7 month old fights naps

[NMH]

My daughter refuses to take naps and then is exhausted and cranky. I have tried to do a cool down period, I have darkened the room, use soft music, read to her and sometimes rock her.  As soon as I try to get her to nap she throws a tantrum. We usually sit in the rocking chair to read and she starts archng her back and screaming. When I put her in her crib, she just plays or whines.  I know she is tired bc she is rubbing her eyes,yawning and it is naptime, but I don't know what to do anymore? Please help.

[NMH]

Her routine was...

7pm bottle
8:30/9:00 solids
9:oo/9:30 nap
11:00 bottle
12:30 solids (just started this bc she has been slow to start her solids)
1:30 nap
3:00 bottle
5:00 solids
7:00 bottle
8:30 bed

BUT...today she screamed and fought for 2 hours and wouldn't take her nap.  It was time for her next bottle, so I gave it to her and she fell asleep while eating (at 11:00).  She woke up and I have her solids ( which was a relief bc yesterday she did the same thing and thought it was time for a bottle after her nap and had a major tantrum even though she had eaten only1.5 hours before.)

I don't know if I should try to change her routine?  I am not sure how the rest of today is going to go.  Just think I will give her a bottle at 3:00 and see if she will play a little after and then try for a second nap. 

[NMH]

Yes, I agree!  That is why I am so desparate to get her to take more naps.  Not sure what to do...today she won't take any!

[NMH]

Thanks! I will give it a try tomorrow.  Today I tried to keep her up longer, but then I think I waited too long, bc I could tell she was overtired, but yet still fighting me.  We will see what happens!

[Mom to M&M]

In addition to paying attention to A times, I'd change her wind down routine. At 7 months, rocking, etc may be too much - older babies often unwind/fall asleep better on their own. I'd suggest making the wind down routine shorter actually and getting her in bed before she starts getting too into sleep mode. So, for example, if you are shooting for a nap at 9:45, at 9:35 I'd take her into her dimmed room, change diaper, read a story, maybe sing one lullaby and put her into her crib and tell her it's nap time. We also found a crib toy invaluable at this age - we put on the Flutterby Soother (plays a lullaby and has birds) before every nap.

As far as A times, I think 2.75 is good for her age - 3 hours at the absolute most. But you'll need to extend gradually - I'd do this by adding on 15 minutes every 3 days and keep it low key - go for a walk, cuddle, read, etc.

Good luck!

[NMH]

Hi there,

I tried keeping her up 2.75 and then doing a short cool down period, but it  didn't work so well.  She starts screaming and crying and I leave her for a little, but then break down and pick her up.  I tried to pick her up and put her down, but I felt like it was reinforcing her desire to have me hold her and continue to cry until I did so (does that make sense?).  Anyway, her crying intensified and I tried to hold her in the rocking chair, she cried and cried and then finally gave in and passed out.  I feel like I am doing everything wrong.  My question is...should I just leave her in her crib and let her cry herself to sleep?  She gets so worked up and I start to feel really bad, so I cave in.  But I also feel like I am not teaching her to go to sleep on her own and it is getting worse.  She doesn't really have this problem at  night, just mainly for naps.  Any advice???

[NMH]

I have been letting her stay up longer for about a week now, so this has been pretty consistent.  I just am starting to think she doesn't want to miss out and wants to play until she drops!  But then she has a meltdown bc she is so tired.  As the book would say, she is definitely a Spirited baby...she wants what she wants right at that moment.  I am scared to see her at 2 years old!LOL!  She is so cute, but so fiesty! 
I kind of feel like I have to do whatever works until we can get through this, but I keep trying to make her awake time to nap time a smooth transition.  I even leaned over in her crib and rubbed her back, belly, and caressed her hair---she wasn't having any of it. We have an aquarium that I think we will try to put in the crib per Marisa's recommendation--it is like the flutterbye soother.  I am hoping she will not get distracted with it!  Who knows with this little one.   
Thanks for the help.  I will let you know if we make any progress.

[Keren]

This could also be developmental nap refusal. My ds went through this at 8 months. He was working on a few things like cruising and he would cry and cry and refuse to go to sleep, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve lol. This lasted about a week and then he was fine again. I knew it was developmental nap refusal because he was even crying going to bed at night when before he was fine.

 Is your lo working on anything like crawling, cruising etc?

[NMH]

Hi Karen,
She hasn't started crawling yet, she gets on her belly and looks like she is swimming, so she looks like she is working on it, but just isn't there yet.  I am not sure what to think bc things still haven't changed.  I do the same routine and I get the feeling that she just gets mad that she has to take a nap.  I thought about switching her bottle before her nap nc that is the only thing that calms her down and she passes it out when she drinks it, but she wakes up expecting her bottle bc she has been on the EASY routine. So...I am super confused and every day has been a new battle with napping.  I know she is tired bc once she falls asleep she will sleep for 1.5 hours, but it takes a lot of screaming & crying, back arching and pushing away from mama to get there!  After I read her a story in the rocking chair I try to cuddle and sing to her and she goes wild--pushing and fussing. I try to console her and if it doesn't work, I say "time for a nap," kiss her and put her in her crib. She keeps crying when I pick her up and eventually I get her to sleep or the bottle does the trick.  It has only been 3 hours since her last bottle and a half hour since her solids, so I don't think it is hunger? I am thinking it is just a distaste for missing out on anything... Any thoughts?  I am burned out with this!

[NMH]

SUCCESS!  Just wanted to let everyone know we have had successful napping for 2 days in a row!  The first day I let her cry it out...it took almost an hour.  However, the next day, I did the usual routine, read a book, dimmed the lights, then put her in her crib and said time for a nap.  She would play for about a 1/2 hour then fall asleep.  It seems she just wants some time to herself before she drifts off.  She doesn't like being confined and I think she was getting sick of having mommy hold her in the rocking chair before she would go to sleep and just wanted to do her own thing.  Anyway, I am very happy! Hopefully all of this dialogue will help someone else!