won't nap in the evening

[mommynow]

I have been able to get my DD to nap during the day but when it comes to the last nap/catnap before bedtime she will not sleep even though she is tired and I can see her getting more and more tired which makes it worse.  For the last few nights she was up for 4-5 hours (and crabby) before finally going to sleep for the night.

Any advice??

[jennc123]

I am dealing with this as well ...she is up 4 hours or more before bedtime because she won't take a late afternoon catnap or nap and is overtired.  no matter what I do  :cry:

[CaedensMama]

Me too.... we are going on 4 hours up now..... any advice?

[Keren]

I usually took my ds for a walk in the stroller or car ride to get that last nap in  :lol: . He went to sleep just fine for the other naps so I wasn't too concerned about accidental parenting.

Cheers
Keren

[Livingmom]

We have the same problem. DD just doesn't like to nap in the evenings before bedtime. Our dd goes down pretty easy for bedtime, though, so I attempt to put her down for a catnap, but if it doesn't work I just let her sit quietly out in the livingroom with us before her bedtime routine begins. I guess I just figure if she is going down easy for bedtime--we are fine. Plus for the last few nights she has slept from 9pm all the way until 5am the next morning--  That is just fine with me!

[Dian]

sometimes

[Deb_in_oz]

we have always battled the catnap - if dd2 takes decent naps for the first 2 then she is reluctant to sleep at 5pm even if she needs it.  if she had at least 1 short nap then she occasionally even takes a 1 1/2 - 2 hr nap from 4-5:30/6.

what i have been doing lately is to enforce "cot time".  if she does not sleep at least she is in the dark room for 1 hour resting without any stimulation.  i think this is imprortant still until they are able to have 3-4 hrs awake time consistently.  if she cries out i go in and check on her.  if she is calm she stays put for up to 1 hour (if sleeps, then 30-45 min is fine because that is deeper rest)

[Matthew's Mommy]

The late afternoon cat nap was tough as well.. so I would make it a stroller sleep or swing sleep. The rest of his naps were in his bed.

[deckchariot]

I'm having the same problem....my dd is 7 1/2 weeks old, and we've been working really hard on the daytime nap issue.  I've gotten some great advice on the boards that has been really helpful.  Our problem now is that when she naps well in the day, she won't take that last catnap before bed, then is overtired by bedtime and it takes us hours of screaming to get her to bed.  I've tried the stroller - she cried for that too; she'll only make it about 10 minutes in her swing or bouncy seat before she starts crying, and if I put her in her crib, she'll cry too.  We've resorted to just walking around the house with her trying to keep her from screaming, but that doesn't solve the overtired bit and bedtime is becoming a nightmare!  Any other suggestions?

[luaidos]

I have the same problem:  my 11 weeks old baby won't take the nap before going to bed and is always a bit nervous in the late afternoon/evening.

this is more or less how it goes:
19.30 - E
20.00 - A (bath)
21.00 - short nap of 30 min and then awake until 22.30

any suggestions?

[katiush]

Same here. Yesterday, she took the first catnap (which is really hard for her to take, it took forever to get her down), and I woke her up for her first cluster feed at 6:30...after that, she cried until about 11 PM. I'm thinking of just giving up on the cluster feeds!

Katia

[deckchariot]

I'm actually thinking of phasing out the cluster feed as well - I've read on some of the boards, and in one of Tracy's books that she recommends collapsing the two cluster feeds into just one feed for bedtime, and that would eliminate the final catnap before bed.  Has anyone else successfully done that?

[luaidos]

sorry, I'm not english mother tongue, so I can't understand what do you mean with "cluster feed".  I look on the dictionary but I can't get the meaning in this context!