Day naps

[FraggleMum]

I've always had trouble getting my DD to nap during the day. I look for all the signs (bit of yawning, rubbing eyes, perhaps a getting a bit grumpy etc) then take her up to her room, sign and cuddle for 5 mins or so and put her down. Now, when she goes down she ALWAYS cries (most the time she eventually nods off but crying can be anything from 3 to 15 mins - maybe more on a bad day). I've been doing this nap time routine with her for almost 2 months (she is now 4 and a half months). I'm just wondering why she would still cry. Surely by now she must realise what is going on. I was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience or if there is something I'm doing wrong. I would have thought that by now she would just lay down and go to sleep.

[angel1976]

Oh god, my DS is 5 months old and still fights sleep! He cries the moment he gets put on the bed and the curtains are drawn... I was wondering the same thing, will it come a point where they stop fighting it and just go with the flow?

[FraggleMum]

I'm so pleased to hear that (well not pleased that you are struggling with the sleep but that I'm not alone!). Nap times are a real battle of wills - she even grumbles away in her pram when we are out before falling asleep. There must come a point when you just put them in bed and they nod off....mustn't there? It's exhausting!

[Sullwah]

I just let mine (DTs) nod off wherever they are rather than making a set nap time.

I just put them on the playmat with their toys and then eventually nod off.

[meandmyjoe]

My ds is the same. I tried so many times to get him into a routine of not crying and just dozing off, it hasn't happened yet and he's 11 months, sorry! All babies are different, some will doze off on their play mat (mine has NEVER EVER done this) some drift off fine in their cot. Others get cranky, whingey and miserable and have to be restrained and forced to sleep (my ds!!)

I think some babies just need a little shout to wind down, also at this age, they don't reall understand they are tired, they just feel 'not right' and crabby so shout anout it!

[FraggleMum]

I have tried to leave her on her playmat or bouncey chair in the hope that she will just nod off. But she just cries even more - perhaps because she can see or hear people in the room and wonders why they aren't coming to get her. I guess I'll just have to continue to force it. Honestly, if I didn't I'm sure she just wouldn't sleep during the day at all - little monkey!!!

[HonoriaGlossop]

I do agree that many children always fight sleep and cry.

What might be worth a try though is putting her down BEFORE you notice the signs of tiredness. Perhaps when she is rubbing eyes, yawning, etc she is already 'overtired' and being overtired does make it harder for babies to drop off IMO.

At this age I found ds was always ready for a nap two to two and a half hours after his last nap. So why not try putting her down, with the cuddling etc, two and a half hours after she wakes and see if she's any happier

Might not work but it might be worth a try. I always put my ds down at regular times for naps and he always did take a nap, even though he hadn't been showing signs of tiredness.

[timewaster]

I found the 2 to 2 and half hour hour thing worked for me too. Until then ds had been an appalling napper and some days only had 20 mins in the whole day. I found that if I time it just right he will have a decent nap, but he does still fight it some days and he is 11 months old (sorry)

[starkadder]

me too me too me too. Not words of wisdom, really, though, sorry...

Our baby is juts about 4 months old. Putting him in the cot in the daytime is impossible, he screams blue murder. If I close the blinds to make it dark it's even worse. He's always been like this, apart from the first couple of weeks after he was born, when he was very sleepy all the time.

We had got a good thing going where I'd put him on his playmat after his feed, then about 30 mins later wrap him up in a blanket and give him the dummy and he would miraculously fall asleep for up to 2 hours. But I think he only did it because he didn't realise he was expected to go to sleep, iyskwim...

I have come to the conclusion that he has just decided he does not like daytime sleep, so till he's old enough to reason with (does this happen?? Probably kidding myself) then I have to just try fooling him into sleep before he is too tired and before he realises it's happening - so he can't fight it.

Nowadays he has cottoned on to the old playmat ruse and will sleep in his pram if I push it around the flat. He never used to sleep in the pram, unless I actually went out into the street, so that's one thing.

Problem is we are coming back to the UK the day after tomorrow for a month and are only bringing the car seat rather than carry cot so no idea how we will achieve day time naps. Am hoping for a miracle...!

[Jello39]

also in the same situ with ds. he is 4 months old and still a nightmare to get him to sleep for any length of time after the yawning/rubbing eyes. We try to put him in basket just looks at us and then cries.I try to get him to have a nap in the morning and afternoon.

Worse still he won't go to sleep without a quick suckle at the breast and only likes to sleep in my arms.

I've managed a few times to get him to sleep in his swing which involves a stealth operation of gently sliding him in and qickly getting the swing going at the same time otherwise he just jumps out of his sleep, looks at me with a frown and then starts to bawl his eyes out.

i'd love it if would just go off to sleep in his basket with no fuss as at the moment can't do anything when he is in my arms.

like the 2 hr suggestion. lovely if it would work on him.

[jafina]

My dd is 10 months and has been very similar to the babies described here. I could never bear letting her cry it out so I used to feed her to sleep. This was ok at first but became a 1/2 hr long ordeal for every nap and with 2 other dc's to care for it just wasn't working. So I stopped feeding her in her bedroom at first and then stopped feeding her before naps at all. This involved a certain amount of crying but I would just let her cry for a minute or two and then cuddle and back down. It took a few days for her to get the idea .

Now I wait for rubbing eyes/yawning and take her up to her bedroom, read a quick story, put her into bed in her sleeping bag, close curtains (she normally starts crying or whingeing now) and put her music on, then pick her up, cuddle and sing the same lullaby (Frere Jacques), put her down and say the same thing to her ("Sleep well little one") and SCARPER. She grizzles for about 30 secs and goes off. If she doesn't go off I usually can only stand to let her cry for 2-3 minutes and then I go back in and repeat cuddle and lullaby. I have never done that more than twice. A couple of times she has done a very distressed cry and I have just got her up and taken her out in buggy or something (usually turns out to be a new tooth the next day....).

So based on this experience my advice for an older baby would be to wait for signs of tiredness, have a set short routine and get out of the room ASAP after putting your lo down. particularly with older babies who can last a heck of a lot longer than 2-2.5 hours between naps!!

[takingitasitcomes]

Oh dear, doesn't sound like there's much hope then! Is there anyone out there with the textbook baby who sleeps in his cot during the daytime for 2 hours at a time??? I think it's a myth.

My ds has only slept in his cot twice in the daytime since he was about two weeks old and woke up from that newborn sleepy faze. He's three months old this week. The only place he likes to sleep during the day is in a sling. Thank goodness they exist now! Have no idea what I would have done with him in my Mum's day when slings weren't common. I do get less grizzling from him on the way to sleep if I make sure I don't keep him up for more than 2 hours at a time though - we only worked that out about three weeks ago, and things have been easier since.

There is some comfort in knowing that everyone else seems to be in the same boat. We can't all be 'getting it wrong' can we? (Have had my MIL staying for a month... she has had me near tears sometimes with her stories of her babies who all slept perfectly well in their own cots from day 1!).

[starkadder]

I am so relieved to read this too Don't believe the MIL stories, I say, selective memory at work....
I agree with the scarper thing, actually - today our baby NEARY fell asleep on his mat but then saw me and started bawling till I picked him up and put him in pram with dummy, rocked him to sleep that way.
He's fine at bedtime, I think b/c we have a good bedtime routine, problem is, I don't want to be tied to strict daytime nap routine..hmm..

[HonoriaGlossop]

have to say my ds did sleep in his cot for two to two and a half hours a day from about 6 weeks to 2 yrs old

It can and does happen, is not a myth!

but I don't take credit for this, just offered him the chance for the nap and he took it - they are all so different, clearly! I do think not waiting too long helped with the length of nap. If he were over-tired he would def sleep for shorter periods, bizarrely

[FraggleMum]

This is all really useful. I'm gonna give the nap routine a try before the signs of tiredness start and see if that helps her nod off with less fuss. HonoriaGlossop - interesting what you said about the length of nap as some of her naps are 45mins long whereas others can be 2 to 2.5 hours and I wonder now if those longer ones are when I catch the tiredness thing just before it really kicks in! Looks like if you take your eyes off them for 2 seconds you might miss the window of nap opportunity!!!

[HonoriaGlossop]

good luck Fraggle, hope it helps!