Bedtime Bath

I'm going to take a page from my friend Reeves, The Product Mama, and provide a product review of a recent purchase.

My bottle looks different from this, but I did get it on clearance at Babies R Us, so maybe the packaging change is the reason for the clearance price I got.  (As a side note, I'm a total sucker for a clearance price; I'll buy anything if it's on clearance.  Definitely something to work on, budget-wise!  So I bought this, naturally...)  We were out of bath wash for MKM and I was going to get Aveeno, but I decided to try this instead.  You see, I was intrigued with this claim:

"A nightly routine that includes a warm bath using JOHNSON'S BEDTIME BATH, followed by a massage with JOHNSON'S BEDTIME LOTION, and quiet time, is clinically proven to help babies fall asleep easier and sleep through the night better. " (emphasis added by me)

This product apparently has something called "NATURALCALM" essences that apparently, when released, help soothe children and make it easier for them to sleep.

Ok, most of you who read this probably know this about my child:  he's not a sleeper and he's very rarely calm.  So I really didn't hope for much in the sleep department.  I don't really believe that a certain type of bubble bath can make him sleep better.  This routine encourages a warm bath and a soothing massage with the accompanying lotion before your child goes "quietly off to sleep".  I think that sound like a lovely evening and is certainly a goal of mine for Mitchell's nighttime routine. 

As it is now, our routine is slightly less serene than that.  Bathtime usually consists of Mitchell beating whatever toy I've given him repeatedly on the water and gleefully enjoying the splashes.  Then the drying off/soothing massage portion of the evening more closely resembles a wrestling match, usually involving both me and John trying to dry him off, put a diaper on and hopefully slathering some lotion on various parts of his body which we can haphazardly cover while he thrashes around.  That is followed by one of us quietly trying to read him a book or two, while he sqirms out of our arms or lap, trying to get the nearest page from the book into his mouth.  It's hardly a relaxing time for any of us.  My only hope each night is that he will calm down enough while he's nursing that he'll go to sleep once I put him in his crib.  Some nights he does; some nights he doesn't.  So, pardon the bad pun, but I kind of felt that whatever calming effects that this product purports would be, for us, ahem...a wash. 

Having said that, the scent of this stuff is sublime.  I actually found myself sniffing Mitchell's hair when I was laying in bed this morning feeding him.  I like it so much more than the fakey lavendar scent that some of the other washes and lotions have.  It is not exactly floral, but has a very clean, fresh, yummy scent that will make you want to eat your little one right up (even if they are acting like a wild banshee).  I'm even going to go so far as to say that I'd put a few squirts of this in my own nighttime bath just so I could smell like this all the time.

So, in closing, I can't really endorse this product for it's sleep enhancing properties, but I'm going to keep using it, and keep working towards that lovely, ideal bedtime routine.  Whatever the outcome, at least I can take comfort in the fact that my child smells heavenly in the process!

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Edited to add: I meant to post a link to a $2 off coupon to this product if you want to try it.

http://johnsonsbaby.com/Sleep/default.html