Hiya

Okay so those who have a routine like 9am nap, 1pm nap etc etc do you put your lo down at these times even if they arent sleepy? Sometimes lo gets cranky and so I put her in moses basket for nap but then she will start cooing and playing with her dummy etc and I feel guilty leaving her in there if she is just lying there on her own!! Lol. Is this where I am going wrong?!!!

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We are starting to get to a point that have to do this with LO because she absolutely refuses to sleep if she sees us. And we know that if she hasn't taken a nap all morning then she is ready for one by a certain time. So yes typically will change her give her a bottle and lay her down in her crib at about 11am to have a nap. If she starts really crying then we go and pick her up settle her again and lay her back down. If she just whines a bit we leave her. And typically in less than 5 min she is out. Yes we can hear her playing a bit, but she always goes to sleep. If she has a nap before this time though then no we don't go lay her down. We do this for morning and afternoon. Her morning nap is usually for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours and her afternoon nap is usually only about 30-45 min.

Nope, I look for cues - yawning, rubbing eyes and getting grumpy before getting her to nap. Her napping routine seems to change every few weeks so going by the time means I sometimes get it wrong.

Sorry to say it but yeah it will be where your going wrong. But dont worry its easy to break the habit. I put LO down every 1-3 hours, I try & stick to every 2 hours but it depends what we're up to & he goes into the same place/position for every nap & its always 30mins after a nap. He doesn't need me to settle him or anything he just closes his eyes, but if I get his routine a tiny bit wrong, he grumps for ages or talks to himself. You need to be able to leave LO for a while, LO's being w/out mum is a very important part of their development, they should have time with mum, time with mum nearby & time w/out mum (not incl sleeping) Try putting LO in basket (or wherever for nap) & leave her until she starts crying or becoming stressed, then go over & let her know your still around by stroking her face but dont entertain or speak to her too much she needs to learn its sleepy time (dont lift out unless she's really distressed). Then leave again after a short while & repeat every 5 mins. They advise 10 but I can never leave LO to cry for long. Trust me it'll work, its one of the re-settling techinques, my LO was murder with naps & I did loads of research & kept coming up with this. Sorry thats so long, I just really think it works. Good luck

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