DD will not sleep in the daytime

[Slave2Babe]

DD is 5.5 months old and still will not go down for a decent sleep in the daytime in her own cot.

She is asleep as i type this but will only settle on the sofa in the same room as me or actually sleeping on me.

If i leave her on the sofa she will sleep for about 2-2.5 hours. But if i try to put her down in her cot, she will start to scream after about 20 minutes.

I've tried putting a radio on in her room so it's not quiet and we have tried with or without a black-out blind.

I dont know what to do.

Whats the prob with sleeping on the couch? My ds did/does it most days - I just had to put a line of cushions down the outside to stop him falling off. But once he learned how to climb down it didn't matter.
I always think that I prefer ds to know that his cot is for his 'nighttime sleep'.
I used to put a 'do not disturb' sign on the front door and unplug the phone so he wasn't wakened up.

I dont really have a problem with her sleeping there! She is happy enough and has never fallen off (its quite an old style sofa and the seat slopes down and back slightly so it would be very difficult for her to roll off)!

I guess it was just concern because 'people' have said that you should get into a routine of gettin them used to a regular sleep in the day in their own cot.

['people' meaning health visitors, grandmothers and mums at postnatal groups]

As far as I can make out, babies sleep in all sorts of places. How do you get her to sleep?

(Ds is exactly the same age as your dd btw, so I'm guessing your dd was born in Oct 04? In which case you are v welcome to join us on the October strand in the post natal section - all sorts of sleeping patterns going on over there!! )

The only prob I can forsee is if you have people round to your house a lot and would disturb your dd.
or (as in my ds case) - not sleeping in a cot at nursery.
But if this isn't a concern then carry on as you are. Although I did go through a phase of putting ds into his cot for his nap and he did give into it - I just made sure I got his sleepy signals right and then put him in his cot - he cried and stood up, I went in and laid him down stroked his head, this went on for maybe 5 mins and then he was so knackered from crying that he went to sleep.
But mostly now he sleeps in the car coming back from nursery at lunchtime. Sleeping on the couch is fine imo.
Its only for a short time anyway - will be at nursery/school before you know it and then the naps will stop.

i got my dd into a routine of napping in her cot and it was a big mistake. She would only nap in her cot and not anywhere else (pushchair, sofa, car seat etc) so it made it virtually impossible to go anywhere. She napped in the morning and in the afternoon and it got very restricting. I used to look with envy at mums whose babies were asleep in the pushchair while out, mine would just scream until she was in her cot. I am pg again and this time will def not put this baby for naps in cot. Cot will be for nighttime only!

my ds will only sleep in his pram during the day, for any substantial period of time. at first i found it annoying but now he goes to his pram if he wants a nap.

Beansprout - DD was born on Halloween! She usually falls asleep after her bf at about 11am and will sleep through until 12-1pm and then wake up demanding lunch!

She will sleep in her buggy so we often go out for a walk about 3pm and she'll have a brief nap!

I read somewhere that babies up to 6 months should sleep for a total of 4-5 hours during the day - this strikes me as a long time!! DD will never sleep at night if she gets that much??

I think it's the total amount of sleep thats important. At that age I htink they should be on about 16 hours sleep a day.
Have a look at babywhisperer.com for suggested sleep amounts for diff. ages.

Sorry to butt in. I have recently tried baby whisperers nap times. My ds was a terror and taking 45 min naps and bawling continuosly as though tired. I tried swaddling which has worked a treat and now I have had to wake him after 2 hours from his morning nap. The only thing is he now wakes earlier and more frequently in the night. Most times I can send him back off with his dummy but his early am feed time has come forward from 4/430 to 3am!!!!!
I thought that longer naps meant a better nights sleep

what age is your ds sleepyM

Hi tracyk - my ds is 17 weeks tommorrow.

I think the jury is still out on the length of naps v length of night sleeps. Some people will work it out like a science and it works - others (like me) have tried every combo of napping, feeding, go down times etc and ds will still wake religiously at 6.30am (for the most).
He's 1yo and over the past 12 months he has phases of sleeping 13 hours a night, to waking at 4am, to waking at 2am and 5am. Any change is usually explained a couple of nights later. eg a tooth appears, he gets a cold, lighter mornings, colder mornings, warmer mornings.
In hindsight - my advice would be to 'go with the flow'. Babies are indestructible and will wake/sleep when they want. Look for the sleepy signs during the day and get them down for their nap and let them wake when they want to (within reason!). As long as they are well fed, warm (but not too hot) and comfy - they will snozzle quite happily.