I Kept going back in every 5 minutes for 45 minutes to settle her. She cried constantly.
Can I just check that you mean she was mantra crying? If she's crying an "I need you" cry, please don't leave her even for 5 mins hun - that's controlled crying and not something we advocate here. If she's mantra crying and trying to settle, it's fine to leave her but I would only let her try to settle for about 15 mins before either trying to AP the rest of the nap, or getting her up and carrying on with the day.
What’s a mantra cry?So she used to nap at 9.30 and 2, is that right? I wonder if perhaps she starting fighting the am nap because she was UT. Is the waking at 5.30/6 a new thing? When do you actually get her up in the morning? The average A time at this age would be around 3.5hrs, although some need more. She's getting towards the age where it's common to have one longer nap and one slightly shorter one (maybe an hour), as you move towards the 2-1 nap transition.
If she's built up some OT, I wonder if you could AP naps for a day or two to get her caught up, then start over and try pushing the first nap gradually towards 10am.
Is she teething?
xx