1yo and naps. help.

[TuckingFablet]

I am going to explode pretty soon. 13 month old dd apparently doesn't need naps any more according to her. I have rocked, patted, gone for a walk in the pouring rain. Shes had calpol, teething granules and has her calpol plug in on. She has a clean nappy and a belly full of lunch and milk. She is exhausted but will not sleep. Every single day this week she has done this and by 4pm she is over tired and is then a nightmare to get to bed. DP has been at work on the 8am-6pm shift all week so I have been on my own. His next day off isn't until next friday. I cannot do this any longer. I need her to have a nap and stop climbing all over me. She's too tired to cruise around the furniture so just falls alot and bangs her head. I can't leave the room without a full on meltdown. There's nobody to take her for an hour or so and I just need a break. Half an hour would be nice. Please tell me this isn't the end for naps forever?

Put her in her cot, say "Naptime", close the curtains and the door and leave her in the dark until she gets the message. ?

I second the driving round thing as a short fix for today - just to get a nap in and try to break the cycle ready to start afresh. Then tomorrow try two naps. My ds is just over 12 months and more often than not is on 2 naps, his morning nap is usually the longest. He naps in his buggy even inside the house, it's the only way I can get him to nap. Not ideal, but the alternative is much worse!

I can't drive so that's not an option

she used to be a wonderful sleeper. she used to have a morning and afternoon nap no problem. then she went down to just am afternoon nap because she started waking up later in the morning a few weeks ago. Now as soon as I put her in her cot she screams. The room is dark, there's no distractions in her cot. she has a full bottle to settle her down then I put her in the cot and bam she's banshee screaming.

Do you think it could be separation anxiety? Ds had this at 9 months but I know around a year is a key time for it to appear too. If so, we found lots of reassurance and gradual retreat helped

I could have written your post OP my DD is 13mths and she is such hard work lately! She also doesn't want to nap - she's been up since 7am and has finally finally gone down at 2pm on the 4th attempt.

I've found the only way for me is to keep taking her up, making it dark etc saying nap time and putting her down with her snuggy, then leave the room and to be honest if she doesn't want to nap she won't and no amount if rocking, leaving her there etc works - I just get her up, take her back down , wait 30 mins and try again until she gives in.

I find this calms her down for the next attempt whereas if I try to rock her or lay her back down she just gets angrier and angrier - it's soul destroying some days so i fully sympathise!!

She is also doing the screaming thing when left - even when I go in the kitchen so I wonder if like a pp said it's separation anxiety?? Bloody exhausting for all concerned!!

well its taken 2 hours. 2bottles of milk (where does she fit it?!) her sleepy sheepy playing music, me sitting on the chair while she roamed the cot yabbering away then finally one last bottle of milk sent her over the edge into sleep.
It's times like these I really wish she hadn't given up her dummy. she was so easy to settle then a few days before her birthday she just lost interest completely and looks at me like if I offer her one now

oh lord. she had really bad separation anxiety when she was about 7 months, I hope it's not that again. that damn near broke me.

Sorry you're going through it too pinkparsnips

here we go again. she was up at 5am today so is now exhausted but again will not sleep after nearly an hour of trying. this is ridiculous.

Urgh sorry tucking. I hate that early waking over tired dance. It's relentless. If it's any consolation, ds is also refusing to nap. He's ill, but I think is also at the two nap/one nap dither point.