8.5 month napping issues

[Becky77]

Hi there,

My 8.5 month DD has always been a dream sleeper , the envy of all my baby friends but lately she has started not going down for her morning nap. She lies in her cot not crying but whinging and obviously not wanting to go to sleep. On the days I've got her up again and she's just had 1 nap she's been completely frazzled. But I don't think there is anything I can do to persuade her to sleep. If I go in there but don't pick her up she cries

What would you do? I'm guessing it's the start of separation anxiety but that doesn't really help with a solution.

Thanks in advance

Does she cry if you go in there and pat, stroke, shush, talk or sing to her but don't pick her up?

Yes. Up until recently she has gone down so easily but now she cries when I put her down and if I try and settle her... the only way to get her to sleep is if I leave the room... she'll whinge (but not cry) for around 20 minutes before sleeping... It feels like she's trying to drop the nap, but if I let her she's so tired all day

Probably just a phase...my 8.5 mo dd often chats/whinges for a little while to start with but then drops off. She goes down at 930, about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours after she has woken, sleeps for 45 mins then I get her up til her post lunch nap of anything between 2 and 3 hours. My other 2 dropped their morning nap bang on a year and then just had the usual 2 hour lunch nap.

This books title is misleading as it doesn't sound like you have a problem as such but this book is good at explaining sleep cycles and so might help.

It could just be her body is adjusting to needing a later nap which, in turn, is tricky to then timing it for the afternoon nap. You might need to let her nap later in the morning but make it short so the afternoon one remains unaffected. Could you maybe nip out in the car or buggy so that she doses off in the morning keeping her fresh, but so that she doesn't have a deep sleep.

Might also be worth thinking about your own day and whether you eventually want her one nap to be before or after lunch. She could nap at say 11.30am and have lunch after or lunch first and a later nap.

Thanks everyone.

A few times recently when she's slept for 1.5 hours in the morning she wont go down for her afternoon nap and then she is more bearable... but it can't be right to let her be awake from 11am - 6pm at this age?

@ frumpygrumpy - If I took her out in the morning I don't think she'd nap at all. We tried it on Saturday as she wouldnt go down at home and we needed to get out to the shops and she just stayed awake until after she'd eaten her very sleepy lunch...

Perhaps if I let her push her morning nap back to 10.30am then she'd sleep until 12 but then she probably wouldn't get another nap in... Hmmm... Or maybe like everything else it's just a phase.

I would give her a quick 30 minutes nap at about 10:30 ish or whatever her normal nap time is and then she should still be tired enough to have an afternoon nap aswell.

That's a good idea... I've never been good at waking her up half way through a nap though... It feels so mean... But yeah I guess that might be a way forward

How did you get on this morning?

Hi there. Today was much better, thanks. I put her down a little earlier than normal and she slept for around 40 minutes... she went down without a single noise and that meant the afternoon nap was straight after lunch and she slept for about an hour and 40 minutes.

So yes... all good! I'm hoping the key is to start watching for sleep signs more closely again in the morning and then not let her sleep too long and then we'll all be happy

hi becky! just noticed your post. your dd was always a shining sleep beacon so i'm curious to see how you are getting on. any luck?

we've introduced a comforter now that dd is in her own room. i'm not thrilled but it seems harmless enough, and it's helped her settle. not sure what happens with nursery in a few weeks time though.