3.5 month old inconsolable at bedtime

Hi everyone,

As stated in the title, our LO will be crying for anything from 30 minutes to almost 2 hours every night at bedtime. I've read stories already from other parents but, as every baby is unique, I thought I'd share our own experience here.

I'm not complaining as we're lucky with an easy baby: he sleeps long stretches at night (until around 5am, though agitated from 3am usually), goes back to sleep easily around 6 until 8 or 9, is happy during the day, goes down easily for naps (with some crying but quickly resolved). We just feel emotionally tired and helpless at bedtime.

Napwise, he'll usually sleep at 10.30-11am for an hour or two. The next nap is around 3pm. 2 naps a day nowadays. They can go from 30 mins to over 2 hours (especially if we're on a walk and he's in his stroller). We basically follow his cues.

Around 5-6pm he gets fussy (witching hours). At around 6pm we get started with our bedtime routine: diaper change, jammies, bottle, story, soothing. He starts crying in the bedroom when we put him down in his bed (cosleeper). And then we can spend over an hour trying to soothe him... Getting out of the bedroom and resetting helps (we even get smiles haha), but the minute we step in the bedroom again, he starts crying. We've tried to let him cry a bit on his own but 1. I can't take it for very long (a minute that feels like forever) 2. It only gets worse anyway. We usually get him to finally give in with 30mL of milk (if he'll take it).

Any advice? There's no instruction manual that comes with those little humans, but hoping you might see patterns? Also very aware it's probably very normal, especially as he's learning so much.