Pops has never been particularly good at napping during the day, but I don't think that we've done a lot to help her improve (bad habits have been forming!). She will sleep, but only for half an hour stretches at a time, and it is clear that, although 'happy' in herself, she is still tired. She had been sleeping in her moses down stairs until she out-grew it, then in a travel cot. She would also sleep on me, when she would sleep the longest, but not good for me holding a 15lb baby for an hour (pinned to the sofa!).

Over the past few days, I've decided that this is an issue that we (or rather me, as hubby is at work all day) need to address, for both of our benefits. Today, she has taken all of her naps in her cot upstairs, which has been a bit of a battle. She is meant to be napping now (and would if I let her sleep on me!), but is chattering to herself in her cot. It's only 20 minutes before bath time, and bed, and I know that this will be fraught as she is over-tired :\( but I'm thinking of the long-term benefits.

I've dug out my baby-whisperer books, and will be reading the sections on napping once she's down for the night. I think I've made a good start in getting her to sleep in her cot during the day (previously, she wouldn't), I just need to extend the nap times so that she gets some quality rest. I'm hoping that she'll get better quality sleep at night.

She usually sleeps through from df, but has been waking and chattering to herself around 3am, and then around 6am & going back to sleep. I know that she can self-settle, as she does of a night time, and when she wakes up during the night, just can't understand why she won't during the day. Does anyone have any experience/advice to offer on extending day time naps, or even just words of encouragement that I'm doing the right thing. I'm expecting it to be a long process. Thanks for reading xx

Lizzie is also terrible at napping in the day time. she will fall asleep on me or in her pram but thats about it and even then its only for 10-15 mins .
i know what you are saying about forming bad habits but at this stage I am happy with the way things are as she will settle her self if she wakes in the night and im pretty sure i left it a while longer with my dd1. when she was 6/7 months old i introduced proper nap times and i think ill do the same with Lizzie.
sorry I cant offer any advice but as you cxan tell neither of my girls are big on naps! my dd1 hasnt had a day time nap since she was 16 months!

You're doing the right thing. :\) James is a rubbish napper, only for half an hour at a time. Currently he can't go upstairs in his crib, because OH works nights, so is asleep in the bedroom. A reason to move James into his own room, but I still don't want to yet. Keep going hun. xx

Thanks for your responses ladies. Wannababy, I'm glad I'm not alone in having a baby that only deals in power naps :lol: I'm really struggling to get anything done during the day as I feel I'm either trying to get her to sleep, or have her sleeping on me, which is why I want to introduce proper nap times. I would love to be able to put her down for a nap, and know she's going to sleep, and not fight it (because she's not sleeping on me!).

I also have to think about longer-term, and going back to work (boo!), and I can't leave things as they are when she goes to child care. It's not fair for them to deal with an issue I've created. It's realistically not too far off either :cry:

Mithical, thanks for the words of encouragement. I know how difficult it is when one or the other of you work nights, without a baby put into the mix ;\) You'll know when you feel ready to put James into his own room xx

You are definitely not alone and I am relieved to find I'm not either.

Sebastian is great at night and will self settle no problem but can't seem to do the same in the day. He has 3-4 naps, he wakes at 6:30 and then will fall alseep under his baby gym at about 8:30. If we go out he will then have a further 1/2 hour in the car/pushchair before his 10:45 feed. I then put him in his cot at about 12:30 but he will wake after 3/4 of an hour and finish his nap on me. In an ideal world he then has a little one about 4:30 (maybe 15 MIns) which sees him through until bedtime.

Like you although I love him sleeping on me I do find it restrictive. OH works from home and very often has phonecalls in the afternoon and the office is next to the nursery so I can't leave Sebastian to cry for even 5 mins in his cot to see if he will settle (Gina Ford says it can take up to 20 mins) so end up bringing him down.

Can't offer any advice except that I know my daughter was like that at this age and then when she was about 6/7 months she started going in her cot and having 2-2 1/2 hours in the afternoon of her own accord. What I have found out is that if i let him sleep to his own pattern then he is a lot happier than if I try and force him into one. I do try and encourage him to sleep anywhere but on me now though.

I haven't got any words of wisdom but just wanted to add that since Sara has started solids (properly, as in 3 'meals' a day) so the past week she's changed her routine.

She used to have about 3 40 min naps and bits and pieces during the day if we were in the car etc. But now she has an early nap of 30 mins, then after lunch and bottle (around 1pm) she has a long nap (would have 3 hrs if she could!) I usually wake her between 2 and 2 and a half hours as then she can have another power nap late afternoon.

I'm hoping she settles into this routine as it suits me and have been getting LOADS done during the lunchtime nap - fingers crossed! My best friend is a nanny, has been for 15 yrs and she warned me that often LO's routines change between 4-6months...still took me a while to work out what Sara was up to! So there might be change in the pipeline for you too!

Liz xxx

Thanks mummypiglit, I generally let Pops follow her own routine, but have found that because she takes so long to settle, it eats into her sleeping time, iyswim? I kind of tried the pupd method today, but she knows instantly as you go to put her down, and starts crying again! Sometimes she will settle herself off during the day, and others not. I have no idea where to start to increase her nap time! It's good to know there is light at the end of the tunnel though.

Liz, thank you for replying. It's interesting to hear that solids have helped. We're hoping to hold off weaning until 6 months (or as near as), and try baby led. It's interesting that your friend says they change, hopefully for the better! xx

**Goes off to read The Baby Whisperer**

we have no problems with his morning nap and he will happliy go 2 hours usually in our bed, the afternnon though he fights his sleep, and this coupled with teething i dread the afternoons :\( he used to nap in his rocker but he hates this now, maybe i should try napping in the cot?

i havent got any wise words i am afraid, he has been waking again in the night but i keep reading that this is common at 4 months

Hey PP, Sorry you're having a tough time with teething at the moment
For the morning nap, she'll self-settle quite happily. It seems to be as the day goes on, and she's had less sleep that she gets worse at self-settling. When Pops was around 8 weeks, I'd take her into bed with me in the mornings when hubby was at work, but even this doesn't work any more!

How do I get her to stay asleep, or settle herself back off, after half an hour? That is the question...My mission is to find the answer :lol: xx

Hey PP, Sorry you're having a tough time with teething at the moment
For the morning nap, she'll self-settle quite happily. It seems to be as the day goes on, and she's had less sleep that she gets worse at self-settling. When Pops was around 8 weeks, I'd take her into bed with me in the mornings when hubby was at work, but even this doesn't work any more!

How do I get her to stay asleep, or settle herself back off, after half an hour? That is the question...My mission is to find the answer :lol: xx

The only thing I can suggest that hasn't already been said is is it dark enough in her room? Their natural sleep pattern is, I think, about 40 mins so they will always wake up after that time. She is obviously able to re-settle as she does at night so maybe if its not dark enough in there during the day she thinks its time to get up. Sasha was like this and I got some blackout curtains and since then she will sleep up to 2 - 2.5 hrs at naps. Sometimes I hear her wake up but then she'll go off again. I know some people don't like to make it too dark during the day as they think that it can confuse them as to when its night and day but we haven't had this problem at all.
You are definately doing the right thing though trying to solve this now, good luck with it.

Well, thought I'd up-date you, for those that wish to know. I have persevered since my original post, so the only place she has napped is in her cot (except when we've been out & she's fallen asleep in her pushchair).

We have had a battle on our hands, doing pupd, and although it's meant to be the kind option, it hasn't stopped it being a fraught time. Hubby & my mum think that I'm putting too much pressure on myself & Pops to get her to sleep in her cot. Hubby has been supportive though, and has also persevered in getting her to sleep in her cot. He agrees that we have to be consistent for Poppy's sake.

I opened up a whole can of worms by looking at the baby whisperer though! Pops should be feeding 4 hourly now she's past 4 months, and she was still feeding 3 hourly (or I was feeding her 3 hourly!). So we've been addressing that issue too! It's not really such a problem though, as she is happy to go 4 hours between feeds, so far so good on that one...

We've also had to look at her df, and intake then, as she wasn't hungry in the morning, having taken 7-8oz at her df. I've reduced it to 6oz, and she took 5oz as her morning feed. I'm hoping to reduce it to 4-5oz tonight, depending on her intake today. I'm not trying to phase this out, it just seems silly feeding her at 10pm if she can take what she needs during the day.

She's shown that she can go 12 hours between feeds over night, as she's not wanted feeding until after 10am when I've left her to ask for food instead of feeding her automatically first thing. I just need to adjust so that she's hungry & taking a decent amount in the morning, instead of being to full from her df.

Thanks for your suggestionvSarah, I'd thought about that too & my sister had mentioned it, but I'm not sure if that's the problem either, as she goes to sleep well enough for the night when it's still light outside, and she's not waking when the sun rises, iyswim? May be worth a try though! This afternoon, she pretty much settled herself to sleep & slept for 45 minutes, so I'm delighted that there is some progress being made, I just hope it continues!

Thank you all for your input, it's much appreciated, and if you have any more advice or suggestions, I'd be grateful to hear them. Thank you for reading, it turned out to be a bit more of an epic than I'd planned! xx

Sorry for butting but Poppy sounds exactly the same as Emilia...rubbish at napping!! I have finally managed to find a way though. Emilia settles really well at night, I take her thorugh to her room at 6:15 for bottle and bed at 7pm. So thought would try the same sort of thing for nap time. Taking Emilia through into her room 20 to 30 mins before she is due a nap seems to help her sleep. She will now sleep until you wake her up, where as before you would get 30-40 mins tops!
Thnk it must calm her down for sleep so she drifts off rather than faliing asleep straight away.

Sorry if it has already been said but thought would put it out there.

Joanna x

Thanks Joanna, I think I'll give that a try tomorrow. She's still tired when she wakes after half an hour, and if we leave her to get too tired, she doesn't settle herself off well either.

At lunch time when she slept for 45 minutes, I took her up & told her a story, and she pretty much settled herself off to sleep. It's definitely got to be worth a go! It does seem like it's getting easier to settle her though, which is good! Thank you for your suggestion xx

Can I ask a silly question, what do you do for the half an hour before her nap, when you take her to her room? Can you leave Emilia to self-settle?xx

[Modified by: honey82 on May 20, 2010 04:40 PM]

I change her nappy and then leave her to have a roll around on her own. I put things away or just lay on the bed. She has a light and music thing as well which she likes. Just really as little stimulus as possible. As soon as she is showing signs of tiredness I put her in her cot, quick kiss and lights off. She then chats to herself for a few mins before falling asleep. She will self settle to sleep.
I found with Emilia if I waited till she was tired and falling asleep before settling her she would wake up after 45 mins really upset and tired.

HTH

Joanna x

P.S Sorry for terrible typing in the last post. Did it really quickly before Emilia's tea!!

Thanks Joanna, I really need to make sure I don't miss that first yawn, or eye-rub then & take her upstairs as soon as I spot it. Maybe she's not sleeping so well because she's over-tired & taking too long to get there as a result...? That will be my task for tomorrow Didn't notice the typing either!

I'm glad I've got you ladies to chat to & bounce ideas off. I really appreciate your help xx