Napping/schedule advice needed for 6 month old

[AC1987]

Ladies, I need help!! My LO napping routine is horrid lately
On a good day she'll nap 2 hours in the morning 1-2 hours in the afternoon and then shes HAPPY the entire day.
However thats rare now... today she only napped an hour in the morning. And refused her afternoon nap no matter what I did she just wouldn't nap. I however left her in her crib the entire time she usually naps however she was wide awake.(She wasn't crying just rolling, kicking, talking)
I don't know what I'm doing wrong that she won't nap because as soon as I got her up she screamed for a solid hour The only thing that made her stop was walking her and my back just won't take it.
I can give an example of her schedule on a GOOD day maybe someone can tell me if I'm screwing anything up

6-7am wake up as soon as shes awake I bf her
8am breakfast baby cereal and fruit (2-3 tablespoons)
830am I bf her
9am nap (a good day 2 hours)
11am awake and bfed
12pm finger foods usually a rice rusk so I can eat my lunch
12:30-1pm I bf her and then nap
2-3pm awake and bfed
4pm dinner baby cereal and vegetable (2-3tablespoons)
5pm I bf her
6pm I bf her
6pm-7pm down for bed.

Now when shes on that schedule shes HAPPY and so am I... but today its more like this.

715am awake and bfed
8am breakfast
8:30 I bf her
9am nap
10am awake and bfed
12pm finger foods
12:30 I bf her and tried to put her down for a nap
1pm awake
1:30 awake, I changed her diaper fed her put her down for a nap
2pm awake I finally just got her up but she was clearly fussy
2:30 fed her dinner earlier as she wouldn't stop crying
3:30 I bfed her
4:15 she finally wanted to nap

And now I'm scared since shes napping now she won't sleep on time tonight help meeeee!!

 

[GemGiraffe]

Is she teething? My LO was like this for a week or so (she's also 6 months) and it turned out she had a tooth coming through. She's back on schedule now.

 

[Jslyn9996]

Wish I could help. Our schedule sounds a lot like the first one. Except the last few days have been rough because he for some reason does not want to nap in his crib. He only wants to nap on me. But I have been perisistant and try to get him to nap in his crib which is tough and requires me to lay him down. Get him up resettle him then lay down again. A few times.

So dont have any advice but im stalking your thread. Maybe this is the 6 month growth spurt

 

[manchester1]

my nearly 6 month old naps 2/3 times a day but she will only nap for about 30 minutes. normally 20, and 45 if im lucky!!

 

[Noelle610]

At first glance, I think you're putting her down too early - hence why naps are short and she's fighting sleep. You put her down for her first nap just 1.75 hours after she woke. At 6 months old, I'd try to push that to 2 or 2.5 hours. You then tried to put her down for the second nap after 2.5 hours. I'd give her at least 3 hours of awake time for that mid-day period. She probably just needs more stimulation to take those long sleeps now that she's older.

At this age a lot of babies do well on the 2-3-4 schedule - first nap 2 hours after waking, second nap 3 hours after waking from the first and then bedtime 4 hours after waking from the final nap.

 

[AC1987]

Ok thanks, I'll try that

 

[AC1987]

Well I can update to say she had a morning nap today 2 hours. But refusing afternoon nap even after I kept her up

 

[Jslyn9996]

At first glance, I think you're putting her down too early - hence why naps are short and she's fighting sleep. You put her down for her first nap just 1.75 hours after she woke. At 6 months old, I'd try to push that to 2 or 2.5 hours. You then tried to put her down for the second nap after 2.5 hours. I'd give her at least 3 hours of awake time for that mid-day period. She probably just needs more stimulation to take those long sleeps now that she's older.

At this age a lot of babies do well on the 2-3-4 schedule - first nap 2 hours after waking, second nap 3 hours after waking from the first and then bedtime 4 hours after waking from the final nap.

I took your advice with 2,3,4 has helped us so much!! I was putting down with his first signs of being tired which used to work but not anymore. He has a burst of crankiness a second wind and then is ready to go down which coincides with 2,3,4 perfectly.. Thank you so so much!

 

[Noelle610]

So happy it helped you!

OP, sorry it didn't work. Perhaps the first nap was too long? Maybe wake her after an hour and see what happens. You just have to play around with the schedule to find what works best. It will come! And then it will change again

 

[AC1987]

I know shes happier if she gets like a total of 3-4 hours of sleep during the day. But I'm lucky if I get an hour or two, and then the rest of the day she whines and cries because shes so tired but won't nap
I've tried tweaking her schedule a few times and I find like maybe 1-2 days a week I'm lucky and she'll nap but no matter how much I copy exactly what I do the next day she won't nap. Usually on weekends its ok because we're out and about so she'll nap in the car. But this weekend we're home and finally my DH gets to witness her crying and crying. I mean if she only got 2 hours of sleep then was HAPPY or content the rest of the day I wouldn't mind. But its a pain having to try to sooth a crying baby all afternoon.

 

[MommyJogger]

At first glance, I think you're putting her down too early - hence why naps are short and she's fighting sleep. You put her down for her first nap just 1.75 hours after she woke. At 6 months old, I'd try to push that to 2 or 2.5 hours. You then tried to put her down for the second nap after 2.5 hours. I'd give her at least 3 hours of awake time for that mid-day period. She probably just needs more stimulation to take those long sleeps now that she's older.

At this age a lot of babies do well on the 2-3-4 schedule - first nap 2 hours after waking, second nap 3 hours after waking from the first and then bedtime 4 hours after waking from the final nap.

Wow, really? Mine is exhausted and goes down within an hour of waking up for the day. Then has 2-hour awake periods the rest of the day and naps 1-3h between. Yikes, sounds like that might change soon!
I'm obv no expert (ftm!), but if I were troubleshooting, I would ask if you've increased the amount of solids right before the trouble started. It kind of looks like you're giving her solids closer to the start of her next bf time rather than right after the previous bf time, if that made any sense. I was told to always offer right after a bf and it's okay if they end up not taking any. That way, baby has more time to digest any solids before going down for the next nap and they won't change their bm intake quite as much as they will if you give solids before bf. She might have a little tummy upset or wake from hunger more often because the solids won't be as caloric as the bm. I could be way off base, but I think 6tbsp is a lot of solids for a 6mo old in a day. Do you happen to know how many calories that equates to?
I read somewhere that 3 naps a day (1-3h each) at 6 mo old is "normal"; DS takes his last nap from about 5-6 (sometimes 6-7) and then goes to bed at 8ish unless he's teething.

 

[AC1987]

Well today shes napping well for me and the only thing I can think of why is because all night she was crying on and off.

But I'll try that with the solid thing prehaps its her tummy feeling too full

I'm unsure on her calorie intake.. as I breastfeed her too so no idea how much is in that.