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How to get LO napping in cot for longer than 20 minutes?!?!

4 replies

offside · 24/04/2015 10:10

Hi mnners

My DD is just over 8 months old. Was EBF until 6 months and then we successfully night weaned her without much drama.

After a recent brief hiccup with night time sleep, we are now back to more or less sleeping through with LO easily settling herself when/if she wakes in the night.

HOWEVER! Day time naps are something else. Unless DD is in the car/pram, she feeds to sleep on me. Nap routine goes like this:

Wakes up: 5:30 and feeds (goes to bed at 17:30pm which is whole new thread!)

7:30-8: feeds to sleep

10-10:30: feeds to sleep

12:30-14:30: feeds to sleep

17:30 (ish) bedtime where she sleeps through to 5:30

However, when she naps in the cot she will only go down for 20/25 minutes at the first 2 naps, and around 30-45 minutes for what should be her 2 hour long nap. I try and settle her back to sleep when she wakes up but yesterday after an hour she just wasn't going back to sleep.

I know it's a whole new routine she's learning but she does understand that cot is for sleeping and has demonstrated with the night weaning that she can do it.

She doesn't like dummies, has never taken to one despite our attempts, although we are now happy about this. The projector we had was too bright for her and she likes it pitch black so that's not an option, we have classical music playing in her room so it's not that it's too quiet...I'm jut stumped.

Another issue we have is her bedtime, n9 matter what we do, we are unable to push that bedtime. We thought the clocks changing would help, but no such look!! We tried doing a pre nap sleep but she still woke up at 5:30 and she seems happier going to bed at 17:30 anyway, it just semi a shame that we're all missing out on nice evening walks and what not in this weather.

Any advice I welcome!!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
allotherusernamesaretaken · 25/04/2015 03:33

You could encourage her to self settle for naps (does she self settle at bedtime?). Some babies won't nap for long periods when they feed to sleep (my dd included). I do notice bad patches of naps though with teething etc, they tend to come and go so it might just be a phase.

WishUponAStar88 · 25/04/2015 03:42

I have no help but 7mo dd is the same so bumping for you! Jealous of the sleeping through though ...!

offside · 25/04/2015 07:08

Thank you for the replies!

Yep, she self settles for bedtime and has done for a couple of months (since night weaning). She does self settle for her naps in the cot but just won't stay asleep for as long as she does when I feed her to sleep. Even if I stay in the room with her and catch her when she starts stirring, she won't go back to sleep even though she's clearly tired.

Think I need my DP to take a few days off work like he did when we night weaned so he can do the nap times. Think she needs to disassociate me completely with napping.

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Babymamamama · 25/04/2015 07:15

My daughter absolutely wouldn't sleep in her cot for naps but seemed to love the push chair. So whether we were home or out and about that's where she napped. Was quite handy as I wasn't tied to being At home for nap time like some of my mummy friends.

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