To find getting baby down for 3 naps a day nauseating ?

[dontfollowmeimlosttoo]

6 month old baby - 3 naps a day. Needs these naps and he sleeps through the night great when I make sure he gets the naps. I am finding getting him down soul destroying ... it's usually around 2 hours after last wake up .., look out for eye rubbing yawning .. current method is rocking him in the pram in the living room . Sometimes it can only take a few pushes and he is off other times I am pushing for 30 minutes. It's embarrassing sometimes when I have anyone over obviously they go into another room but they know how long it's taking and I'm there sweating pushing away. Any tips for getting baby to nap in cot and to reduce the overall time it takes to get him to sleep? I just feel like I spend my whole day trying to get him to nap all for a good nights sleep and so he is alert and happy in awake time ( which he is but I have cried sometimes through frustration at just pushing pram back and fourth with him holding his feet messing around - it sounds like he isn't tired but he is ) any advice would be really appreciated

This was me a year ago, I feel your pain!! Rocking the pram back and forth, over a doormat/mad shushing ... For ages and ages...Eeks it was exhausting. Previous to this he wouldn't settle to sleep unless on me in sling and I was walking; I just really wanted to be able to do something myself while he slept!
Anyway, I realise now and as others have said, should have just given up sooner and not gone mad trying! In the end I stopped rocking the pram and fed him to sleep instead then popped him in cot. This slowly slowly led to eventually weaning off feeding to sleep and now at 1.5 we put him down awake for nap and bedtime and he usually goes off fine.
Just wanted to reassure you you are not alone ! And it will get better whatever you decide to do. I think time just helps to be honest but when you're in it you just want it to work ! Sounds great he is sleeping at night for you X

My youngest is 6months and I let her nap whenever she needs to and wherever she's comfy.

I've never seen the point in set nap times and must be at home in the cot. So unpractical.

We only use the cot at bedtime. It means goodnight and bedtime.

My DD loves napping in her tippee Playmat (probably becuase it's cool in the heat).

I've also found that it doesn't matter what time she naps she still goes to bed fine at 7:30.

Huckleberry app! I've found it amazing. My LG drops of so quickly when I follow their nap times. Give it a go.
I do find if the room is dark and boring she also goes of to sleep much quicker, I can't preach through as I do cuddle her to sleep

As lovely as the first year is, it is also like a prison or army stint, regimented.
It will pass.

I can't believe how rude some of these replies are ... how judgmental some of you are ! the pitying oh this is the saddest thing I have heard, I just let my baby sleep whenever and wherever and I'm amazing , the people looking down at me for wanting some sleep brigade. For your information I used to be very laid back and let my baby sleep whenever and wherever which resulted in a very overtired baby who would just cat nap a couple times a day, then during the night he would be so overtired he would be up all night not good for him and certainly not good for us as parents . It was only when I realised His awake window should be shorter and that I looked at getting a routine for his sake so he wasn't so overtired and grumpy in awake time ( previously had been waking up 7 and then me going with flow and letting him sleep whenever which would end up being around 11 or 12! So massively overtired ) . You know what is sad that some people are as thoughtless and rude as you lot

Thank you for positive realistic replies though! Which recognise that my baby has napping needs and that I am a human being with sleep needs too.

I was so relieved when all this ended . It's much easier when they get older and only have one nap

@waterrat yes I can imagine:). We all have a much better day when naps are done at appropriate time as baby is refreshed and happy during his awake time and then has a great nights sleep. It's just sometimes he will fight the nap that's all I was moaning about on here that sometimes I am there pushing pram for ages yet other times he goes down no problem... I can't just let him sleep whenever he wants as he wouldn't lol that's why I wasn't happy with some of the replies which seemed to suggest I should be more laid back , already tried that approach for months and we were all shattered and it was no good for baby

@MaltbyMaeve thank you 😊 lovely kind response x

I second the huckleberry app, worked wonders with my one and she was an absolute nightmare 90% of the time up until 11 months. I also did a feed then in the cot, in a silent room and she'd Bob straight off most of the time

OP, how do you get him to sleep in his cot at night at the moment? Do you rock him in the pram until he is asleep and then transfer him, or do something else? If you do something different, and it works (e.g. story, song, soft toy etc) then I would suggest trying the same or a shortened version of the same routine and then putting him into his cot to see if you can teach him to sleep there during the day as well as at night. That way he can go off to sleep in his pram if you are out and about as he does at the moment, but you can move towards cot naps if you are at home and want some time for yourself.

Example would be:
night-time routine: brush teeth, into sleeping bag, 3 stories, 2 songs, into cot with favourite soft toy
naps: into sleeping bag, 2 stories, 1 song, into cot with familiar soft toy

We don't do stories or songs or TV or radio noise, I'm surprised I keep seeing this as part of a bedtime routine..?
It's: all screens and noise off, feed, nappy changing, feed a but more if wanted, sleeping bag, final burping, wind up music toy and pop into crib in a totally dark silent room aside from the Whitehouse, lights out entirely and as little talking in room as poss (DH and I use a little flashlight to get to bed, and whisper or leave the room).
Play is nowhere in that routine!
The couple of times it has been, it's been a crap broken night of fractured sleep.

Are we lucky or are more parents not doing playtime and just not saying?

My nearly 7 month old is on 2 naps now. Usually 2/2.5 hours after waking he’ll go down again. He’s just awake now from a 10am nap.

He’ll have another shorter nap this afternoon.

I feed to sleep.

He sleeps 6.30-6.30 with one or two wakings for milk but lately it’s been a few more as he’s teething.

I nap with my DD mostly. Or, well, I get into bed beside her and sometimes I nap, other times I'll work on laptop or browse MN or read a book It's taken the stress out of nap times a bit as she settles easily with me beside her so we just lie there for a few mins while she babbles and then she drifts off and I do whatever. I could probably sneak out if I wanted to do other stuff but I quite like the down time in the day and it's a good excuse to be lazy.

She's dropped her third nap though. Or, well, if I really persevered I could probably get her down, but generally she just has her morning nap and then a long lunchtime nap and that's her till bed at 6.30.

Also at the baffled poster with the 15-week-old. Come back in a couple of months! At 15 weeks my DD would nap in my arms, randomly lying on the sofa, she fell asleep on the floor once. Six months is an entirely different kettle of fish for many babies, so don't get too smug

Although my DD was actually sleeping through at 15 weeks (nothing I did, I hasten to add, she just liked to sleep). Now she's doing 6.30-6/7 with usually one wake-up, which is still v good! But if she doesn't nap after about 3 hours awake time, she gets grizzly and then going down for a nap becomes an ordeal as she's overtired. So I much prefer to catch the eye rubbing and put her down to sleep before we get to that stage.

@Celebelly yes so true in the early months baby would always be asleep on me , sling , car, pram, other people anywhere really. Then he would just seem to be awake all day and never drop off of his accord , bad day of naps was then followed with poor nights sleep. It was only when I became more structured that he started sleeping better at night and also having pleasant awake tome previously he was grumpy all day due to being over tired. A lot of these replies have made me feel like I'm uptight and should just let him drop off anywhere but at 6 months this doesn't work. Thank you for your reply and recognising that poster was snug 😆😆😆

@Celebelly baby woke up from first nap 940 ( he had 1 hour ), he started to get a little grumpy by 1130 ish, by 12 was eye rubbing I rocked him on me and he went to sleep 1215 I think awake time may be 2.5 hours now. It's hard as don't wanna miss it and he become overtired

Yeah it's tricky, but it's good he has a sleepy cue. My friend's son literally goes from awake to overtired with no yawning or eye rubbing or anything. My DD is a an eye rubber too!

It sounds like you're doing good tbh. Some days it takes my DD longer to nap than others and you just have to persevere. I prefer spending a bit of time on naps during day to really broken sleep overnight, and she sleeps far better overnight when she's had good naps!

Our antenatal group meets up every week and everyone is going through same issues with naps!

With DC1, I was a slave to nap times and felt very much like you - but if she didn’t nap at regular intervals, the rest of the day and night would be a complete shit show
With DC2, I simply didn’t have the time to spend up to an hour rocking/shushing etc trying to get him to nap in his cot. So I would feed him and then put him in a sling and crack on with my day. He would fall asleep within 10-15 mins maximum and I could carry on with whatever I was doing and pretty much forget he was there.
Did that for every nap until he was around a year old and found myself much less stressed out!

@Celebelly yes it has been working well for us last month or so the 2 hours as an indication and eye rubbing . Most days he falls asleep within minutes , I was just stressed pushing the pram for so long and we had family over I guess I was having a bad day but didn't expect the back lash on here 🤣 iust was hoping for more sympathetic responses. I used to just see what happened and honesty he would end up so overtired he would be waking every 30 minutes at night . It was terrible. Yes you are right it's worth 15 minutes of rocking 3 times a Day for happy baby during awake time and sleep at night :). Ahhh are they I wish I did nct now

op are you finding that the first two naps tend to be the ones where he goes down quick and the afternoon one is when it takes 40 minutes?
Because if so there's a reason for that.

They begin to fight the last nap (even though they still need it!) for a while before they drop it.

I have an 8 month old and I feel your pain.

I even forked out nearly £400 for a sleep consultant to help me.

Ignore the rude comments OP. I ended up in the situation you describe with my first born. It was hellish. I got lots of unhelpful 'making a rod for your own back' and 'babies nap when they need to nap' comments from relatives and smug people with older children. It will pass soon enough.

As it happens my second was one of those babies who napped anywhere. I had to ferry his toddler sister around to nursery, activities etc so when we had to leave the house we had to leave. I had no idea what his 'nap time' was, he just fell asleep whether we were at home or out. This was absolutely no reflection of any skills on my part. He was simply a different (and easier) baby than his sister. He's 3 now and a lot less easy to manage

I know it's a cliche but you'll look back and realise the days are long but the years really are short...

I think my son dropped his third nap around this age. He started to really fight the third nap so we extended the time before the second (he used to wake around 7, first nap was at 9 and we moved it to 10am) and then the second one would be more like 1.30ish. He fed to sleep in my arms for the first one - I loved going back up to bed with him after breakfast - and then the second longer one would be a walk in the pram. He’s 16 months now and only on one nap now which is in the pram. I wanted to be able to be out and about in the day, not tied to home and the cot.

You need a Baby Dream Machine.

Have only scanned the thread, but can't believe what a tough time you're getting OP. I read the first post and thought "what a great sleeper"! At that age DD would only sleep on me (legacy of silent reflux and needing to be held upright for at least 30 minutes after every feed) and sometimes it would take a long time to get her there, bouncing around the living room with her in a carrier. Like you've said, if she didn't get enough naps she was a nightmare - but sleeping through was a distant, distant dream.

Sounds like you're doing brilliantly to me - he'll sleep on his own in the pram, and doesn't need to be rocked or fed to sleep. Amazing! Like others have said, the third nap will go soon enough.

Oh, and DD who was an absolute nightmare for sleep for the first 7 months of her life is now, finally, a brilliant sleeper at 16 months . Hang in there, it'll get easier.

Oh, and anyone who judges you cos it takes half an hour to get a baby to sleep was clearly very blessed with their own. Sleep is a skill and it takes some babies longer to learn it than others.