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

@MindyStClaire thank you such a lovely response 😊. Sometimes he doesn't have 3rd nap but it depends on what time and how long the other naps have been. So if he was awake from 2nd nap at 1 or 2 he would have to have a 3rd nap as wouldn't be able to last until bed time . Awww thank you so much for the advice xxx

If it’s taking 30 mins then he’s not ready to sleep! Try one decent lunchtime nap - much better at that age, getting proper rest. In a cot, in his room if you’re at home. How people think babies can sleep well surrounded by mayhem is beyond me - would you sleep well like that?

Gosh, DD has only recently gone to one nap, I'd say at about 14 months. She definitely needed at least 2 at 6 months (can't remember when the 3rd was dropped).

Oh, and there is something that develops in sleep, I think at around 10 months, where they suddenly need stillness rather than motion to get to sleep. Small babies needing to be rocked/pushed/driven in the car to sleep is not unusual at all.

You sound like you're doing a great job. I found nap transitions to be really hard each time and it sounds to me like you've hit one; some days he's ready to nap and other days he thinks he is but actually he needs to wait. And who knows how long for, or which day is which, or when he will switch again?!?! So frustrating.The babies all change their schedule at their own pace; some sleep longer and some less, so nobody can tell you exactly what will work for yours. When we went from 3 naps to 2 it took DS from 7 to 9 months to really settle on his schedule and drove me a bit crazy. So actually I really pushed DS to move to one nap as soon as he started dicking about over naptimes (about 15 months), because the whole transition period of not knowing when he'd sleep drove me crazy each time with the planning. I put up with grumpiness while he learns and allow a slightly earlier bedtime, or a 15 minute power nap instead of the full nap while you phase it out and later bedtime. I'd do a few days on 2 naps then drop in a 3 nap day when it feels right because he's too tired, but gradually keep up the pressure to do more 2 nap days. I can reassure you that I bloody loved 2 naps and you could be on that schedule for a long while; up and leisurely breakfast, dressed, teeth, stories and then down to nap in either bed or pushchair (always pushchair if we were meeting people, usually in bed by 9, latest 10). DS was a 2h + 1h napper with 3h awake in each section, so on each day I could pick if I wanted a long morning nap or a long afternoon one and let him get up or pat him back to sleep after an hour accordingly, so we do the long one at home and little one in the pushchair or vice versa, it gave loads of freedom that way to plan whatever works best. After a nap we would do stuff, eat, do some more, then nap again. Then the next big cycle has play, dinner, bath if he's getting one etc so only grandparents if we were doing anything.

The one long lunchtime sleep is nice in its way as it gives you even more non-nap time plus it's very consistent and is a long break for me, but I need to be at home because it's always long and DS always wakes up after 45min / 1hour in the pushchair, so then it's a mega hassle to persuade him into a power nap or he becomes a big grumpy pants from 4pm until bedtime. So, in summary, enjoy your two naps!

Sorry, paragraphs might have been nice.

Hi OP - I think you are doing a great job. A lot of posters who say that they let their babies nap whenever and wherever, either (1) have been lucky to have really good sleepers or (2) had to deal with multiple night time wakings for an extended period of time. I often see posts on MN saying something like "you don't really need a routine - I was always completely baby led and we were both very happy. My DC may be 1 year old + and still wakes up during the night, but I don't really mind". Of course, if you do mind and want you and your child to get a decent nighttime sleep, you may want to ignore this sort of advice. Following a routine is a much safer bet.

FWIW:

1. As some PPs said, your DS may be very close to dropping the third nap. Apparently, 80% of babies are ready by or at 6 months (these are also babies who are able to connect sleep cycles and take longer naps). My DD dropped her nap at 6.5 months. It all happened very quickly. I thought she was nowhere near ready and then, a few days later, she was absolutely fine to make the transition. It still took 3-5 days to fully adjust but it was a relatively easy change.

1. Once you move to 2 naps, you may try to get your DC to take one of the naps on the go. It may only last 30-45 minutes, but for a lot of babies it will be enough to keep them going. My DD always took her short morning nap in the pram and napped in the cot for 2+ hours in the afternoon.

1. Following a consistent routine is not always easy but I personally thought the major advantages of getting consistent decent night time sleep and avoiding overtiredness during the day were 100% worth it. I am guessing that some of the posters with babies sleeping "anytime anywhere" would trade their flexibility for having consistent and reliable night time sleep.

I find in some fb groups I'm in, there's a certain identity of motherhood that takes happiness/comfort from their baby only napping on them, 'we do contact napping exclusively', and happy to bed share and be woken 17 times all night. Which is fine, but would drive me absolutely bonkers. I need my baby to nap in a cot/pram and I need her to sleep as well as she's developmentally able to. Nothing wrong with that either! Some babies need more help going to sleep than others.

We've just gone to 2 naps more often than not now, usually 10ish to 11ish, then any time around 2ish and I try not to let her sleep past 4/4.30, which seems to stop her fighting it

Not sure if this is exclusive to first babies really but my baby DS is used to noise having three older siblings so he will sleep through pretty much anything. There’s a reason people recommend you carry on with normal household noise when babies are asleep, it prevents this situation...

I’ve never let nap time intrude on my life with any of my DC really. I’d just stick them in the pram, baby carrier or car seat and we’d go out, they’d almost always fall asleep.

I find in some fb groups I'm in, there's a certain identity of motherhood that takes happiness/comfort from their baby only napping on them, 'we do contact napping exclusively', and happy to bed share and be woken 17 times all night. Which is fine, but would drive me absolutely bonkers.

Yup, it drove me crazy too. The first time DD napped in her crib at about six months I cried with happiness. Some babies just don't get it and need the contact to sleep. If I put DD down she screamed. I don't mean a bit of a whinge to sleep, I mean full on screamed without stopping. If I put her down once asleep, she instantly woke, even with a tilted cot, hot water bottle to warm it etc etc.

I’ve never let nap time intrude on my life with any of my DC really. I’d just stick them in the pram, baby carrier or car seat and we’d go out, they’d almost always fall asleep.

I'm 8 weeks pregnant and would like to order one of these babies for next time round please.

Oh, it doesn't work that way? Dammit.

People should maybe refrain from posting smug comments about their own brilliant sleepers on a thread where the OP is struggling - especially when her baby is actually sleeping really well, OP is just finding it a bit tough to get him down!

I find in some fb groups I'm in, there's a certain identity of motherhood that takes happiness/comfort from their baby only napping on them, 'we do contact napping exclusively', and happy to bed share and be woken 17 times all night. Which is fine, but would drive me absolutely bonkers.

Ugh yes, then when anyone who is on their knees from exhaustion posts looking for help or advice they get 'aww just enjoy the cuddles'

You’re doing great.

My baby is now 9 months and naps in the cot but it took work (and tears). He’s about to drop the last nap but I’m not rushing him.

I also left Facebook groups telling me that baby led sleep was the only way. I never felt safe co-sleeping or with the baby sleeping on me. I never agreed with a lot of the stuff I was being told was the ‘only’ way.

Once we had got him happy in a cot he slept like a log, naps got longer, his sleep at night dramatically improved and he was a much happier baby.

Half my mum friends think I’m a terrible person but hey!

@dontfollowmeimlosttoo I haven't read the thread but hopefully someone has mentioned the Huckleberry app to you? It's very useful during periods of crappy sleep - you put in their sleep for 3 days to create a pattern and based on that the app suggests 'sweet spot' times to put them down each day, based on how they've slept so far that day, so it's responsive. The sweet spot means they're neither too awake or too overtired to go down - overtired and they're just knackered but flailing around and wired, undertired and you're stuck there for half an hour. The app is great with that prediction, means you can plan your day better, and if it goes wrong crucially you can blame someone else. try it out, it's worth a go.

You're doing great, this is just what happens with naps, everyone I know with a baby has the same, or is tricky and tiring. (I think it's a bit unfair on the baby to not try to get them down regularly, good sleep is good for them so I kind of think it's my job to do my best.)

Also this sounds just like a sleep regression to me. They're a pain in the arse but my well sleeping baby always turned into a wakeful grump for a week with them, then went back to normal for him.

Oh, and a good one for us when he is being held / fed to sleep is putting the corner of a muslin into his hand. He rubs his face / eyes and the soft fabric seems to help send him off. Now I think it's a sleep association and a little go with the muslin seems to send him off quicker