Was settling well for naps but now SCREAMING.....

[mishkamoo]

3m.o was settling really well for naps on his own, especially the morning one. Now, he has just started to go backwards, and will go from whimpering to full on inconsolable crying in about 10 seconds. He now also does it even if I'm holding him and stroking/patting/singing/shushing. The only thing that stops him is me bouncing up and down very vigourously (which is knackering!). We did have a routine of swaddling and singing, but he got too hot being swaddled and had started to fight it, and now he seems to see the singing as his cue to start crying. I won't do CC but presumably if he's crying whether he's held or in his cot, I am going to have to tolerate some crying as nothing seems to settle him. It is both incredibly frustrating and heart breaking at the same time. I feel like the worst mum in the world.

Ooh, I've just posted my own thread about leaving my 12 week old to cry a bit before her naps. I find she yells whatever I do, and goes to sleep quite quickly if I leave her to it. Am anti-CC in principle and so a bit unsure as to whether I'm doing the right thing and am waiting for others' opinions on it!

My 21 wo DS often cries when I put him down for a nap and all the patting and stroking in the world doesn't help. Sometimes picking him up seems to make it worse. I think it is when he gets very overtired if I haven't caught the nap in time. I'm sort of resigned that there is very little I can do about it. I generally stay in the room with him by the cot so that he knows that I am there and keep patting and stroking while he gets through it - not sure if that does anything but it makes me feel better I did read somewhere that crying can sometimes be their way of winding down if they are tired or overstimulated - so if I've done everything I can then I try to see the crying as something he needs to do to calm himself down to be able to go to sleep.