Bath Before or After Last Feed of Night

[hummingbird]

I am currently bf a nine week old bub and have this week started a routine of bathing just before her 'last' feed of the night at 6pm (she usually has a dream feed at about 10.30pm and then another early morning feed at 4.30am). Before I was bathing her in the morning every other day, no set time, just whenever it worked.

I was just curious to know other mum's routines around bath time, specifically if you bath before or after the last feed of the night.

Thanks in advance,
Siobhan

[drewid]

I've always bathed Andrew before his last breastfeed at night. As he grew older, I then just made sure he had his solids before the bath, and his milk after. Has always worked a treat :)

[LittleBoysRock]

A nurse at told me after DS was born that they bathe Prem babies to wake them up. I have always bathed Owen before his last feed, it has worked for us.

Goodluck. :)

[Me]

I generally bath before last feed but just depends on how we are going for time. But she always has solids before a bath - just way too messy any other way... especially considering the other night i poped over to the neighbours and realised as i knocked that she had pumpkin in her hair:eek:

[DIANNEKB]

Hi

I feed Cody before his bath only because I was told to do thisby the midwife cause if they are hungry they wont enjoy the bath..this has worked for us but may not work for you... just try it either way and see what works best for bubs... I have actually fed him some bottle before the bath and the rest after as well, this worked as well... :smiliedance:

Di.

[sharvs]

Kayden has solids around 5pm, a bath at 6.30pm & last bottle at 7pm. This has been his routine since 6 weeks (without the solids, of course!)

[leenaomi]

Hi Siobhan,

My DD is now 20 months old but we've used the same nighttime routine since she was born and found that it works very well. When she was newborn, we would bath her at around 7:00pm and then give her her last bottle just before putting her to bed. Then we'd read her a story in bed.

Now she has showers with one of us just before bedtime and doesn't have a drink, but the routine is still pretty much the same: bath, bed, story.

I've read that it's best for babies not to associate a feed with going to bed because they begin to rely on it to get to sleep, but we didn't pay attention to that!

I say whatever works, do it but be consistent with the routine. Hope that helps.

[Manxie]

Hi

Bath then feed. When DD was a small bub I used to do nappy off time around 5.30pm, and tummy time (good for bringing up any wind). Then bath time around 6.15 then a lazy feed to relaxing music from 6.30 until 7pm ish.

We still do the bath then feed but bath is more like 6.30 and feed starts at 7pm.

[Motherhoodjoys]

Hi it sounds like the bath then feed is working well for you. I have found it worked well for me with both of my children because babies tend to have more awake time in late arvo so it helps fill in time before they are really hungry before bed. It also relaxes themready for a good feed.
You sound like you are doing so well -what a great mum.
Do what works best for you, hubby and baby. Have fun.:smiliedance:

[mumof5sarah]

As a mother of 5 I can tell you that it is always better to bathe them first. Just try to give them a bath before they get really hungry. If they do cry while they are in the bath just shorten the bath time. The bath is so relaxing for them and then to have a feed, what more could they want !!!!

[Natsmummy]

It all depends on the kind of day I'm having but what I have found very good is to give him one side (or just a little from both) and then to bath my bubs using the Johnsons Bedtime Bath. We then finish off the feed and he is so relaxed he falls straight to sleep afterwards.

[amymay]

hi i have a 9.5 month old and he has had a bath before he night bottle since being a new born. i also use to bath him in the morning before his morning sleep to relax him, i use to do this until about 7 months. good luck

[myowneden]

We have followed this routine ever since DS was about 4 weeks old. 6:30pm bottle followed immediately by bath & bed. Now that he is 6 months old, it's changed to 6:00pm bottle followed by solids, bath & bed. This has worked great for us. He is asleep by no later than 7:30pm and has slept through the night waking at about 6:00am since he was twelve weeks old. :thumbsup: