Anyone else have a baby who seems to have decided she isn't? DD is about to turn 7 months and prefers to feed herself which is great, but along with that has decided she doesn't need to bf or nap - not so great. She cut her first teeth at 4 months, so I know about nursing strikes, this feels different, she seems to want to be independent and I'm coping by letting her nurse at length at night when she is really very sleepy which means I get very little time to myself in the evening now as she will happily feed for an hour after her bath, then often demand a story/song/play, often not dropping off until 9pm, despite me starting the wind down/bedtime/bath time process at 6pm.
She hasn't nursed since 6.30 this morning, yesterday she went from 9.30 - 7.30, should I be worried? She does eat three meals a day which include yoghurt/cheese etc so she is getting dairy elsewhere, but will not take formula or BM from a cup or bottle, only water from a cup. She has refused a bottle since she turned three months.
As for the napping, she hasn't even yawned today and has been awake since 9am, I going to try and get her down in her cot between now and 4.30pm, but failing that will have to take her out for a drive in the car where she always nods off (would take her for a walk in the pram which also works but it's snowing where I am). I'm so worried about the lack of sleep, she does do 12 hours at night sometimes straight through, usually with one wake up around 4/5/6am and had been doing a two hour morning nap 11-1pm then 40 mins at 4.30ish for the past couple of months. It seems like now she wants to do one long nap in the middle of the day but finds switching off for a nap harder and harder the older she gets even though I keep her room dark and simple, no music etc, we always just have a cuddle and read a story then she goes down, but as she is so agile now I often find her crying 20 mins later in all sorts of odd positions in her cot.
Is this just a phase that will pass? I have always felt totally happy with our relationship and her development but I'm on my own during the week (hubby only home for weekends) and I work so am worried as to just how I will cope with the holidays over and work starting tomorrow (I work from home 3-4 hours per day) if she isn't napping during the day and my evenings are no longer free from 7.30pm. Any hot tips or pearls of wisdom appreciated.