Nap help! DD can't settle

[newmama12]

It is very hard to get my dd to settle down and relax for a nap. She fights it to no end and we always end up with her crying and me rocking her till she drifts off. Could take 5 minutes, could take an hour. Oh, and she only sleeps 45 minutes most of the time. How can I get her to settle down quicker or easier? I usually just walk around the house for a bit then go up to her room. She associates her room with sleeping and tends to cry when we go in there. I try and sit in the rocker with her for a minute, but she usually starts crying before I even get a chance. So, I just cradle hold her and rock her till she calms. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to relax her better?

[vadensmommy]

We instituted a really great wind down routine, and that helped with getting dd to sleep easily.  We started much earlier, but I don't think it is ever too late to start a routine.  Ours was: Diaper change, swaddle, turn on sound machine, turn off lights/close blinds, sit and rock (I know a bit AP but it works for us), and sing a couple short songs, and into bed she goes. 

If your lo has already associated her room with sleep and that has bad feelings involved you can try letting her spend some of her A time in her crib playing with toys, or in her room doing fun things instead of just sleeping.  That way she doesn't associate her room with only sleep, and maybe won't be so reluctant just to go in there. 

You may also want to look at her routine as a whole - usually 45 minute naps mean they need more A time - are you on a 3 or 3.5 hour EASY?  If you are still on a 3 hour EASY you may consider trying to lengthen her A time incrementally and that may help the short naps.  You can try w2s for 45 minute naps, but we never had any luck with it ourselves.  Look in the FAQ's in this nap board and I think you'll find it there.  Also keeping her awake a little longer may help her settle for her nap better - she may be fighting the nap so badly because she is not quite tired enough to go to sleep yet.  How about posting your normal routine so we can have a look at it and see if some tweaking might help the settling problem as well.   

[lukegwsmom]

Not sure if I will be much help, as I am looking for answers too!  My 9.5mo ds is the same way!  Spirited!  Can't settle!!  We have finally got a great routine down, which we didn't start until he was about 4 or 5mo.  Diaper change, story in rocker, close window shades, sing song while I rock/cradle hold.  He gets really relaxed.  He will even put thumb in mouth, hum along to song, and lay his head down on my shoulder.  It took us awhile to get to this point, but he knows what is coming now.  Sometimes he'll start sucking his thumb while I read.

Our problems start when I lay him down after all of this.  He tries to settle, but then fidgets all around and gets OT.  This will go on and on...for up to two hours.  Sometimes I will pick him back up and rock him to sleep in the cradle hold...can take up to 45min!  Anyone have suggestions for this?

I hope you have better luck.  I think if you establish a routine now, she will catch on and start to relax.  I agree with vadensmommy.  Let her play in her room/crib, so she associates her room with happieness.  Good luck, let us know how it goes.