath her before dinner so after dinner she could just chill out  I know you weren't asking about bedtime but i found with my dd once the eye rubbing started she was already on her way to getting OT so maybe you could try having him in his PJs and almost in the cot by then, my very energetic dd has always needed more than average sleep. Maybe you could do the bath earlier, get him in his PJs a little earlier and then have a story/song/cuddle before getting in the cot 

[Chicane]

I would definitely bring the routine forward and even do bath as early as 6pm if possible and aim for him to be asleep by 7-7.30. Also, if the bath hypes him up you could consider moving it to the morning if that fits in with everybody else? Katt's idea of doing it before dinner is a good one too. Putting him to bed later is only going to compound the problem - OT is almost always helped by an earlier bed time. Seems anti intuitive but it works I promise! My DS is textbook but even he has sketchy moments and we just skip bath if its been a big day for him.

[meredith1851]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will give an earlier bath a try and see how it goes.

[Chicane]

let us know how you get on xo

[creations]

Coming to this thread late I know.
Tracy did advise that a bath just before bed at this age is too stimulating.  It's something I've been considering moving because DS enjoys the bath so much but is getting too tired to stay in there and enjoy it to the full.  I can't see where I could move it to realistically though.
Anyways, just thought I'd mention the BW advice on pre-bed time baths does alter at this age.