Nap time- not falling asleep during day with pupd

[Anneka]

Hello

We are on day 3 of the baby whisperers plan and my baby is responding well to pupd during nap times. Day 1 after 30 mins and a lot of crying she went for two naps if 45 minutes I continued with pupd to extend naps but no joy. My baby's prop was being breastfed to sleep. I am no longer doing this but I am concerned that my baby is not getting the right anoint of sleep in the day. Day 2 and 3we spent an hit and half to get her to nap and she just wouldn't drop off. What should I do to help her? I don't want to breastfeed her to sleep during the day but need her to sleep! Please help!

[lolsyb1982]

Hi there and welcome to BW 

What would be really helpful is if you could post your days routine in an EASY format so

Wu 7
Eat 7.15
Sleep 9 etc

Also how old is your LO?

[Anneka]

My little one is 5 months
Wu roughly at 7am
E: 7.05
A: 7.25
S:9 ( she shows signs of being tired at around 8.40) I've managed to get her to sleep using pupd once for 45 mins. I continued for an hour trying to get her to lengthen her nap
E: 11
A: 11.20
S:13 ( 40 mins max using pupd but for last two days I have been able to get her off)
F: 15.00
A: 15.20
S: try to get her down at 5
Bath at 6
Massage 6.15
Feed  6.30
Often falls asleep so I wake her and then out her in her cot for 7. PUPD has worked for the last 3 nights. Breastfeeding was her prop so I've been following the EASY approach.

What do I do if she will not nap? Her night time has improved so I don't want to jeopardise this.

Thanks

[lolsyb1982]

Short naps are often developmental and "usually" they learn how to sleep longer around the 6 month mark. You're on an A time of 2hrs, that's the lower end of average for this age so it could be she needs a bit more to be tired enough to sleep longer. I've attached a link which is really handy to reference Average A times- BOOKMARK ME! .
Maybe try pushing just that first A time by 15mins and keep like that for a few days. Eye rubbing at this age isn't a reliable sign of tiredness and can often mean they're looking for a change of activity or scenery.

Around 5/6 months babies start working towards dropping that 3rd nap so I've attached a link on how to go about it when the time comes (signs can be fighting BT or wake up getting earlier) All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

Those longer naps will come, my second daughter didn't manage it until 7 months so it can take some time but you will get there 

[Scottishmummy]

Re pu/pd: -are you starting to settle for nap at 9? I think I'd try starting WD and settling for nap (pu/pd) at the tired signs at 8.40 to be asleep for 9. As pp says 2hrs is low end of average for age but some LOs prefer a shorter first A time so asleep by 9 with 7 Wu might be right for her.

If you only get a short nap I'd only try to resettle for 10-20 mins. In my experience if they've not gone back to sleep by then they're probably not going to do it's less frustrating for everyone just to accept a short nap. My DS only ever took a short nap as first  nap but would do a longer 2nd nap.  If you only get a short first nap, maybe aim for 2nd around 12 buy starting settling around 11.40/45

Other thing to try with going to sleep if previously fed to sleep is some sort of comforter for LO to suck on. Especially if it can smell like you. I used to keep a muslin in my bra for a couple of hrs and give to mineat nap and BT.

To extend nap you could also try wake to sleep instead of pu/PD. Sometimes it's easier to extend nap if you catch them before they fully wake. How do I address habitual wakings? (wake-to-sleep and other methods)

Good luck

[Anneka]

Thevke for this. Although on day 1 I got her down for naps using pupd I spent 1 and half hours to get her down to no avail. She screamed hysterical, arching her back. What do I do to get her down. As she needs her naps? She would only previously nap if breastfed to sleep and held or later in the bed. Every so often I could transfer her to the cot other times she would wake and I would have to start again.

Thanks

[Scottishmummy]

Think I cross posted with you - see reply above

[Scottishmummy]

I should add that I sleep trained my DS for naps around 5 mo & PU/PD didn't work for us. Being picked up was too disruptive & confusing for him. I used a combination of sh-pat (or sh-hold for him as pat was too distracting too!) and gradual withdrawl. Getting ready for work now but can come back tonight and post more info if you want?

ETA: So for my DS I tried to do a wind down first, get him calm and relaxed in my arms and then transferred him to the cot and held and sh-ed him until he fell asleep. Gradually over several days I reduced how long I held him for so he started falling asleep himself then I gradually moved further away from the cot until he could fall asleep himself.

Hope that makes sense
Xx

[Anneka]

Thanks for this. We use the shhh to cut the crying at night until she is calm but it doesn't seem to have the same affect in the day. I had to go out walking for her naps yesterday otherwise she would not have slept during the day. I'm finding the days very hard to to manage by myself when she is so resistant. I know that taking her out in the pram will be confusing her but I just can't handle the screaming for over an hour at each nap time for it not to work.

Thanks for all the info.

[Scottishmummy]

Be kind to yourself. In an ideal we would sleep train every nap but staying sane is important too and if you need to get out for a break, do that.

Do you do a wind down routine? That can help. 

As Lauren said other thing to try is experimenting with awake times. Mine would fight the nap if I tried too early (DD) or too late (DS).

Have you tried white noise? A comforter to suck instead of feeding to sleep?