Argh pulling our hair out with naps!!

[IzJenk]

Our (nearly) 5 month old daughter has completely lost the ability to nap in the day!

She is ok overnight settles pretty easily and wakes once (sometimes sleeps through) for a feed.

She used to do three 1.5-2 hour naps a day and then suddenly she can't seem to sleep for longer than 20/30 minutes! Sometimes she takes for ever to settle for a nap and then will sleep for half an hour, other times she settles quickly and wakes up 10 minutes later it's a nightmare!

She has a CMPA and reflux but those seem under control, she is teething, not sure if any of these make a difference!

I'm hoping this is just a phase like everything else because I don't know what else to try. We've tried controlled crying, the retreat method - it feels like we've tried everything!

It's like she is so sleepy / falls asleep on us then as soon as you put her down she is wide awake and shouting (not crying, there are no tears and she is in complete control) just shouting and shouting and when you go in she is grinning at you it stops instantly!

Any help would be appreciated, I have no time to myself anymore!!

[iusedtoloveopalfruits1]

No advice but my 4.5 month old DS is the same. He is a great sleeper at night but during the day he just catnaps for 30 minutes unless he’s held. Today i tried putting him upstairs in a dark room but he was exactly the same and woke up after 30 minutes, i tried it with his next nap and it was the same. He then got really upset/grumpy because he was tired. Currently sound asleep on my chest because I don’t want him over tired later on.

[Twistering]

It’s probably some sort of regression/phase but have you tried the Huckleberry app? You basically log all their sleep and it tells you the ‘sweet spot’ for their nap time based on their age etc etc. I was amazed at how well it works - going from a battle to get a nap to drifting off on own - and was often way different from when I would have put them down. Not 100% success rate, but pretty bloody good! It’s free unless you want to pay for a bespoke sleep programme.

[DontBuyLangClegCashmere]

Not a sleep expert by a long shot, but my story is that I used an app to log DDs naps and I became utterly obsessed, couldn't get her to sleep as much as the books recommended. She was just shit. We had a stretch of her only sleeping for 19 mins at a time.

When she was around 6m I rang my HV who was really good, worked out that I'd developed anxiety about it all, she came out to see me and talked it all through with me. She said DD was just a bad sleeper chuck the books away and concentrate on her - when she's awake is she happy and attentive? She was. So, shit sleeper.
She stopped napping altogether at 19m

I now have an 8mo DS and he's also a shit sleeper but I just don't care this time round - everything is a phase and as soon as you've sorted out one bloody thing it's another.

My parenting ethos is just get everyone fed and to sleep however you can, things will eventually sort themselves out.
(although I am on here to look for reassuring stories of ebf Co sleeping babies self weaning and sleeping through...)

Good luck! Try not to stress yourself out.

[PlanDeRaccordement]

Ah, that is the age where they get Fear Of Missing Out. So they will let themselves get tired and cranky before going down for a nap. They also cling to you like a little baby sloth and want to sleep on you. I used to lie on the floor next to their cot and pretend to sleep to get them to fall asleep and then sneak out of the room.

Also, mine went down to two naps a day at that age. You could try reducing down from three naps to two to see if it makes a difference.

[BadgertheBodger]

I think I just gave up at this point and let DS nap in the sling! Saved my energy for the epic bedtime battle of battles which went on for about an hour. Probably because he was overtired. White noise sometimes helped but has to be much louder than you think

[mistermagpie]

Mine is nearly five months and I've just given up and also let her nap in the sling, which she does brilliantly.

I'm sure I'm making a rod for my own back and all that but I've also got a three year old and a four year old, so needs must!

[ohwerehalfwaythere]

At a friends recommendation I put my baby down for his first nap 2hrs after he wakes up and it has made a world of difference. A small thing but worked a treat for us as then the rest of the day fell into place

[IzJenk]

Thanks everyone I'll try all these things. It's reassuring to know other people are going through it to be honest.

I definitely think it's some sort of regression / growth spurt / phase thing because as a newborn she never slept we used to sleep with her on our chest until about 3 months then found she had a milk allergy!

I'll try the app though because maybe she is overtired I just didn't after 2 hours of being awake she would be so overtired. Today it's been 4 naps of 40 minutes so far so I don't even think I could cut one out even if I wanted to! I'll update you in due course with how we go