DD not napping OR sleeping - end of my tether

[MummyJ36]

Please can someone help me with a baby who won't nap?? I'm nearly losing to today.

DD is nearly 5 months old. Up until the last couple of weeks she was sleeping through the night from 9pm-5am (and sometimes until 6.30am). She's now started waking in the night at 12.30am and 4.30am and taking over an hour to get settled back down and then up again around 6am. Sometimes she's hungry sometimes she just won't settle. I could probably just about cope with this if it wasn't for the fact that she has never napped. Not even when she was a newborn, she just doesn't nap and I'm seriously at the end of my tether.

At most she might nap for 20-30 minutes if I take her out in the pram, but that is usually me taking her out in the pram for 45 minutes + and as soon as we get in the door she's awake within 5 minutes.

Friends have told me I need a nap schedule but how can I possibly do this if she just won't nap? She wont nap in her cot, on me, in our bed, anywhere apart from sometimes the pram but even that isn't guaranteed.

She's a very friendly and sociable little girl and nobody seems to understand the sheer exhaustion I'm feeling either trying to constantly entertain her when she's awake or constantly trying to get her to nap. I literally have no time to myself in the day, either to catch up on sleep or wash bottles or put washing on. I'm always on call and that was just about bearable when she was sleeping through but now I'm so sleep deprived my patience is wearing very very thin and I found myself crying in the street today when she failed to go to sleep after miles and miles of walking.

She does get tired in the day but cannot succumb to a nap so it just gradually gets worse and worse. I cannot explain enough that she will not nap. People seem to think it's funny that she won't nap but I am honestly on the verge of screaming!!

I'm really feeling at the end of my rope today. I'm so tired of not getting any time to myself in any way. DD is formula fed and has a feeding schedule and i've tried to tie a nap schedule into this but no luck..... :'(

Any help or advise will be so so so appreciated.

Sending you a the sleep deprivation is a killer. There's a big regression at 4/5 months.

I'm no expert but I do think your baby needs a sleep routine, it won't help overnight but it will pay off. I recommend the No Cry Sleep Solution book or the Eat Sleep Activity You routine/book.

I found this with my boys. Perfect sleepers and then this. I started weaning when it happened and they soon starting sleeping through again. They were younger than this though and you may already be weaning. It will get better. X

This happened with my daughter.
She's a very sociable and happy child but just would not sleep. Never napped or slept through. It was sending me crazy.
I tried everything and she eventually worked it out herself and started sleeping through when she was around 11 months. She's 19 months and down to 1 nap which is still hit and miss.

Be patient, it will pass. In the mean time, do you have any family or friends who could help out a couple of hours a week?

None of my children were very good at naps. 30 mins at the most. its just the way that they are. just as there are some kids who do 2 X 1hr naps every day (or longer) there are some like yours and mine and other people I am sure.

I would concentrate on getting the night time sleep sorted out rather than stressing about the naps. might be that she is hungry and you need to up food intake during the day. we weaned two of mine early for this reason (before all the 6 months nonsense you get now!) and it did make a big difference.

I would speak to you HV about weaning and also look at upping food intake during the day.

good luck op it will pass and she will be back sleeping again soon but in the meantime get someone to help if you can so that you can nap yourself. if you have a partner, get them to take over for an hour when they get home from work so you can rest.