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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think all babies can sleep where've except my DD?

31 replies

Chocoholism · 04/05/2014 16:37

5 month old DD has trouble napping unless I help her. Which is fine at home but when I go out to meet friends/family in cafés or wherever if she's due to sleep she causes a drama as it's either too stimulating or she wants to be rocked etc. It also seems that all other babies sleep fine and stay asleep as long as they want... My DD wakes up at most loud noises or if not being pushed in pram or rocked or In arms. Is this the rod I made early on come back to bite me or do I expect too much from so young?
Or AIBU to think all other babies nap anywhere except mine!?
(She's so adorable though as I write this she is in my arms sleeping and smiling!)

OP posts:
Original poster
Chocoholism · 04/05/2014 16:37

In title it's wherever (stupid predictive text)

OP posts:
QuietNinjaTardis · 04/05/2014 16:41

Dd feeds to sleep at home and will sleep in car and buggy when out. Unless there's s

QuietNinjaTardis · 04/05/2014 16:43

Aargh sorry! Unless there's something more interesting going on then she won't. Then she gets overtired and starts screaming and then I leave. It feels like my life is ruled by her naps sometimes so you are not alone.

Original poster
Chocoholism · 04/05/2014 16:46

quietninja your so right, my life is ruled by naps too, I'm always thinking from first one how the rest of the days naps will go.... Also she won't sleep in car seat anymore, she kicks up a right palava so I have taken to walking everywhere which I suppose is good but not when you need to go further away....
How old is your LO?

OP posts:
DefiniteMaybe · 04/05/2014 16:47

My dc would only sleep when and where they felt like it, never when it suited me

GoogleyEyes · 04/05/2014 16:47

No. Mine napped in arms, sling or (sometimes) cradle swing thingy for the first few months. Got the knack of cot sleeping for naps around six months (I tried every week or so , and one day it worked).

CuppaSarah · 04/05/2014 16:48

From 3 months old DD has never napped in her buggy and rarely in the car. Really the only place she'll sleep is in a dark room in a cot. It really sucks doesn't it? DD needs a lot of sleep still so we can only do things in 2 hour blocks or she ends up overtired and miserable, its really frustrating.

I get so envious when I see mums wheeling round sleeping babies or stopping for coffee during their babies naps.

BertieBotts · 04/05/2014 16:49

I think it's fairly normal - DS would fall asleep anywhere but from the reactions of others I think it is unusual!

Orangeanddemons · 04/05/2014 16:51

Mine would only ever sleep in her cot, or at push in the car. I don't think she ever ever slept in her buggy ever ever. It used to drive me wild

4littleones · 04/05/2014 17:02

My Son only likes to sleep in his cot at home. I also feel like our lives are ruled by his Naps. But it will pass.

tealover1985 · 04/05/2014 17:20

The grass is always greener. My ds will only nap in sling, car or pram. I would love it if i could just put him in his cot for a nap then i could have a nice relaxing sit down!

maddening · 04/05/2014 18:09

I learnt to eat and drink pushing a buggy back and forward - or had him in the maxi cosi car seat bit rocking with my foot - it will pass.

I also planned trips out so he would nap in the car and I could carry him out in the maxi cosi asleep.

maddening · 04/05/2014 18:10

at home all his naps were on me or in buggy - caught up with a lot of tv and internet :-)

violetlights · 04/05/2014 18:15

Mine won't nap in his pushchair. He won't even let me recline it slightly even if he's tired. Since about 7 months he's always napped in his cot. What pisses me off though is people getting irritated with me for not going out at naptime because "everyone else's baby will sleep in the pram..." Hmm

Safmellow · 04/05/2014 18:17

YANBU. If it is any consolation my DD was exactly the same, I used to have to leave cafes etc and walk her up and down in the pram for ages to get her off.

If it is any consolation, life was much easier when she stopped daytime napping, and she is also a good night sleeper now, so don't lose hope!

PrincessBabyCat · 04/05/2014 18:19

Mine will nap in my arms regardless of where we are. But if she naps somewhere noisy or around lots of people, she's fussy all night.

GoingToBedfordshire · 04/05/2014 18:22

Mine were all like that until they were a bit older. They got used to napping in a cot at 6-9 months I think. Just used to keep trying putting them down awake after lunch and a feed and eventually they got it.

Feel for you OP, I used to feel that everyone else had naps sorted and I was just floundering.

Florabeebaby · 04/05/2014 18:41

God no, my kids only ever napped in the cot. And I never went out a naptime....it was have a cup of tea time for me! On my own, in silence.

Fairylea · 04/05/2014 18:46

I have had two dc 11 years apart and despite my best efforts both of them would only ever nap in the dark in silence in their cots at home.

Ds had a record 12 hours awake at 5 months old because silly me took him out for the day convinced he would fall asleep in the pram or his car seat. Nope. Not even a blink. All much too exciting until he got more and more irate that his beloved cot wasn't there. Never again.

I just made sure I was home for the naps. Bit annoying but then I was lucky to be blessed with good sleepers - from 12 weeks both slept about 12 hours at night and 2 routine naps during the day.. In the cot :)

I used to look at the babies peacefully asleep in prams in cafes etc and wonder how on earth the mums managed it. Mine would just scream even if I walked them round for hours beforehand.

DrizzlyTuesday · 04/05/2014 18:47

My DD couldn't sleep wherever even as a newborn. She's two now and occasionally she'll go to sleep in other places if she's really really tired.

Pregnantagain7 · 04/05/2014 18:53

All mine have always slept in the dark in their cots if I go out they will sleep in a buggy but massive battle to get them to go off then they will sleep for about half an hour then wake up in a vile mood.
If I'm at home I can put them down I their cot awake and they drop off in 5 mins and sleep for two and a half hours. Just not worth going out during nap time just messes up the whole day so it def not just you!

KeepOnKeepingOnAndOnAndOnAndOn · 04/05/2014 18:55

My dd was renound for fighting her sleep anywhere and everywhere. She would sleep at night though, but naps were not on her agenda! When she got to 7 months she napped a lot more.

LostMyPants · 04/05/2014 18:58

Mine won't sleep in the sling if there's anything interesting going on. She sleeps well in the car or in her cot. She occasionally sleeps in the buggy when being pushed. She wakes from car journeys when the engine is switched off. DS was the same.

Mine is 8mo too.

QuietNinjaTardis · 04/05/2014 19:08

Sorry I didn't come back. Dd is 5 months. I had terrible anxiety when she was newborn about her sleeping and making she fed enough as she was slow to our weight on at first and I am trying to be relaxed but its bloody difficult. I'm living by the mantra that she will be small for such a short time that I'm doing what works right now. Ill sort any rods out later on

somewherewest · 04/05/2014 19:35

DS would only nap in a moving car or pram till he was around 9 months old, and only for thirty minutes at a time. If the car / pram stopped moving for even a second the little eyes would snap wide open. He wasn't a good sleeper at night either. He seemed to get the hang of sleep generally between 9 to 12 months and now at 2.5 still goes down for a good ninety minute nap every day. I sometimes wonder what we did wrong!

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