Please help me. So desperate. 6mo WILL NOT NAP!

[Microwaved111]

I really am at the end of my tether now.

For the last 3 months I have been attempting to get my 6mo to nap without being held and bouced to sleep. She just will not sleep on her own. No matter what I do and believe me I have tried it all.

So usually about 1.5 hours after she last woke up I attempt to put her in her cot, white noise and dummy. She will cry and scream for about 2 hours in the cot, I don't leave her I stay in the room attempting to soothe her and calm her to sleep. Literally nothing works.

She will not sleep in the car - she screams every journey.
She will not sleep in the pram - she will cry and trash around if she get tired in it.
She has never taken to a sling

I'm fed up of family and friends making comments about how she should just sleep if she's tired. No one seems to understand, she just won't sleep on her own. She isn't overtired I make sure she's not.

At the moment the only for sure way of getting her to sleep in bouncing her on a gym ball, patting and singing to her. Once asleep putting her down is pretty impossible.

I desperately need help. Has anyone has experience of a baby who won't nap?

Yep! My first was a monster and the worst is people telling you what ‘should’ be happening!

In all honesty, trying different things was a good distraction for me, but nothing really helped. Encouraging a good day time and night routine was great when they are older. My eldest is now 5 and always goes to bed without a fuss and happily gets herself ready now.

Things got a lot easier by 9 months, then a year and better again my 18 months. It always helped me to remember that what is a problem today will change in a few weeks, kids rarely get stuck in habits for a long time.

Good luck, it’s really tough

I'm on the train at the moment so can't write a detailed response but have you tried a hairdryer on the cool setting whilst you attempt the transfer. That is, when she's falling asleep switch it for a couple of mins then transfer and leave it on for a few mins. Sounds ridiculous but it's the one thing that works for my non-napper. We also have a Cocoonababy that makes things a bit more snug for her. We tried a white noise app but it wasn't the same. Might be worth a go if you haven't already tried?

Above all, I have so much sympathy and empathy for you and I really hope you find a solution. DD1 slept like a dream and I now have a three month old DD2 who is the exact opposite.

Mine was the same, the only thing that helped was putting him for naps in his bed and doing the same routine as I did at night time, story, song, then bed, he would cry when I tried to leave the room, so I would come back in and play peekaboo for a while to make it fun, so he knew I'd always return, eventually he got into a good routine but it took time!!!

My whole day is taken up with trying to get her to sleep independently from me. I never leave the house because i spend hours trying to get her to sleep by the time i flinally give lin the whole dsy has gone! Its soul destroying. It's seems everyone I know had one of those babies that just sleeps wherever and whenever they need to with very little help.

I think you might be trying too soon? My 6mo is now not napping before 2.5- 3 hours (and he has only just dropped from 4 naps to 3)

What are her tiredness cues?

Oh OP, I feel for you I could have written this post when my DD was 6 months old. It's so hard.
How does she go to sleep at night? Do you have to bounce/rock her at bedtime? She might just need you a little longer. We had to cuddle DD to sleep until 8 months and while it was frustrating, it didn't last forever, and when we accepted it and lowered our ideals a bit, it was much easier to cope with!
I found that throwing the routine out worked, as it let DD fall into her own pattern... Don't get me wrong, it is chaos for a few days but I noticed that she would be sleepy and hungry about the same time every day... Really look for her cues, and when she looks tired, then take her into her cot, draw the curtains and do whatever you would for bedtime. You'll start to find a pattern, and then you can tweak it to work for your own routine.
Also, this was the big one for us, if something didn't work last week, it might now! White noise did nothing for DD for months but suddenly it was our saviour until she was sleeping through! We also found the same for the baby carrier. They change so fast at that age, everything is just a phase!

Why are you trying to hard to get her to sleep on her own? It’s a developmental thing, can you not feed/rock/cuddle to sleep? If she’s crying for 2 hours in the cot it sounds like hard work for everyone involved. Wondering why you’re worried about helping her go to sleep? It’s what babies need, self settling is a pretty new
bullshit concept x

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/sarahockwell-smith.com/2015/08/26/lets-talk-about-bad-habits-and-baby-and-child-sleep/amp/

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/sarahockwell-smith.com/2014/06/30/self-settling-what-really-happens-when-you-teach-a-baby-to-self-soothe-to-sleep/amp/

At the moment the only for sure way of getting her to sleep in bouncing her on a gym ball, patting and singing to her.

Use that as your start point then.

Gradually, over time, reduce the amount and verocity of the bouncing. But keep the rhythmic patting because that's a good thing to transfer to cot sleeping later on down the line.

How are you getting on, Micro? Really hope there's been some improvement for you?

Not really got any advice other than my routine with my 6 month old dd (who has deteriorated sleep wise but is still pretty good)... we have a sleepyhead, she sleeps in the same place all of the time, when she's tired, fed, changed etc I put her down in her cot give her a dummy, white noise and give her a comforter teddy bear with a small blanket on, then leave the room... we have a video monitor so I watch her closely on that, I will have to go in 2/3 times to put her dummy back in (I don't talk to her or fuss at all literally put it in and leave) then once she's asleep I take the comforter out of the cot so I know she's safe -- I know people don't recommend the comforters or teddy's but it really helps her to sleep she snuggles it, if I forget to take it when we stay out it's a nightmare!

Health visitor also recommended a hot water bottle in the cot to warm it before you put baby in it

Hope she settles for you soon!

We are still pretty much in the same routine unfortunatley. I did try for quite a while to get her to sleep on her own but it was causing our whole house so much stress I decided it's better to just leave it as it is for now at least.

At the moment she has 3 naps a day in my arms and goes off to sleep at night pretty well so I'm happy with that right now. Anything for a stress free easy life

None of my four have ever napped independently before about a year. I just hold them for naps. I remember spending hours trying to get number one to nap on his own. I’d have been much better just going with it and sitting down.

Is there any reason why you particularly need the baby to nap independently? Honestly, it’s much easier to just accept this is the day it’s going to be and enjoy sitting down!

I would have just likes to have maybe one nap a day when I'm free to get on with things that I need to do lol I've accepted that's just not going to happen now.

It doesnt help everyone I know critisises me for holding her for naps. They made me feel like I was doing something wrong. I realise now that they just had different babies to mine

This sort of thing is how I got into the Xbox. Having a body clung to me for a year. I missed those snuggles when they ended but end they did. It will for you as well.

@Microwaved111 Could you try extending the awake time slightly? Maybe to two hours awake time, and then see if she'll go down?
@mehhh I have left DD with her comforter from 6 months. She's now 8 months. She was able to move it from her face if she wanted by that point.