6 month I'll fights sleep

[Kk101]

Hi. My 6 month old simply hates going to sleep - either for naps or at bedtime. She'll sleep in the pram - when out for walks - for 30 mins. The only other way to get her to sleep is to walk her around - this can take over an hour and, as she's getting heavier, my back can't take it anymore. Even then she cries before she sleeps - in fact the cry normally means she's likely to doze off soon. She used to fall asleep whilst nursing and I could slip her in to her cot without her waking however this no longer works. She does get drowsy after her feed but if I walk her around or put her in her cot she immediately becomes wide awake, kicks her legs and starts chatting. I've tried leaving her but she turns over and starts trying to crawl - which means she bangs her head on the cot. We have a bedtime routine of play, books, bath with low lighting (around 7.30), feed and then...hopefully sleep. Any advice?

How long has this been going on for? There is a developmental leap and a growth spurt at around 6 months so this could be affecting things.

Have you recently introduced solids too?

We started solids about 4 and a half weeks ago - she's really taken to it. I know she's definitely going through a developmental keep and is very close to crawling. However she's never been able to put herself to sleep at bedtime (although bizarrely must be able to during the night) and genuinely appears to hate going to sleep. She's definitely become worse at actually going to sleep in the past few weeks however she has always fought sleep and will cry anytime we try to get her to sleep.

The solids could be a factor, how often do you offer solids? Do you give milk before or after the solids? Could she be teething too?

She gets solids three times a day now. Only a little - porridge or veg/fruit. She's definitely teething - she had been since she was 10 weeks only unfortunately. We started the nursing to sleep recently as her teething is so bad she can't take a bottle - my other half used to give her a bottle of expressed milk for her final feed - now she just chews the bottle so we've given up on bottles for the moment. I suspect that the solids and teething are a factor however I'm still concerned at how alert she becomes at bedtime - she's normally v smiley until we walk her - at which point she cries. It's like she hates going to sleep.

Oh and I always bf her before offering hey solids - although she had reduced the amount if time she nurses.

What have you tried for the teething kk?

My 7 month old dd is just the same. We used to play her lullabies on sleepy baby app. Seems to work as she now associates that with sleep so u could try that. Or white noise. Unfortunately she seems to be reaching a difficult stage. Now started to wake 2 times a night and staying awake

I've tried teething gels, anbesol liquid, teething powders and calpol for her teeth. The powders seem at least to calm her down. I do know that the teething is an issue right now but even when her teeth aren't that bad she just hates sleep! Once she's over this lot of teething I think I'll have up try sleep training.

I'll also give the sleepy baby app a go. Music hadn't worked in the past (she loves dancing to music) but hopefully this will work.

I was also wondering if her fed time might be an issue.