I've had enough with naps

[kellyc1987]

I've seriously had enough of my baby fighting naps, I literally do not think I can take another nap battle.

He is 6 months but has been a terrible napper since around 3.5months... He will not go asleep on his own without me rocking him but even then he fights against me and cries, I have tried leaving him in his cot, I've tried white noise, put him in his buggy and pushed him around the flat, co-sleeping for naps, leaving him playing to see if he might just drop off, quiet time before a nap, giving him a lovey/soother toy and nothing seems to work its like whatever I do there is a lot of crying involved! And when he does nap it's only for 30 mins max.

He will sleep if his bottle coincides with his nap time but I can't put him down or he will wake up and will fall asleep on a car journey but will wake as soon as I switch the engine off.

He has recently started crawling, pulling up, sitting independently and is teething again so I'm not sure if these have anything to do with it but it has been going on for a long time.

Any tips from anybody before I actually loose my mind?

 

[k4th]

He's doing so much developmentally that he's probably exhausted. And probably really struggling to switch off! I had nap fights for the first 6-9 months with dd and they've just started with ds - but he's a much lighter sleeper than dd ever was - buggy naps and cot naps are often 10 minutes max - he just wants to sleep with me.

My only advice is to keep at it. Try to start putting him down at the first yawn and recognise that if he's fighting & waking after 30 mins he's probably overtired. You're doing a great job by trying to help him sleep and he WILL get there one day. My dd did - eventually we found 3 hour nap heaven at around 12 months. And once she got it, she became a pro!!

My only suggestion is about the toy you put with him - try sleeping with it one night & then giving it to him for a nap. The smell of you might help.

Good luck with it - you're not alone!!!

 

[Beanonorder]

Are you putting him down for naps when he's showing signs of tiredness or according to a schedule?
When my dd was 6 months I loosely followed the 2,3,4 rule. Nap 2 hours after waking up, second nap 3 hours after waking up from first nap and bedtime 4 hours after waking from second nap. Because dd woke up so early she'd have a third nap but overall the schedule worked well.
Ds is 6 months now and can't go so long between naps so I loosely follow the 90 minute theory. So basically he is awake for 90 minites to 2 hours and then has a nap. If he goes over that it becomes really hard to put him down for a nap and he really fights it.

 

[_Delilah_]

Just read Save our Sleep. Best book ever.

 

[Ecoden]

I agree with previous posters about putting him down at the correct times. Being overtired definitely causes short naps. They get all adrenaline filled and can't stay asleep. DD was a crap napper too until we got her on a loose schedule and waited for her sleepy signs. She's 6 mo and transitioning from 3 naps + 1 catnap to 2 naps and 1 catnap. If she wakes earlier than an hour we keep her there until an hour is up and most of the time she goes back to sleep.

 

[timeforababy]

Hah. All I do is spend my entire life putting my son to sleep

 

[citrusfruit]

Agree with this! Sometimes I feel al I ever do is sit next to his cot, stroking his head! Argh! Some days he will randomly throw me a 1.5 hour nap and I have NO idea why! It's driving me mad! You are not alone!

 

[kellyc1987]

Thanks everyone, still no improvement... I'm seriously considering cry it out but I don't think I'm strong enough to follow through with it. Also night time sleep has taken a nose dive!! Although today he did take 1.5hr nap in his pram.

 

[londonangel]

Mine is rubbish at napping. Will have one, one hour nap some days and two one hour naps on rare occasions. You would think she would get overtired but nope, she just doesn't seem to need much sleep during the day!

 

[kellyc1987]

Day 2 of cry it out, yesterday the first nap took 20 minutes of crying, second nap 15 minutes, third nap he fell asleep in the car.

Today so far first nap just under 10 minutes of crying. Seems to be slowly improving but he woke up in the night again and didn't go asleep for 45 minutes and I resorted to co-sleeping.