6 month old and catnapping hell

[Babysleep123]

DS has always been a catnapper. We did have a stretch of 1.5 hour naps but for the past week he has gone back to 30 min catnaps.

I feel like I can't cope anymore. I have no time to do anything. He is constantly whingeing because he's always tired. I'm always alone as it's impossible to make plans for the exact right time. When I do meet with my NCT group I just leave feeling depressed as the other babies will just fall asleep in the pram, while DS is upset the whole time and I have to leave within an hour to get him home to nap.

He will only nap in his cot.

All the 6 month routines online say have a 1 hour nap at this time and a 2 hour nap at that time etc. Well if that was possible I wouldn't have a problem.

Can anyone help me get a routine/life?

He does self settle at night so that isn't the problem..

Sorry to say but it’s completely normal at that age. My little girl slept for 35 on the dot every day between the age of 4 months and about 10 months. Started getting slightly longer after that. If you want him to sleep in his pram could you try w snooze shade, again we had to use one for any pram naps around that age. I know it’s hard as you don’t get much time but please be assured it is completely normal. Life got easier for me when I accepted it and it does pass!

My boy is the same through the day. He only goes down for 30 mins.i don't have any advice apart from stop googling sleep stuff because reality is very different!

Yes my boy was a 30 minute cat napper (Max!) until around 7.5/8 months (he’s 10 months now). He also loves his cot and struggles to sleep in his pushchair or the car although he will if he’s shattered and after a screaming fit. He’ll never sleep in arms unless he’s poorly / upset at night and wants a cuddle. He was also a demanding baby and was twisty all day because he was knackered.
I’d try my best to get him a sleep every two hours (so four 30 minute naps a day) even if it meant fighting with him in public because for my sanity I had to be out of the house at least once a day.
I just came to terms with the fact that’s the way that he is and stopped worrying about other people and their babies (as they will have their own issues such as waking 5x a night etc) and about what wasn’t getting done in the house because it doesn’t really matter. And I’d hand him over to my husband as soon as he walked through the door.
He generally got easier at about the 6.5 month mark and then he suddenly started sleeping an hour in his cot and sometimes up to an hour and a half. I didn’t do anything different (aside from solids but it’s probably coincidence).
He still only naps for 30 minutes when not in his cot. Just today my husband and I went out for lunch and DS screamed for 20 minutes in his pushchair, fighting his nap while we rocked him back and forth. He went off just as our food arrived and woke up 25 minutes later just as we were finishing!

I know how it feels to see all these babies having long naps in their pram while you’re wrestling with yours forever for the sake of half an hour! It does get better once they’re able to stay awake for longer before they get groggy! As with everything, it shall pass.

And I agree re the snooze shade, that’s what dropped our boy off today. And also the acceptance of it definitely makes it easier!

Is his room pitch black for naps? Is he going down full on milk and a clean nappy?

Does he use any sort of comforter?

Same here. And my DShas been since birth. I worry he isn't getting enough sleep but he's happy and thriving so he must be! He also only naps in the sling so I have literally no time to do anything.

But I think it's improving slowly. He's coming out the end of the 8-10mo sleep regression and I feel this has made a difference with his naps.
The nights have been relentless though...!

Thank you so much for getting back to me. I suppose it's reassuring to know that half hour naps are normal, albeit not in my circle!

Would you also not know when your babies would sleep? Or did you manage to get a routine at all? I.e. 30 mins at 9, 12, 3 etc?

I hadn't thought of a snooze shade so thank you for the recommendations.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz yes his room is pitch black and he has a clean nappy and feed before naps. I've tried introducing a comforter but DS wasn't interested. I might try again though.

@Babysleep123 I have always gone by his awake time, so would put him down after about 2 hours at that age. He would get a little fussy and start to go red around the eyes so I knew he was tired. He wakes any time between 6 and 7am so his nap times would depend what time he woke up for the day rather than set times, if that makes sense.
My DS also hates a comforter, anything in his cot / pram / car seat just annoys him and makes him angrier. He also doesn’t like to be comforted. Honestly they don’t tell you all this in the books haha. Reading to him settles him so I always try to have a couple of books with me.

My little boy was like this, but started getting better at about 7 months, so you might be on your way to growing out of it. I think he still had 4... maybe even 5 naps some days when he was doing this... as he was so tired. From about 6 months though I could also sometimes rock him back to sleep (didn't otherwise rock him) if he woke up after half an hour. They do generally grow out of it though.

Thank you for starting this thread, my 6mo is the same!

He sleeps well through the night (albeit next to me... which is a whole other thread) but only ever has short naps throughout the day.

@abouttimemum your post is really reassuring! I'm always subconsciously comparing DS to what other babies are doing despite always telling myself they are all different and never to compare!! Your post is really helpful.

@sleepsuit Well I remember once being with a group of mums whose babies were having glorious naps and my boy was doing his ends because he wanted to be in his cot at home and not sitting in his car seat in a cafe (actually this happened many many times haha) and then they all started talking about all of the overnight hell they’d had with crying / feeds / waking and my DS had slept 11 hours solid and I thought, well it’s swings and roundabouts isn’t it!!? In some ways my lad is wonderful and in other ways he’s difficult and I’m sure it’s the same for most babies.
You’ve got to be one lucky momma to have a perfect 24-hour baby!! At least I get some sleep even if the washing never gets done and the house needs a good clean 🤷‍♀️ Coming to terms with how he is and not worrying was definitely a turning point.

Just to cheer you up my little girl did the same thing from about 6-10 months. I got in a routine of 4 30 min naps a day. I did EVERYTHING to try and make her sleep longer but to no avail. My NCT friends were similar but their babies would occasionally sleep longer, whereas she had a 30 min alarm clock!
Anyway she just started sleeping longer by herself around 10 months. Nothing I did at all. She's now 17 months and sleeps 7-7 with one long afternoon nap. So hold on in there, try not to stress (like I did!) It's just another fun development phase!