My baby doesn't nap

[CuteLittleToes]

My DS who is 20 weeks tomorrow wouldn't nap at all if I didn't try to put him down. On an ok day he would have 2 naps 30-40 mins each. On a bad day he would have just one.

I've just spent almost 2 hours on and off trying to get him to nap. He fell asleep at one point but woke up as I was leaving the room. I could not get him to fall back asleep after that. So it's almost 4pm and he hasn't napped today at all.

It's draining and upsetting...

I don't know what I'm looking for... Advice? Sympathy? Similar experiences?

You have my sympathy in spades OP

How long does he sleep during the night & how many times does he wake up?

Some babies need more sleep than others. My TDs, one slept all day and was only awake for about and hour the other slept most of the night and 1 1/2 nap after lunch .

Speak to your HV if you have any concerns. Maybe try putting him down when he is awake and just get on with stuff or try a sling.

You are not alone OP and support is out there

Ds1 was like this. Can count on one hand the number of times he ever napped in the day without being pushed in the pram or driven round in the car. It never really got any better, and he refused to nap completely from 12 months old. Slept all night though!
Compare this to Ds2 who napped regularly as a baby and only dropped his two hour afternoon snooze aged three.
A nap refusing baby is completely draining. I suggest just putting him down and leaving him to it. I was once so fed up with Ds1 I put him down and hoovered round. When I switched off he was snoring!

Thanks for your replies.

His night sleep is dreadful. On a good night he'll do 3G stretch, followed by 2h, and then wake up hourly. On a bad night he'll go straight to hourly wakings. He has done a couple random nights a week ago with 4h stretch and I thought things were getting better... But it seems like they are only getting worse

I know he does need his day naps, and much longer than 30 mins. He used to go longer than that, or at least it would take 5-10 mins to get him to sleep rocking in a pram. Now it takes bloody hours .

However, when I put him to bed at night he can fall asleep with me not even touching him in minutes... I guess routine helps? so I'm trying to do some simple routine for his nap time, like playing the same lullaby while feeding, maybe he'll soon start to associate it with sleep... Otherwise I'm out of ideas!