6 month old cries before any nap

[Mamafinch]

Hi, I would love some advice as my 6 month will not nap without crying and screaming first.

Bedtime is fine, we have a strong routine and the exact same time every night at 7pm and he feeds to sleep and then goes straight in the cot no problem.

Any other time is a different story. It doesn’t matter if I rock him in the rocking chair, he’s in the pram, in the car seat or in the sling he will cry before every nap. Sometimes it’s more of a grumble especially in the carrier but sometimes it’s full on screaming and crying. Just as it peaks he will then succumb and finally sleep.

He doesn’t easily feed to sleep for naps either so needs some other support to sleep. Of course I can’t just put him in the cot he can’t go to sleep himself.

I find it so hard having to ‘force’ him to nap and get through the crying everytime. It makes being out difficult because he won’t sleep unless I’m moving so no cute naps in coffee shops. And of course he cries before napping in the pram anyway. But also being home is hard because I’m just in the dark bedroom rocking him to sleep while he screams / cries.

He is having 3 naps a day with a 2-2.5 hour wake window, sometimes more.

I’m worried about nursery if he won’t sleep without crying first and I’m finding it so upsetting to hear him cry so much. He’s been like this since he was born.

Any suggestions or have any experience of a baby like this?
thanks!!

I can only sympathise as my baby stopped feeding to sleep for naps at 5 months and any sleep at 6 months. LO would also cry at the end of feeds, when other people's babies would be satisfied and sleepy! I eventually put it down to my baby's FOMO temperament. They dropped to two naps at 6 months. It was really hard. They are now a FOMO toddler but (currently) sleeping really well at night.

I suspect that some babies just need to cry before falling asleep. It didn't matter how much comforting I did, what I tried, baby just cried before naps many many times. Often putting the pram flat and pulling the cover down would lead to a much shorter duration of crying than trying to soothe baby to sleep. I came to the conclusion that less than five minutes of crying while being 'ignored' in the pram or cot was better than 30+ minutes of being soothed but crying in my arms.

Things are different at nursery. They are very good at helping babies sleep. Don't worry about that yet! My nursery did LOTS of cuddling and rocking to sleep if that was what was needed.

I’m afraid I don’t have any advice on how to stop the crying but I just wanted to say please don’t worry about nursery! They are MAGICIANS when it comes to getting babies/children to sleep, my youngest would only sleep at home with me rocking him, but when he went to nursery they would just put him down, rub his back for a minute or two, and he’d drop off! I could not get him to do that at home for love nor money, but they have some special powers that us mere mortals do not possess 😂

Yeah my 16 month old always cries before naps and at bedtime. Always has. I never thought much of it? No idea what they do for naps at nursery; she has a nap and that’s all I care about

Thanks so much!! I’m glad I’m not the only one only one who has a baby like this. Thanks ottermummy2024 - I agree with the flat pram and it helps shorten the crying. I also use a muslin to make it dark.

It’s so helpful to know it’s not ‘wrong’ but just the way my LO is.

Sounds like he is overtired just before sleeping. They need to be the right kind of tired. Babies are so complex! With my first I read this very useful aleep book which said watch your baby like a hawk when trying to get a sleep routine going. If they have got to their third yawn or eye rub they will generally be harder to put down. I found it was true! As soon as mine yawned I took him upstairs to his cot and got the blind down etc and he used to drift off. I was prob lucky with him but I found the three yawns/eye rub advice useful. After about a week or noting when he was ready to aleep (say at 9.30am) I was able to build a routine around it. Good luck!

Just do whatever works for naps and nights, not worth the hassle of watching so called ‘sleep cues’. Look at the possums method, it’s much better to get out and enjoy your day; and let baby sleep on the go.