5 month old will not nap!

[rmyerspharmacy]

Hi there
I have a 5 month old who just will not 'go down' for a nap. She sleeps fairly well at night- wakes 2-3 times for food still but no problem getting to sleep when im feeding her- our problem is during the day time. She only sleeps if I take her out in the car, and then not for long. She will not nap in the house at all.
I keep reading to watch for her tired signs (yawns, rubbing eyes, pulling ears, staring into space) and then put her down- but she just then cries/screams constantly.
She does need sleep cos if i havent been out in the car we get to about 3-4 o'clock and she is grumpy, clingy, fussy and generally miserable for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

Do babies just 'fall asleep' when they are tired? Will one day she just decide that she wants to take a nap and drop off? Or should I try one of the baby whisperer or cry it out methods of forcing her to nap?

A the moment it seems very unlikely that she will just go to sleep by herself but it also doesn't seem right to force her to nap if she just doesn't want to.

Advice please

I'm not an expert but my dd would only nap on me or in the buggy until she was 9months and then it kind of clicked and she was happy to go into the cot. I just went with it and enjoyed sitting down while she slept! Not sure that this will help you though as she won't sleep in the house. Could you walk her to sleep in the buggy and then leave it in a safe place outside so she isn't woken by the change in temperature?

She did need help to get to sleep and wasn't one to just fall asleep - she needed to let everyone know before she went off I spent a lot of time walking her around to get her off. I think some babies do need to learn how to go to sleep but I never did proper sleep training.

Sorry bit of a ramble and probably not much help!

I have a similar issue with my dd. She's always been a good nighttime sleeper but she has not fallen asleep herself since she was about 6 wks old, and definitely not in the day.

I have tried all manner of things to get her to sleep. Sleep training wasn't for me so firstly I found a way that she would actually sleep in the house. This turned out to be a combination of white noise, jiggling and feeding (bf). Once she was then regularly sleeping in her cot, then I worked at reducing each of the 'crutches' she needed to get her to sleep bit by bit. I used the 'no cry sleep solution' method in which you essentially stop white noise/feeding/jiggling etc just short of them being completely asleep and put them down and let them do the last bit themselves. Reduce it bit by bit and be prepared it takes weeks and weeks as there are many times you have to pick them back up and restart again. Takes a lot of patience!!

I've just had a breakthrough and my dd has just started to go down awake in the day for naps (she's 6 mths old). But it's very new, and has taken a long time.

Oh and ps-whenever I've asked for advice on this people (and hvs) have said 'well at least she sleeps at night'

Not helpful. If you don't know or care at least say so.

It's utterly exhausting having a good 12hr solid shift without breaks with a demanding baby...

So glad you have had a break through. It sounds like you have a plan and are doing a great job. I sympathise so much, a non sleeper day or night is tough and wears you down. It will get better. I've just put dd down and am actually enjoying a hot cup of tea! Unheard of 6 months ago.

Thanks for the comments guys- it's nice to know that this is not unusual. Reading 'advice' about napping on the Internet I was feeling like there was something wrong...
I have decided not to worry about it though- she's sleeping great at night (which I am massively thankful for- 7pm to 4am straight through the other night!) and if I get desperate and have to go for a quick drive to get her off in the afternoon then so be it.
It does sound from what you're both saying that napping will improve as she get older- so I'll persevere but not worry too much if it doesn't happen yet.

Lets face it I won't be rocking her to sleep when she's a teenager so it will click one day!

Ps- sat in the car on the driveway typing this having been out for a short drive
Dd asleep in the back :)

Sometimes you gotta do what you've gotta do! This too shall pass. Just think when their teenagers we'll be trying to get them out of bed :)