Help! 5 month old has never napped! Where to start?

[Emmab2015]

My LO is 5 months old today - she has always been a terrible sleeper but finally over last few weeks nights have become better. She is EBF and settles by 8.30pm with a feed around 11.30pm & 3.30pm. She wakes up for the day between 6-7.30am. She rarely naps during the daytime - u have tried putting her down at first signs of tiredness but she will not have it. If out in car or pram she may nap for maximum of 30 minutes but even this is becoming very rare! I used make sure I would go regularly so she could nap but recently she has even stopped sleeping in the pram! I know she must be tired & bath time can be terrible - I think due to over tiredness. Sometimes after a feed she may settle for 20 minutes on me but I don't want her to sleep on me so always put her down after winding - she wakes immediately & often will start crying.

I just would like some advice on where to start really. I can't believe she is 5 months already and I still can't get her to nap during the day. Please help!!

[newkidontheblock]

Hi honey. Welcome to BW. Could you post your routine in EASY format please? It's fine if it is messy. It would simply make it easier for me to guide you.
So,
E- 7
A - 2 hours
S - 30 mins
and so on..

You can also read through this. It covers pretty much everything.
Starting EASY - all you need to know and more!

What helps when starting on the path towards independent sleep is
a) consistency in your approach and timings
b) committing to being home for every single nap and BT for a while at least, until things fall into place
c) a fixed WU time in the morning and a fixed BT
d) A cool, dark room & white noise  also work wonders.

Is your baby swaddled by any chance?

[Emmab2015]

Thank you for your reply. I used to swaddle her when she was younger but she hates it now & I just use a sleeping bag. We have had a set bedtime routine since she was about 10 weeks. This always starts around 7pm with bath, cuddle, lullaby and evening feed. She settles anytime between 8-8.30pm.

E - 7am - I feed her as soon as she wakes up BUT she often doesn't feed properly
A - 2 hrs
S - attempt nap at 9am but Eventually feed her as worried she's hadn't fed earlier & she has 1st proper feed of day which I know isn't right
Y -  20 mins if I'm lucky.

she sleeps in a dim room with white noise overnight but just won't do it during the day.
I will have a read of link. Is 5 months too late to start with easy?

[newkidontheblock]

Not at all. You can start at any point. EASY simply helps give some structure to our day, and helps us to understand our LOs better. Could you post the routine of the entire day, please?

A few points --
At 5 months, A times increase and are closer to 2.5 hours. Since you are getting short naps anyway, you could gradually add 10-15 minutes and then hold at that point to let her body adjust - then add again. If it is possible for you to darken her room more - blackout blinds/double curtains - it definitely helps. So our nap time routine was - walk around a while before hand to calm her down talking/singing/humming, then go into a dim room and put her in her sleep sack/swaddle, then sing sleepy song, lay her down in her bed, turn on music box, turn off light & leave the room. You can start by using the 4S wind down routine and then incorporating elements of your own into it. It would take her a few days to catch on and she might protest the change but she will understand soon enough. It helps to keep a log of your day:)

[Emmab2015]

So if I feed at 7am for 30 mins, does A start after this? So if 2.5 hrs, S will start at 10am. Perhaps I have been putting her down too early?

[newkidontheblock]

A is eyes open to eyes closed including feed time. Just another point -- A times rise pretty quickly between 5 & 6 months. We were on 2.10 at the beginning of 5 months, which went straight to 2.5 and by 6 months we were on 3.20 A.