what do i do with a 6mo who used to be a fairly good daytime sleeper but is now bawling her eyes out when I put her down.

[joorla]

hi

my 6 mo dd used to be a fairly good daytime sleeper, she used to have half an hour in the morning, a couple of hours about 12 and maybe half an hour in the afternoon.

we went away last week, when I just let her sleep in her buggy when she wanted to, since getting back I've been having great difficulty in getting her to sleep.

when I put her down she is bawling her eyes out, going red in the face and screaming. as soon as i pick her up she stops crying and starts smiling. I really dont think there's anything wrong with her, she doesnt have a temperature and I dont think she's teething.

what experiences/advice does anyone else have, she looks tired but just wont go down. She's not a problem in the night, sleeps through fine.

any advice welcome.

Since 6 months my lo has been changing from a three nap a day boy to a two nap a day and it can be really hard to predict his nap times as they are not consistent. How did you get your lo to have naps before. Mine has always been a nightmare so we had to put a lot of effort in. What works for us now is when he starts to look sleepy i take him up stairs, change his nappy, then sing a lullaby as I carry him to his bedroom. I then shut the curtains, we listen to a lullaby CD as I feed him (I bf to sleep as that is the only way he bf in the day) then lie him down sleepy but awake. I ssshh him or put on the white noise machine if he needs it. He will sleep between 30 minutes and 90 minutes.

If she is not grumpy and sleeping well at night then I would not worry.

hi

she was pretty good at putting herself to sleep, for her short half hour naps she would just sleep on the sofa and for her longer lunchtime nap I used to put her in her car seat to sleep but she is having none of it now.

at the moment she's asleep on me, had to rock her to sleep.

she is quite grumpy at the moment and doesnt want me out of her sight, wants to be held all the time. she was like this when she was a tiny baby but seemed to get a lot better from 3 months old but seems to have reverted back to how she was then.

Why don't you try putting her in her cot for her nap. She's getting to an age where all the things going on around her are stimulating and is probably getting overtired. Failing that let her sleep in her buggy and wheel it into a quiet room.

Her carseat is conceivably becoming uncomfortably snug at 6 months?

i've tried putting her in her cot to sleep - i left her in there for 10 mins or so and she was bawling her eyes out, tears streaming and bright red in the face.

maybe she just doesn't want her sleep. go by her cues. if she's tired let her sleep, if she doesn't want to go then don't force her

Joorla,

Although i am not suggesting anything draconian, in my experience babies of this age thrive on a bit of routine.

If you are consistent and put her down in her cot for a sleep at the similar times each day - with feeds spaced evenly between you might find that she settles down. Make sure her curtains are drawn and that she has her comforter/teddy/blanky whatever with her.

FWIW - I really think it is important for babies of this age to have a sleep in their cot, or at least in a quiet area away from the rest of the ongoings of the house. They need their rest.

hi

i agree with routine, before we went away she was in a good routine but now she seems to be really clingy

i put her in her cot this morning for her half hour nap which she did no problem, put her in again for her lunchtime sleep and she cried for about 5 minutes and then fell asleep, she woke up after 40 minutes (used to have a good 2 hours), crying, i went into her but she carried on, then picked her up and consoled her and put her back and left her for half an hour but still crying and i mean really crying, getting into a right state. I've now got her sat on my lap smiling away.

i hate to hear her crying and dont feel like i can leave her in this state and wonder if i'm doing damage to her leaving her to cry. how long would you leave a baby to cry? could it be separation anxiety because she doesnt seem to be able to amuse herself for very long anymore either and if i go out of the room or leave her side she starts crying and the only thing that comforts her if is she is picked up.

Cuddle her, or try a ring sling.

Babies go through phases where they need more comfort/security.

hi - are you sure she doesn't need stretching out a little between naps? When DS started struggling to go down for naps after previously being good at settling I would spend ages trying to figure it out and then eventually twigged he just wasn't tired enough. When this happens if you stretch it 15 min then you may find it makes all the difference. HTH.

Hi

My ds changed his nap routine at around 6 months, we had a difficult couple of weeks before I worked out what he needed.
He now sleeps in his cot for 45-90 mins in the morning, I did nothing to get him to do this I just followed his cues and put him down when I felt he needed it, i never left him to cry just went back to him and tried again later and it eventually just happened. Then he sleeps in his buggy for another nap late afternoon, which suits me fine because I like to be out at this time.

Also my ds began to get very clingy from 6 months and needed me near him much of the time, even daddy isn't good enough if he's slightly tired, hungry or under the weather.

Sounds fine to me Joorla. She may be a bit unsettled from being away.