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bad habits and day naps

Hi ladies

I've got a bit of a dilema and am hoping you can help me out!! Maiya will be 14 weeks on sunday. at night we do bath, bottle bed and she goes straight down in her cot and goes to sleep and has started to sleep from7.30pm to approx 5am. bliss. but this has only been since she's had day naps.

the problem is that she is a devil for day naps. she gets so tired and fights them every time. i've tried on numerous occasions to put her in the cot but she screams and screams. seems to HATE the cot in the day. the only way she will nap is either in the car or on the sofa. I also have to hold her for between 5 - 25 mins and rock her a bit in my arms to calm her before the day naps. she NEVER needs this at night as she just feeds and goes straight in the cot to sleep.

does anyone else have any bad habits to get their lo to sleep in the day? not sure how i can get out of it or if i even need to. thing is if she doesn't nap in the day she then goes into constant crying mode, doesn't feed well and doesn't sleep well at night. not sure what to do for the best!! am worried then when she's got to go to nursery for 3 days a week in april she'll be a nightmare!!

any tips/thoughts please ???

xx

Replies

  • My lo is exactly the same, has to be help usually during the day unless she's in the pushchair or car but will fall asleep in her cot at night. Though she doesn't sleep from 7.30 till 5 though..........still has at least 2 night feeds!!!

    Personally, if your happy with her not sleeping in her cot now I wouldn't worry about it. April is quite a long time away, by then she may have settled into a good routine durng the day and be easier to put down for a nap.
  • I agree it's not worth the fight of getting her into the cot in the day if she'll sleep in other places then I'd say fine! You don't want her only sleeping in the cot or you could find she won't sleep anywhere else and this would make going out for the day a prob!
  • Gabe is the same sometimes. He is 6 months but still needs 3 daytime naps - morning, afternoon & evening. He takes the first 2 fine, wherever but the evening one (even though he is really tired) it takes loads of rocking/bouncing/cuddling/pushing pram to get him to drop off and he WILL not sleep in his cot...Have you got a swing? We have & it is a godsend at those times. Problem is, Gabe is 19.9lbs and the swings limit is 20lbs!!!! Have you tried pushing her pram in the house? Or bouncing it up & down/side to side? If I wobble Gabe's pram side to side, he drops off really quickly. strange....learnt that one of my fil! x
  • Beth is very similar Lynda- she is no trouble at all at night, but in the day time she often seems to hate her cot. At the moment I often put her down on the bed, but it makes me nervous because of the risk of her rollling. So I am trying to persevere with the cot just because I know it's safe, but I don't think it matters too much if she won't sleep there. Beth seems slightly better if I put her down really early, when she is first starting to get tired, and also when I stay in the room with her until she falls asleep.
  • It is good that she goes down well at night as at least you know that she will sleep in her cot. As others have suggested, you could try staying in the room with her to start with, rubbing her tummy etc, then gradually withdrawing over time so you are there but not touching, then at the door. Putting her down as soon as she seems a little bit tired should help too. It is also really good that she will sleep in other places. I spent ages teaching James he could go to sleep on his own (he used to only sleep on me) and now the only place he will go to sleep is his cot or occasionally the car if he is very tired. It makes going out a bit problematic sometimes! Hope she settles down soon, xxx
  • Thanks everyone - is good to hear that this isn't unusual or necessarily a problem. i think as i've only just got her to sleep longer at night that i'll let her nap where she likes for now. like you say it's good she can nap elsewhere. i'd never really thought about that!!

    besides if she's napping on the sofa I can watch her, have a cup of tea and come on here!!! ha ha ha

    thanks again.

    xxxx
  • My lo is exactly the same too!

    He is 17 weeks and from last week I have got him to successfully sleep in his cot by creatihng a mini daytime nap routine. I started just with his lunchtime nap and now he has all his daytime naps there.

    Just as he is getting tired, I pop him in his door bouncer or jumperoo for about 15 mins to make sure he is really tired, then I cuddle him for about 5 mins saying - are you sleepy - is it time for a sleep? Then we go to his room and i close the curtains, switch on his musical cot toy (usualy his baby enistein baby neptune) and then slowly lower him into his cot and give him his dummy. I then leave his to settle.

    If he becomes more unsettled i go in and do 5 chest circles, 5 strokes down his tummy and 5 strokes of his head repetitivelym until he settles and falls asleep - if this doesn't work and he is really stimulated, I rest one hand on his tummy and use the other to cover his eyes (without touching him). This is pretty much guaranteed to work, though can sometimes take 30 mins, usually he is asleep within 10 to 15 without crying.
  • at this age your little one should still be having day naps and most kids still need them intill they are about 2 years old, the reason she wont settle so good at night with out them is because she is over tired
  • i also have this problem! Charlie sleeps in his cot no probs at night, but his afternoon naps can be a problem because he fights his tiredness. I usually either rock him to sleep and then just leave him asleep on me or lay him on sofa and stroke his eyebrows and he usually drifts off.
    His first nap of the day is great tho because he wakes up at 8/8.30 has bottle then i put him back in his cot at 9 then he goes back to sleep for half an hour.
    I hope your lo starts to sleep more in the afternoon for u really soon, my lo is 15 weeks and this week i have found he is taking longer naps during the afternoon. I'm thinking he could be having a growth spurt x
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