6 month old rejects nap time

[siddus]

I am at my lowest point, about to cry and never felt like a worse parent.

My lo has always been tricky at nap times. I've previously put this down to letting her go too long between naps and getting over tired.
But very recently things have turned much worse. Even when being on the ball, seeing the signs of being ready for needing a nap and starting at appropriate times she starts crying at the merest hint of trying to get her to fall asleep. She will completely turn in seconds from quiet and calm to inconsolable crying.
Getting her to sleep has frequently been a stressful and frustrating time and sometimes my frustration has upset her. Now I feel like she's getting upset from the outset because she's associating nap time with me getting frustrated and upsetting her. I feel terrible.
And to make it worse I've no idea how I can therefore get her to go to sleep because it just upsets her.

How long do you leave it between naps?

Normally 90 mins to 2 hours. She has a history of napping for only 30 mins that we'd started to make headway on

Ah ok i thought perhaps too long - but that isn’t. 90 mins is probably too short for 6 months though? Maybe she’s upset because she’s not ready?
My DD is 6 months. Our awake time is minimum 2 hours, maximum 2hr 45 mins ish, depending on length of last nap.
Perhaps lengthen the time?
I say to her at each nap time ‘we’re going for a lovely nap now’ a few times, and do the same things each time. Blind shut, white noise on, dummy in, bye, and off she goes.
She used to melt down at bedtime though and it was heartbreaking and so stressful so sympathies.
Don’t be so hard on yourself.

Thanks for the reply. Been reading other people's experiences and you could well be right. It's just so difficult to gauge when she's showing signs like yawning and rubbing her eyes at these shorter times. I don't know if I'm being overly concerned about over-tiredness?

There's also a developmental thing where they're more aware of being left around that age. I found dd would protest when I left the room plans at naps.

I was consistent with extra cuddles and she got over it.

How are you trying to get her to nap?

Just don’t worry about it and let her nap in the pushchair or in the car or cuddling you?
I’m on my third child and they all managed a lovely long afternoon nap by the age of 12-14 months. Up until then they only napped for 30-40 minutes at a time (this is normal by the way). With my first I stood over the cot many times, both of us crying. Now I wonder why on Earth why? Babies sleep when they sleep. It’s not worth getting stressed about in my view

My dd was like this and I one day decided to release any expectation and think if she's tired she will go down without a fight. She has less sleep than her peers but is a happy baby so she's not tired, cranky or grumpy. She just needs less sleep.

Once I kind of 'let go' things seemed easier and because I was more relaxed she also relaxed too. I lay next to her for her naps and she falls asleep and then I sneak off. She also sleeps in her pram but only for 30m on the dot.

Thanks for the replies. I'm feeling a bit better about things. Going to try giving a bit longer between naps and see what happens

My lo is 7months and has always been a great nighttime sleeper but daytime naps are never more than 30minutes. In the last week he has even decided that is too long and only does 15mins. I've tried shortening awake times, lengthening awake times, let him sleep on me, in the cot, in the pushchair and the car - nothing works to get him to nap more. I'm pulling my hair out but just waiting for it to get better. Hopefully when he goes to nursery in a couple of months they can get him napping longer 🙈. What I will say though is if your lo gets upset is that when rocking to sleep, have you tried putting lo down in their cot and trying to self soothe?

Hadders, she would calm down if put down but also completely wake up and be more alert. It seems the problem was starting too early as we are getting a bit better results after lengthening a bit.
Your lo is possibly hitting the next sleep regression phase. I hope you find something that works for you.

When you say self soothe do you mean leaving them to cry?
It’s completely unnecessary. They just start taking longer naps as they get older... it’s developmental