mellow evening activities - any ideas?

[Ldogg]

I'm trying to ease my 4-month-old DD into a bedtime ritual... what do you do with your LO in the hour or two prior to bedtime? I don't want to overstimulate her - which is easy to do! - but I'm hoping to keep her awake long enough to make it to an approximate bedtime of 8ish. Any ideas?

[Knitting Mama]

We don't do a bath every night because Cecilia is prone to dry skin like her mama (we don't use soap either), but when we do, that keeps Cece's attention for as long as we stay in there! Then we read a couple of books, do the diaper change, swaddle and nurse to sleep.

[Ldogg]

Yeah, we don't do a bath every night either, due to some eczema. And I really want to read books before bed, but at this point they are still really stimulating and have the opposite effect! Strangely enough, so does bathtime (when we have it). It totally ramps her up for some reason...

So right now we usually just diaper change, swaddle, nurse, rock, sing/shush, then off to bed. But I have been thinking a lot about the stuff before that part... just started reading NCSS the other day to get some ideas about preventing sleep issues (if possible!), and I'm keeping a log about prebedtime routines. There's an awful lot of "active" activity with bright lights and loud noises, so I'm hoping to induce a calmer state somehow. Or maybe I should just relax and not be such a control freak!

[Knitting Mama]

Maybe some baby massage?

[EmTheWife]

we usually change baby into jammies, take a nice walk, then dh holds baby while I get ready for bed, then change diaper, nurse in bed and transfer to side carred crib; in total, about 1.5-2 hrs

[SunRise]

Typically, baby does some diaper free time, laying on her back kicking her legs, while we sit around/wind down.
When she has had enough, we get her diapered and dressed in sleepwear.
Sometimes a walk around the block.
Then she eats, we lay in bed, cuddle a bit and get settled and she falls a sleep while I read to my other child.

[SilverFish]

my chickie goes down at about 7 pm most nights (it occasionally is 9 or later, like tonight when momma wasn't feeling well and we both slept way more than normal). i find that really the biggest thing is to get that last nap timed properly. too tired and anything happening before bedtime is too stimulating and stressful. but it really doesn't seem to matter what we do before bedtime, as long as she's gone the right amount of time since her last nap.

we tend to do some play time with daddy, maybe go for a walk, maybe have a bath (especially on hot days) and then it's change, swaddle, nurse, singing and rocking, and putting down.

[cloudbutterfly]

I reread most of NCSS a few weeks ago, and it got me thinking that our before-bed routine was WAY too stimulating. It seemed like the rest of the day was just willy-nilly, but at bedtime I'd try to pack in every fun activity I wanted to do with him in a day to try and tire him out. So instead of focusing on coming up with more soothing activities for nighttime, I tried to pack in the stimulating activities early in the day. Between that and making sure he doesn't nap later than 5 pm or so, by the time I'm getting him ready for bed, he's impatient for me to get us into bed so he can nurse off to sleep. Our routine is really short now: finish dinner at the table, change into PJ's, give him his reflux medicine, "brush" his teeth, wash his face, change his diaper, read a few books, and then go into the bedroom and nurse to sleep. No more tummy/play time on the bed, no more last turn in the jumperoo, just down to the business of getting to bed. I think I have it down to 1 to 1.5 hours, unless he has a hard time settling and the nursing lasts a long time...usually a day when he napped too late.

Infant massage and bath time are wonderful, too, but I never can seem to keep the bath in the routine for more than two nights in a row, and for some reason I haven't been doing the infant massage. Not sure why, because we both enjoy it.

The other thing I took away from my reread of NCSS that made a miraculous difference was taking him into a darkened room as we got close to bedtime and then not letting him see light until the sun was up again. I managed to get his bedtime several hours earlier within a few days, just by accidentally doing this one night for what I thought was a late but much needed nap for both of us and being shocked at the results. Darkness seems to be the ultimate quieting-down cue for my son...I wish I'd known that months ago!

[ada]

When my brother was a baby (he's six now) I'd turn the lights down, play some music, and read him stories in my bed. Every night. We didn't do baths every night because he had (and still does have) pretty sensitive skin. It's pretty much the same routine now, except HE reads ME stories now, instead of the other way around.

[akind1]

We read stories, sit him on my lap while we watch some TV (this is for mama, he is more interesting in playing with my clothes), and nurse to sleep. We do baths maybe once a week, or less. otherwise he goes in the shower with me when I feel he needs to be washed off (like after pool time) and that is in the morning.

Infant massage would be really helpful I think, and is bound to get you both mellow. Your local library should have some books, I found a few at mine.

[greenemami]

well, dd is 3, so ds kind of fell into her routine We usually brush teeth, then I change his diaper and put on jammies (when it is not so hot at least!), then he either nurses or cuddles on my lap while we read bedtime stories. Dd falls asleep on the couch while I sing to her and nurse ds to sleep next to her. That is how it is supposed to go at least! we don't do daily baths either b/c of ezcema. I am trying to make a habit of going for a walk after dinner and then starting the bedtime routine, but it doesn't always work out like that-someday!

[tzs]

if i want dd to stay up a little later we have to DO something too. the only options i can think of that don't lead to screaming tired meltdown (like reading does) is taking a walk and taking a bath.
i really didn;t think the nighttime bath would work fir her because she gets so revved up but i remember putting her down after our first nightttime bath and her limbs were just limp. she passed out right away. nice.

[Ldogg]

I like the diaper-free time; DD seems to respond well to that -- it seems especially nice to do it in a dim room! I wish I could do the bath or massage thing nightly, but for some reason I have a hard time getting my act together to be regular at either of those (though i do enjoy both of them a couple times per week with the LO).

Maybe when she gets a little older we can work books into the pre-bedtime routine; hopefully someday they will be more relaxing and less stimulating.