14 month old suddenly refusing to nap in cot during the day

[ruruuu99]

Hi all, I'm after some advice and reassurance that this is just a phase as my 14 month old's sudden change in daytime nap behaviour has been driving me and DH insane and causing arguments.

She used to go down super easily for naps in her cot, even if she was awake and I put her down, she would roll over to her front and fall asleep (as long as she had BF before that). She also sleeps through the night in her cot with no issues, but the daytime nap is a huge struggle and I'm at a breaking point.

It doesn't matter how much I rock her, she could be fully asleep in my arms and as soon as I start lowering her down, she goes hysterical, stands up and screams. I tried staying by her side and calming her down but she just screams in my face even more. I can't pat/rub her back as she automatically stands so that's not an option. Controlled crying doesn't work for her as every time me or DH go in, she has a "reset" and becomes even more hysterical. I tried extending her wake window so that I know she's super tired but it doesn't make a difference. She is going through separation anxiety at the moment as she's very clingy and cries when she sees us leave the room, so I'm sure this drastic change in nap behaviour coincides with that.

The last time we had a contact nap, it lasted 2hrs 30 mins and I couldn't even go toilet despite being super desperate so contact napping for the foreseeable future is just not a practical option either. I really need to break this habit and encourage her to sleep on her own or this will continue for a very long time. We're down to 1-2 breastfeeds a day (1 is always before she goes to sleep for the night) as I'm trying to stop BFing now.

She will fall asleep on her own in the car/buggy but for example right now I'm sick and do not want to go out in case I get worse, so putting her to sleep in the buggy every single time is not realistic either.

Just at a total loss as she used to be so incredibly easy to put down to sleep in her cot during the day and it's like a switch flipped all of a sudden. Finding it very difficult to adjust to this and want to encourage independent sleep habits in a healthy, peaceful way without having her scream down the whole house.

Any advice is welcome, thank you!

Hey OP,
I found your post and could have written it myself! Wondering if there has been any improvement at all? I know my little boy IG going through separation anxiety atm which is probably the cause but weirdly he will go to bed at nighttime without fuss!
sending hugs as I know it’s stressful!

Hey @Gabesmum90 sending hugs too!! It's so incredibly hard. There hasn't been an improvement yet, tbh I have just given up in trying to get her to nap in the cot so if the weather permits, we just go out for a walk and she sleeps in the buggy.
The other day I wasn't feeling well and couldn't face going out, so I literally unfolded the buggy in our corridor, rocked her until she fell asleep and let her nap there!! It worked a treat 😂
Seems like the separation anxiety is really tough on our little ones so hoping for better days in the near future 🤞

DD was like this. I’d either do naps in the buggy if you can bring it in without her waking (as you say), or set up somewhere you can cuddle her to sleep then sneak off. If she’s likely to roll off a double bed, then cushions on the floor might work.

We went for car naps for a phase. McDonald's drive thu for a drink, a magazine and a podcast.

My first thought was is she ready to cut out a nap or change nap times?

I thought my DD (a similar age) was ready last week but apparently she is not this week. I’m not sure if I misread the signals or there was a very quick regression due to teething.

At the moment, we have gone back to our old, 2 nap, schedule with the help of driving the car around.

This my 2nd baby didn't have cot naps after about 6m. She would do an hour in her buggy and slept 13 hrs at night.