Sleep cues

[doblet]

Today I am on 'operation get dd to nap'. She was yawning so took her upstairs, closed curtains, put her in basket, put on some white noise and held her arms still. 30 minutes later she is still wide eyed, smiling and cooing (I try not to look at her though). What am I doing wrong? I have brought her back downstairs but am dreading her getting overtired as it usually takes till 10pm for her to sleep when she gets too tired during the day. She seems wide awake and happy again and is playing by herself. I feel like a useless mother as I only get disbelieving looks from other mothers/the health visitor when I say that dd just will not nap unless in the car. I'm desperate for my evenings back as at the moment they are spent consoling an overtired, crying baby.

I don't know that it's 'wrong' exactly but if you're there you might be acting as a distraction - so even though you're not looking at her, you're entertaining enough to prevent sleep. What would happen if you did all the above but after putting on the white noise you quietly walked away? Even if they don't go to sleep a quiet lie down with no stimulation can sometimes be as good.

How old is she?

I know exactly what you mean about HVs, mine told me to put DS in bouncy chair and go about my daily life and he would just 'drift off' - errr, no actually.

#if she's not used to napping in her basket she won't understand straight away that that is what you want her to do. Like anything, you will need to teach her and it will take time. Keep going, she will get there and it will be worth it.

Come join us on the 'my baby won't nap' thread (sorry, don't know how to do links and typing one handed with baby on lap), there are some good tips on there if you have 10 mins to read through.

Main one that worked for me was putting him down earlier, before yawning if poss. Try starting with the morning nap, no more than 1.5 hrs after waking.

Good luck :)

Will read the rest of the nap thread. It's rather long!
DD is 9 weeks old. I was pinning my hopes on the 6-8 week milestone but it never happened.

I am getting pressure from all angles to get her into a routine but she is fighting it.

I am having a wobble today, I normally feel quite confident about being a mum but succumbed today to the feeling of 'it must be my fault why dd isn't like my friends babies - they say it is easy so why can't I get her to sleep'.

It is a bit! If you just read one bit, read the long post by vix206 on p1, which describes her routine / approach. I found that helpful.

We had a turning point at 12 weeks, but he didn't magically fall into a routine and wouldn't just fall asleep in the daytime (although evenings did get much better at that point).

I try to make sure DS has a sleep of at least 30 mins at around 3 or 4, even if it means going for a pointless drive, because then he is not overtired when it comes to bedtime.

It takes time, I have to keep reminding myself that he doesn't know what I want him to do so anything is going to take a while to become habit. She sounds like a happy baby generally though, so I am sure you are doing a great job.