What does ‘fighting naps’ mean?

[Pinkstuffs]

Appreciate I sound like a clueless FTM here but I always see this phrase and don’t fully know if this is what my DS is doing as no one seems to describe the exact behaviour.

DS is 6 months old, lately when he’s due a nap he resists it by pulling out his dummy, screaming and crying, if I am trying to rock him he thrashes about and grabs my face/hair. He’s always taken a while to drop off for naps but he really really screams now and sounds distressed. I try to stick to a nap routine and look out for his tiredness cues like yawning, rubbing his eyes and getting grouchy but he seems to be resisting sleep so much. Is this normal?

He’s fine for his sleep at night he will self settle within 5 mins of putting him down.

Their naps flow a bit, and change, annoyingly just as you've got used to the schedule ha ha

Dgs, 5 months, fight his naps, its pretty obvious when he's ready for a nap, I swaddle him in a baby blanket because he pulls his dummy out and gets himself madder 😄 then I walk about (jiggle him) and he goes off, he also like a muslin over his head (not face).
Must add there's nothing like a baby when they've just woken up, why do they wake up in such a good mood?
I'm as grumpy as hell!

Just to add if I put him down he wakes up, forgot what hard work babies are so I take my hat off to all new mums

Ds1 used to scream 'My NOT leepy!' (Sleepy) over and over for two minutes then pass put with exhaustion.

We never had this as mine didn’t have a nap schedule of any description they just slept whenever they liked , usually in the car . One slept very well at night and one didn’t .

If he doesn’t nap he’s just awful, miserable and grumpy. He will fall asleep in the car but he really needs a good couple of hours during the day or by 5pm he’s a nightmare! I took him out in the pram to try to send him to sleep earlier and he screamed for twenty minutes, slept for ten then once we got home woke up. Most of the time once he’s properly asleep for a nap he can be put in his cot and he sleeps better there.

The first sleep regression starts at around 5-6 months. Google it. He might be going through the awful phase.

It affected both of my dc badly both for nap time and through the night. If he won't nap when you've tried the usual routine then my advice is to go out and accept he won't nap. Go for a walk or get some jobs done instead. I'm very routine driven and my dc like the predictability but I've learned I have to accept the lack of naps sometimes. On those days I move dinner and bathtime slightly earlier and the benefit is they've been super quick to go to sleep for bedtime.

I have also sat in the car for an hour or more to make sure they nap long enough if they have fallen asleep on the way home.

My eldest was like this. When I realised that I'd spend 20 minutes trying to get her to nap only for her to fall asleep for 5 minutes, then she'd wake up & we'd start again (I spent several months of trying to get a nap routine going and looking for cues - took a while for the penny to drop) I gave up. Nap time I'd pop her in her cot, go away for 10 minutes and she'd either fall asleep in that time or if not (she would play quietly if she didn't sleep) I'd go get her out and we'd get on with our day. She didn't mind being put in her cot but being held rocking etc she seemed to find a personal insult 🤷‍♀️. Didn't work so well with my second, but it might be worth a try...

My eldest was the same. The hours I spent sitting next to her cot patting her and tiptoeing out the room. In the end I worked out that if I left her in there she'd fall asleep in 5 minutes 🙄

What you describe as his tired cues are actually his overtired cues, hence nap resistance. Pay really close attention to him for the hour before his usual nap time and watch out for what I call his 'pretired' cues. These can be vacant staring, little noises that sort of thing. Start the mini bedtime routine then and put him to bed as soon as possible.

DD used to pull her own hair and thrash around when she was tired to stop herself from falling asleep.
She would also jump up and run around if she felt herself dropping off