9mo won't nap. please help me!

[Unbuffy]

It's like this. She gets tired, so we have a cuddle quietly for a few minutes, and I take her upstairs. dim the lights and put her down. I settle her down and she looks like she's about to drop off any second, so i leave the room. At which point she climbs about in her cot, lies there kicking the bars, stands up and shouts, and so on. Thumb mostly stays in mouth so i know she's still tired, and eventually she gets so exhausted she either starts screaming or (sometimes) drops off. I don't know whether to leave her to it, go in and settle her regularly, or what. she gets so tired and ratty and horrible if she doesn't sleep during the day, and it seems to affect her night sleeping too (it gets worse - it's generally not a problem). Please any suggestions - I know it sounds daft since I normally don't get a bad night's sleep but it's exhausting and I dread the battle every day.
PS She won't sleep in a car, buggy or whatever AT ALL as the world is all far too interesting.

[nosferartifartu]

Is this a new thing Unbuffy or has she always been a bad napper? DS sometimes has a 'standing up and refusing to nap even though he's knackered phase' - usually when he's found a new skill such as pulling up, cruising, walking etc. If you stay next to her, stroking her tummy etc. does she drop off? If yes, you could do this and then very gradually over days/weeks, try and move away from her cot and then out of the room. It sounds like she need a bit of help winding down.

If DS starts sitting/standing up, I just lie him gently back down again. He's normally great at settling himself at nap/bedtime but has been a bit of a loon over the last week - but is now okay again. One night I had to lie him back down over 30 times! Last night, just once.

[Unbuffy]

She's always fought daytime sleep. I swear she didn't sleep at all for the first 4 months of her life . I've tried staying in there with her, she thinks it's playtime and starts to play with my hands and chat to me. She went through a long phase of only sleeping if she was put down on her tummy - until she started crawling and going down on the tummy was instant signal to start moving.

BTW I'm sure on mumsnet there ought to be a 'tired' emoticon...