Why can nap times be so stressful?

[ScotGirl]

My ds nearly 6 mths is a very consistent napper - 3 hrs after waking in the morning and then every 2 hrs after each waking...

He has all his naps in his cot or in his buggy. He is breastfed and I used to let him sook to sleep but I stopped doing that ~ 6 wks ago and have managed to stick to my guns...

Sometimes he goes down without even a cry, but some mornings, like this morning, he was screaming and screaming (with his eyes closed so I know he really wants to be asleep).

Is there any rhyme or reason to why this is - did I maybe put him down too early this morning or something, or is it just that some mornings he finds it easier to wind down?

I find it really hard to listen to him scream and sometimes dread the next nap time.

He goes down very well at night now though and stays down so no problems there....

ds still does this at 15 months - and i still don't get it. we've tried various things - adjusting nap times slightly, longer wind down - and various of dh's superstitions, like closing the blinds after ds is in his cot instead of before. nothing seems to consistently make a difference.

however, a couple of weeks ago, my in-laws looked after ds for two days (in our house) - they'd never done it before, and when ds didn't settle easily for a nap at the time we said he would sleep, they just got him up again to play. he got 1 hour's daytime sleep the first day, and 2 the second - compared with 2.5 - 3 usually. he was fine - until bed time - which was a real battle both days - 30 or 40 mins to get him to settle. so we're sticking with the routine