Please...I need help!

[Mum to Ella Rose]

Okay I know this has been covered but I feel like I keep hijacking posts so I'll start my own and hope you mums can help me.

We're having a great deal of trouble with naps. We have been for weeks now!

Dd sleeps 11 or 11 1/2 hours over night. Has always been a good sleeper barring teething, etc. We had attributed the nap problem to teeth and developmental issues. She has two new teeth all the way in and has learned to crawl and pull up. But this was over a week ago. We also have been trying to adjust her schedule to suit a nine month old but she's having none of it! Here's what we've been trying for the past week. Prior to this she would go down at 9:30 am sleep until 11 then 2:30 to 4.

7 wake

10-11 nap for an hour

2:30 nap for an hour or an hour and a half

7:30 bed

But she WILL NOT NAP anymore!  :shock: We keep trying and trying and trying and after an hour or more we'll get her back up. She just doesn't want to go! We've been very consistent and haven't done any accidental parenting... she just isn't sleepy. She wants to be awake longer than the "schedule" allows. When we get her up if she won't nap she's happy as can be and just plays away... I'm starting to dread nap time as it's just exhausting for us all. As I write dh is taking his turn and it's been 45 minutes of trying to put her down. After an hour for the first nap....she only slept 35 minutes.

HELP! I am at such a loss and dh is going out of town tomorrow! Any ideas?

Thank you for reading....

Sharon

[Keren]

Is she ready for one nap? If she is happy to play and isn't tired just let her stay up and try again just after lunch. I haven't had experience with going to one nap yet, but a friend just has and the way she knew her lo was ready is that the lo just didn't go to sleep for the morning nap. So she put her down around lunch time and that was the start of one nap.

I could be completely wrong but it won't hurt to give it a go for one day.

Maybe others might be able to help.

Cheers
Keren

[Mum to Ella Rose]

BLARGH!!! 20 minutes later and we are still playing the p/d game!

Thank you so much for your quick response. I have been suspecting the one nap thing but she is sooooooo young! But she does sleep well at night and seems to have a triple A personality!  :wink:  Maybe I should just give it a go... this certainley isn't working!

Sharon

[Keren]

Don't worry about her being too young. Every baby is different. When I was a baby I was doing 3 naps at 6 months and 1 nap at 9 months! Man I must have transitioned really quickly. Poor mum  :lol: .

Good luck.

Cheers
Keren

[HJ's Mom]

Hi! I have a son who is 3 months old, but I also have an 18 year old daughter who slept all night at 6 weeks (from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) on her own. Bless her. Anyway, she did not require a lot of sleep during the day and by 9 months was only having really quick naps, if any at all during the day. She would be quiet for a little bit each day and that seemed to sustain her. I wouldn't worry and I think what we all need to remember here is that every child is an individual and although this is a great method, there needs to be some flexibility in it.
Good luck!!!

[zayandme]

If you do think about moving to one nap, maybe try observing tomorrow and the next day, write everything down, then don't forget to roll with the punches for 3 or 4 days. She may take that long to adjust but in the end you may both be more satisfied.
Let us know how it goes!

[Mum to Ella Rose]

Thank you all for your support!    Today (after sleeping 11 hours overnight and not napping AT ALL yesterday!!!) I tried to put her down at 11:15 after she gave me lots of sleepy cues. (up since 6:30) she had a cat nap at 9 as well (1/2 hour) It took an hour of p/d (she kept standing up and was yelling the house down) but she finally went to sleep at 12:15 and slept until 2:45. So that's good! She's been happy today too during her awake times and it's now 4:30 so we'll see how the rest of the evening goes. I may put her down at 7 instead of 7:30 but.... thank you again for the help. I swear I don't know what I would do without you all. This place has become my lifeline!  :lol:

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted!

Sharon