6 month old will not nap...Please, please help!

[Sonia84]

My 6 month old son point blank refuses to nap. He is clearly exhausted (bags under eyes, general grogginess and whining). He's never really napped, usually having 2 20-30 minute naps a day but in the past few days he doesn't even do that. As soon as I see the signs I put him in his pram (Where I've always put him to nap) pulled the hood down and used a blanket to make it dark and pushed him round the kitchen. Usually after 30 minutes of battling he'll go, but not any more! He just cries and cries until he's sick and dripping in sweat.
My Health Visitor advised putting him in his cot to sleep during the day (Which I was reluctant to do as he'll be going to a childminder soon and she'll be putting him to nap in his pram). I tried putting him in his cot and left him, going back every 10 minutes to check, after 40 minutes of screaming I decided to stay with him. I sat next to his cot knitting but didn't make eye contact. I tried singing and humming and putting his mobile on but nothing worked. After another 30 minutes of screaming I had to get him out.
He'd had a bottle before I tried putting him down and he isn't wet or dirty.
I've also tried rocking him to sleep and feeding him to sleep. Nothing seems to work!

To be fair, he usually sleeps so well on a night (7.30-7.30 straight through!!) so the lack of naps doesn't really bother me. But recently he's waking up all the time. He's so tired and grumpy all the time :-(
I'm at the end of my teather! Please can anyone offer any advice.
I'm completely exhausted and so tired of hearing constant screaming. I'm aslo struggling with PND and pretty much on my own with the baby all the time. I have no idea what else to try!!

Sorry if this is a rambling mess!!!

Sorry you are having a hard time. My 23 week old is not a regular napper. When I see her rubbing at her face I tend to put her dummy in, cuddle her up to me and then when she falls asleep I lay her down very very slowly and pull my hands away slowly so she doesn't notice.

To be fair she naps well in the pushchair (have you tried converting your pram into pushchair as your baby may be fed up of lying flat and may prefer being a but propped up?).

I don't know if this helps but I really didn't want you to go unanswered. I am also on my own a lot as my DH works away all week and it is tough. My wee one wakes up a lot at night so perhaps naps a bit better due to that.

Do you have any RL support, is there a baby group you can go to? I dread to use the word NetMums but it is a very useful site to see what goes on locally and they have a Meet A Mum board through which I made a very good friend with a similarly aged baby. I have never been on the forums there though .

Hope things improve.

Is he maybe starting teething? My ds is 7 mnths and sleeping went to pot just before his teeth popped through.

Temporarily, I might add- as soon as rhe teeth appeared it was back to normal...

Our LO (8.5 months) has stopped having a nap at all so it's definitely possible! She's never liked going to bed but usually managed 2-3 hours a day in two goes after a feed when she'd fall asleep on the breast. She did that till about a week ago when she suddenly stopped having a nap at all during the day. Maybe she doesn't need one but she does spend most afternoons crying and rubbing her eyes so I think she must be tired, especially as she's started sleeping for two hours less at night - she sleeps well once settled but it's taking two hours to settle her at night at the moment for some reason whereas in the past she just went to sleep. She is not teething as far as I can tell, no drool, no red cheeks etc but when she has in fact been teething it didn't seem to bother her. Have no idea how to get her to nap though or how to settle at night. Have tried everything, so just assume she will eventually if she is really tired. I'll be back at work full time in a few weeks time bit I am feeling down about it, as I'm not enjoying being with her at the moment due to all the screaming afternoons and tiring evenings and it's a shame because she was such a happy baby till now - she still is happy when we're out and about but I struggle to keep her entertained at home come the afternoon. She's fine on my knee etc but as soon as I put her down she cries and rubs her eyes with tiredness but will only scream for 40-60 minutes in her cot whether I am in eh room or not, until I eventually get her back out of it again. I'd have liked to enjoy our final few weeks together, but sadly I'm not at the moment so I am watching this thread for ideas!

ds2 was like that. I remember friends coming round for tea when he was about 5 months old and me answering the door like some wild woman, glassy-eyed, whispering 'He. Just. Won't. Sleep.' He was like that at night too, unfortunately. However, I persisted in putting him down at least once a day and eventually he did start to nap. Can't remember how old he was (blur). He did give up his nap completely quite young (just over 2 iirc).

However (this is the good bit), he's now 4 and is the world's greatest sleeper. Conks out at about 8 and doesn't stir until at least 7. And, having been a nightmare to potty train, he also got the night training in about 2 days and almost never has an accident. So, don't despair. It will get better.