Lunchtime nap problems

[Breelight]

My 6 month old baby has refused to sleep in her cot for her middle of the day 2 hour sleep for the last 2 months. She was absolutely fine before that and went down quite happily but when she reached 4 months she just stopped one day without any obvious reason. She still goes down ok at night which is great but even when showing all signs of tiredness and at the right time to go down at around 12-12.30, she starts crying within minutes which just escalates into inconsolable tears and bellowing. I ended up having to take her out for a walk every day for 2 hours initially, which is unsustainable and now put her in her carrycot and walk round the back garden instead. She's is asleep within minutes this way but I can't leave her unattended in the garden so have to spend 2 hours sitting close by and constantly checking her in case a cat sits on her or something. She'll also be too big for it soon. I was hoping that when she starts solids she would be so tired that she'd fall asleep in her cot but this hasn't happened. I have always taken her for a walk in the morning for fresh air and she has 30-40 minutes then for her early morning nap. I know it's not a huge issue but am I being unreasonable to want her to be able to sleep in her cot?

[MyFartWillGoOn]

I also have a 6 month old and naps are my life! My day is pretty much ruled by trying to get my son into some sort of schedule!

Firstly, I know from sleep consultants that not all babies can sleep for 2 hours at lunch and around 7 months they start to link sleep cycles again and it sort of fixes itself post 4 month regression. So don't beat yourself up that you are having a blip-I don't know any other baby that can consistently do 2 hour lunch naps at 6 months

Secondly, if she can do it in the pram, is the environment right in the room with the cot? Pitch dark, white noise, right temperature etc? I always set the room up before I go in there with my son so it's completely dark, white noise on and we have a little cuddle before I put him down and bum pat til nearly asleep. He still wakes after 45 mins though and I have to resettle...but I think that's normal at this age

[Darkestseasonofall]

What's her routine? At that age mine were up at 6, and if they didn't nap again at 9 the day was fucked as they'd spend the whole time awake and miserable.
I'd aim for a huge breakfast then back to bed for half an hour, sleep breeds sleep as my darling MIL always says.

[mindutopia]

At 6 months, it's quite possible she doesn't need a lunchtime nap. At that age, I'm pretty sure mine were mostly down to mid morning and mid afternoon. What would happen if you skipped the nap, had lunch together instead and she slept after lunch? Also, why do you need to not move from there for 2 hours? I'd regularly leave mine to sleep in the pushchair from much younger than that. I don't mean I'd leave them for 2 hours. But it wouldn't stop me walking in the house to get a sandwich for 2 minutes or to use the toilet. Or if you aren't comfortable with that, get your lunch ready before she naps, sit in the garden, eat lunch, read a book.

[mindutopia]

For the record though, neither of mine ever slept in their cots. I hated being stuck at home (I know obviously times are different now when everyone is stuck at home). They always slept in the pushchair or in the car on the way somewhere, because I just couldn't be bothered to plan my day around being at home for them to sleep in their cots.

It sounds like you have gotten into a routine with the walks, which is fine actually. But if you don't want to do them anymore, you just need to create a new routine and give it time to settle in.

[PanicOnTheStreets85]

DS has always refused to sleep in his cot during the day. We take him around the block in his pushchair at lunchtime, bring him home and we use a Rockit to gently keep the pram gently rocking. I thought they looked gimmicky but would highly recommend.

www.johnlewis.com/rockit-baby-rocker/p3463225