Help! Trouble putting to bed at night

[Renee'sMum]

I am finding that with my dd (she is 5 mo) that putting her to bed for the night is the most difficult.  Putting her down for her naps during the day is usually no problem (knock on wood!!).  Here is her routine:

E 7am
S 9-10:30AM
E 11AM
S 1-2:30PM   sometimes till 3pm
E 3PM
S 5-5:30PM  we go on a walk (so I can get rid of pregnancy weight  )
E 6PM
bath, jammies, read story or sit and talk, sing 'twinkle twinkle little star' as putting down in crib on her side, patting her back, sshhing a bit
S usually by 7:15-7:30pm
E 10:30PM
E 2:30/3AMish (If lucky, will sleep rest of night except for these feedings)

I do the same thing before each nap, except the bath and jammies, and she is asleep within 5 minutes usually, without much struggle or crying.  At bedtime she cries, struggles, arches back.  We have tried varying the time at night, but that doesn't seem to change anything. Is there anything we can do so that bedtime is as pleasant as nap time?  Or is this just her way of settling for the night?  Has it got anything to do with the fact that daddy is home for night but not day?

[Jenn©]

Have you tried the bath in the morning instead?  Sometimes it's just too much for them at night an they have trouble settling.

[Renee'sMum]

No I haven't tried that....sounds like a good idea.  I will try and let you know how it goes.

[*Nicola*]

We moved Ciara's bath to the morning too when she wasn't settling at night. 

We also began using a little star thing from argos that plays a tune for 10 minutes.,  That signified bedtime as was part of that routine. 

Let us know how you get on

[Renee'sMum]

Here is how the bedtime routine went:
6pm- breastfeed
6:20pm- bath and massage and jammies
7:45- read story or just sit and talk in darken bedroom
7pm- cluster feed (sometimes too upset to eat, other times eats well)
7:05-7:10pm-  swaddle, sing song, lullaby music on
and then puépd, shhépat until falls asleep. 

On a good night she would fall asleep around 7:15pm, but it has taken us up to 8pm sometimes. What can we do to replace the .5hour that it was taking for bathtimeÉ  Any suggestionsÉ  We do have Baby Einstein videos...I have read that others use that.  I thought that would be stimulating for a baby.

[colenliam]

Hi,
Just a note about the vides.  Ds loves them therefore if I put one on b4 bed, bed is just not gonna happen.  They are used to stimulate the mind, right?  Just a thought.
I also bought an Ocean wonders music box for ds crib, that helped a lot.  I started to play it while we read a book and then lay him in his crib and away he goes. 
He falls asleep rather well, its keeping him aslep that is our problem.
Good Luck
Oh, have you also tired the lavender bath lotion.  I put that on ds head and face as well as his body.

[Renee'sMum]

Colinliam: Yeah, we have been using a lavender scented body wash and lotion the whole time.  Don't think that it makes a difference with my lo, but thanks for the suggestion!!!   I heard some will play Baby Mozart, but maybe there is a CD?

So tonight was the first night for no bath.  Thought is was going well.  She ate more at the 7pm cluster feed. But it still took till almost 8pm to get her to sleep.  We'll plug on!

[colenliam]

They do have the baby einstein Musicl cds.
They have all kinds, playful ones and one that make you sleep.