Baby crying before bed
My baby is 16 weeks old and generally a very happy baby. She doesn't like to nap in the day but I can usually get 3 good naps out of her per day by putting her in the carrier and basically forcing her to nap 🤣 - she acts like the world is ending for the first 5 mins then is fast asleep for between 45mins-2 hrs. She then wakes up full of beans and can do a 2 hour wake window before needing another nap.
When bedtime comes around though she really really cries most nights for anywhere between 45mins and 2 hours depending on the night. Sometimes she can be inconsolable and it's heartbreaking and exhausting. I can't just put her down in her next2me as she will just cry, so I have to have her on my chest with white noise, back patting, shushing, dummy etc and eventually she will fall asleep but it can take such a long time. Once she is down she then wakes at 1am and 5am for a feed and after these feeds she goes straight back to sleep without a problem. It's only the start of the night that we have this crying.
Does anyone have any tips or know why this could be happening?
My little one did the same thing and still does protest for about 5-10mins before bed time now. What time is her last nap before bed? I found ensuring her last nap was 2hours (ish) before bed helps and then feeding 1hr 30 before means she’s getting tired and is content. I then give her a teething toy to focus on for a little while to relieve any tension and wind down and then starting to begin the settling about 20mins before the 2hour wake window time up. This helped to catch her early sleepy cues and she now takes approx 15-30mins to settle, without many cries as she seems ready for sleep. I hope this helps 🤞🏻