Bathing at Night for Newborn

A schedule is great, when the little ones will cooperate! I have 3 daughters....I found that bathing them right before the latest night feeding is the best way to go. The warm bath relaxes them and normally they'll dose right off to sleep! Congrats on the new baby!

~K

The time that worked for me was after I had dinner and before babies bottle.He went to bed with a full stomach and was ready for some sleep. Good luck.

E.,

Congrats on your new baby! Bath time at our house was after the dinner feeding, before the late night feeding. You will soon stop the late night feeding, so you want the routine to include the bath before the final bottle. Our 9 month old has bath, book, bottle then to bed around 7:30. Both my husband and I work and son is in daycare. This schedule worked well for us. Good luck with the transition back to work in a few weeks!

HI E.,
I would suggest bathing him before the 7 30 feeding- especially if you are going to be back at work. That way, he will have his bath, hs feeding and be ready to go down for the night-
good luck and blessings

Advice from a single, working mom? I would suggest that you not worry about this until you ACTUALLY go back to work for a few weeks. It will likely take you and he a few weeks to make a full adjustment to the rigors of the office and daycare.

A routine is great and necessary for everyone's sanity. However, having your son in daycare is going to alter the rhythm you and he have developed--most have their own schedules and it probably is more rigid than your own. Get to know what their schedule is like and try to mimic on the weekends...trust me, this makes YOUR life and THEIR job so much easier.

I have also figure out that it works just about as well to have a ROUTINE rather than a SCHEDULE. We had a set order and list of activities...but they weren't so time dependent.

That all being said...bathe early as possible. You may find as you get back into work and the crazy of everyday that many nights your little guy just ends up with a wipe down!

We started bathing my son at 7:00 pm. He would go to bed by 7:30 and then wake up at midnight. The more he gets use to daycare the more the schedule will start working. It takes time. So pick the time you want and go with it. If it doesn't work for your family adjust. The first 3 weeks are the hardest for your little guy at daycare. Thing to remember he is getting use to the new schedule. Go to the daycare on a surprise visit and make sure your child is happy. If your son comes home unhappy for over a week I would suggest looking into a different daycare...one with less children. I was so upset about putting my son in daycare. I cried a lot. In the end my son loves daycare. He is a very social little guy. It helps that his teach loves him and gives him the attention he needs.

BTW breastfeeding and working can work but it will drain you some days. I did it for 9 months with the help of formula. The stress of work and being a new mom was hard and my body couldn't produce enough for my little guy. You can mix formula and breastmilk. Do what you can but in the end make sure you are happy.

Good luck. It is ok to cry. You can do it!

I always started the night routine (bath, etc) at 6:00-6:30 at night and then put them down at 7:00. I would give them a feeding (bottle/breastfed) right before they go down. Yes, they may still wake up again for those later night feedings, but eventually it will go away. All three of mine went to day care and it is an adjustment, they were always sooo tired when they got home. I would either put them to sleep for about an hour when we got home or put to bed earlier. It was the same every night. All my kids would go to sleep at 7:00 and most times sleep through the night. My 1 year old has been waking up at midnight or at five, but I think it is because he can't find his paci. We just took out his bumper, so they easily fall out of the bed. This is a whole other subject for another time :) Day Care was great for us. We got along with all the teachers, stay in good communication with them and you will be fine.

I do bath and bedtime with a bottle between 7-8 at night. That is the time I want he to go down. I would bathe him then !etween 7-8 since eventually you hope to cut out the late feeding!

I usually do bath a little after dinner time. Doing it too late can really start a bad routine that you will not want to keep. Bathe earlier so it gives the baby time to calm and relax and then feed about 30 min. to an hour after bath, then off to bed (baby should be nice and relaxed by this time). It may not work perfectly the first few times, but if you stay consistant you should be able to work out the routine. I try to keep this routine with my son (8months) and he usually goes to bed around the same time but usually within a 1 hour window, for example: my goal is 7 so maybe he might go down at 7 today buy maybe 730 tomorrow, and sometimes even closer to 8 but usually never later than that. It just depends on they nap during the day and how tired they are. Good luck with your little one, it will all work out.

We always did our night routine at 7:30 p.m. After she ate, I would play with her for just a bit and give her a bath. Then she would go to bed.

I woke her up at 10:30 p.m. purely for her feeding and would put her right back down. After that I did on demand feeding until 7:30 a.m. the next morning. Then we would start our 3 hour schedule again.

once he's at daycare, let your schedule work off theirs. no point in setting up two that might conflict!

Hi E.,

I am too a first time Mum and have been using the advise of Gina Ford. My little boy started sleeping through the night at 11 weeks after his 11pm feed. I believe ROUTINE is the key. Now my little boy is 5 months old. Every night I give him a bath around 5.30pm before his 6-6.30pm feed. I then put him down to bed at 7pm. I also feed him at 10.30pm at night and then he sleeps through until 7.a.m. Try a baby massage after the bath, then give him his bottle/nurse in a quiet room so he knows it's bed time. I also play his musical lullaby when I put him down so he knows it's night time. Another tip, Make sure his room is dark so when it gets light early, his room is still dark. I have black out blinds. My Sister even tried it on her little boy and he now sleeps better too. Before he'd wake up when the sun came up. I hope this helps. Good luck. You'll need your sleep going back to work.

HI E.,

I would bath him just before his 7:30 dinner, then dinner and to sleep clean!
Congratulations on your baby!

You can bathe him before his last feeding or in the morning. Keep in mind that is really is not necessary to give a newborn a bath each day. The use of a damp cloth and a little dab of baby bath solution is all that is required for the first few months.

A routine is key no matter how young your infant is. It's never too early start. Especially around 5-6 months, & you being solid foods, the easiest time to bathe the baby is after the evening meal. My daughter has eczyma, & was told to be bathed every other day. However, a light washing in between with a wash cloth should be fine, especially if he/she has spit up, & smell of formula/milk.

My daughter began sleeping through the night at about 3 1/2 months old, because I was sure to make a routine of her feedings. Keep track early on of how much your baby eats, & for how long. If he stops eating, & is sucking on the nipple to pacify, invest in a pacifier if you haven't already, & put baby boy back to bed as SOON as the feeding has ended. In a few months, talk to you doctor about adding infant cereal to the bottle. It will stay in his tummy longer, & help him sleep through the night....and you'll be less cranking the next morning. :-)

Hope this helps!

Hang in there mom, you and your baby are going to be fine.

When our daughter was this age, she also was in childcare. My husband and I would come home have dinner and then I or my husband would bathe her. As soon as she was in her jammies one of us would feed her. Then she would pass out.... and sleep till the morning..

My mom is the one that gave me her instructions for getting our child to sleep through the night. I have posted this many times, but I will post it again for you.

Once dinner is finished and it is time for bath, one of you prepare her sleeping area. Make it low light, turn on a noise machine or play soft music.

During the bath, try not be too loud or too animated, speak in calm tones and rub her body with long slow strokes. This will give her a slight massage. Make sure there are no bright lights or loud noises (silence your phones and turn down or off the tv)on your way to her bedroom.

In her room dry her, again with long slow strokes. Speak in soothing calming voices. Place her in her jammies and then feed her. Do not speak with her or make much animated eye contact. She will eat and then she will be a "limp noodle" and may sleep through the night.

If she wakes for another feeding at night, keep the lights as low as possible and change and feed her in this calm dark environment and she will drop off right away.

It is difficult to continue this routine, even on the weekends. But you must try to stick to the schedule as much as possible. Your child will need her sleep, you will be amazed at how much growth will take place once she is on a good sleeping schedule. She will also find it comforting to know what the routine is every night.

I would bathe him at the early feeding time - right before - someday (hopefully soon!) he will be sleeping thru the night after a 7:30 or 8 pm bath.

Hi E.,
Definately never, ever wake up a baby to wash him that late at night. At 10.30pm you can even feed him in his sleep.
At 7 weeks he only needs a top and tails wash any way, so keep bath time to when you want him wide awake and playful. Your sleep is important too. You don't want to teach him that bath time is at 10.30pm as he may grow to expect it.
Congratulations on the baby. I would love to have anyone but we have 2 boys already and our time is past. My sons are 5 and 6 years old. The 5 year old still gets into bed with me now. I will miss it when he stays in his bed all night.
Sincerely,
W.

You'll want to initiate a bedtime routine that you want him to have when he is 12 months, 24 months, etc. So, bathe him early (later afternoon or early evening). This routine should then stick as he gets older (for you and for him!) and hopefully it will just evolve naturally into your normal evening schedule.

Another thing to consider is that, warm baths have a way of loosing tummy muscles and bringing on a BM. So, it would be better if any dirty diapers happen earlier in the evening instead of in the middle of the night... If he were to have a BM late at night, it could cause a diaper rash (from him sleeping in it for an extended period of time).

It is not good for a baby to be bathed every night. So, I would do what is convenient.

I know it's hard but your baby is nly seven weeks old and needs his feedings. they don't sleep through the night until they weigh about 13 lbs and up. Just be patient.