Baby fighting me at naptime

[MrsCeecee]

And by fighting I mean pretty much literally. Pushing, biting, struggling to get away from me.

My boy is almost one. He’s on two naps a day, used to be breastfed to sleep but he doesn’t breastfeed so much during the day now and won’t do that anymore (still usually feeds to sleep at night). So for the last couple of months he’s been bounced to sleep - I stand up and hold him so his head is by my shoulder and he sort of nuzzles in, then he goes in his cot once asleep. It used to be fairly straightforward- and even nice! - but for the past couple of weeks it’s been an utter nightmare. He’s a big baby and really strong. Sometimes he ends up down by my knees he’s squirming so much!

I know he’s not trying to hurt me, but he is. Physically and mentally. I put him down and pick him up again, or take him in the next room for more of a play sometimes, but it makes no difference. I’m just stuck trying to restrain him while he squirms like a demon (and by “restrain” I mean hold him as gently as I can while trying to prevent him from hurling himself to the floor). I feel cruel for putting him through it but don’t know what else to do.

I know he’s tired as he’s yawning, rubbing his eyes etc, so I don’t think it’s a case of him needing to drop a nap yet. And his dad can get him down much easier than me - some grumbling but not the same level of pushing etc.

He’s a grumpy baby at the best of times but when he’s awake he does play with me and smile etc - it’s not like he’s always trying to escape from me!

I don’t know what to do. I’m not leaving him in his cot to cry. Sorry to be dramatic, just feeling a bit broken by it all. TIA x

Time to drop a nap.

What times & length are his naps?

Could it be that rather than simply dropping a nap it’s time to re-arrange the naps so if he currently has morning & afternoon you could push the morning one back and have just one nap over lunchtime?

My daughter has been the same the last week or so and I think she’s probably ready to drop a nap, same issue as her afternoon nap she will now just scream, hit, bite, really cry but although she looks tired she will quite happily sit and play if I give up trying! Worth a try?

Interesting, thanks for the responses! I’m capping naps now at an hour each as sometimes we have split nights and I was wondering if he was having too much daytime sleep - sometimes he has three hours altogether or more left to his own devices. Though sometimes he’ll have loads of daytime sleep and sleep well at night (and sometimes hardly any daytime sleep and he’ll be up all night) so there’s no rhyme or reason to it sometimes!!

I was thinking it’d be a while until he dropped to one nap tbh as his wake windows have always been a bit shorter than they’re “supposed” to be for his age (I try to go off his cues not the clock though). Barely three hours and he seems knackered. So it does seem a big jump to move down to one nap - but maybe it is necessary after all, given how things have been this week. Absolutely worth a try.

He flat out refused to nap in the afternoon the other day and so was up 8 hours before bed! Teatime was horrific and he was a raging beast by 7 🙈

I would definitely try to re-arrange the naps to work better! So if you’re working off 3ish hours but he’s now battling the last nap meaning awake for 8 hours before bed you’d be better off trying (as an example but does depend on wake up time & bed time) 4 hour morning wake window, 1.5-2 hour nap from say 12:30-2/2:30 and then that would leave another 4.5 ish hour wake window before bed, can bring bedtime forward if that last one is too long. It just means rather than having a good morning and good morning nap then a hellish 8 hours, you have a slightly longer morning, longer nap and then a shorter afternoon to get to bedtime.

It is trial and error though, and totally agree sometimes there is no logic. My daughter has never been a great sleeper and on the odd occasion she does sleep well I sit and try and remember every single thing I did & at what time so I can replicate it. Never works though😂

@Mrsttcno1 😂 Maybe there’s some sort of baby logic we’re not privy to!

He’s usually up about 7 or 7.30 so I worry it might be too long a wake window, but it’s well worth a crack I think, and as you say it’ll be trial and error. I don’t know, the fact that he goes to sleep more readily for Dad makes me worry he’s got some beef with me or something!! Maybe my shoulder’s not comfy enough anymore…

Mine also goes to sleep easier for dad in cot. TBH to get one good nap a day I still put him in his pram (can lie flat) and he’s usually asleep in 5 mins, in his cot he rolls, crawls about and pulls up for ages - it’s a battle - then rarely sleeps longer than 40min. Sleeps fine in it at bedtime.

@jolies1 gah, I wish mine slept in his pram! He used to when he had a carrycot but now he’s far too nosy! If I lie it flat he screams. Major fomo I think 😂