Ok, so I've posted on here before about my son not wanting to go down for a nap and such. We started a new bedtime/naptime routine and it was great, for about 2 weeks. First, here is our day at his current age of 7 months (at least what I aim for):
7:00-Breakfast, diaper change, and play
8:30-wind down for nap by dim lights in room, rocking, and lullaby cd
8:45-down for nap
10:15-wake up, diaper change, play
11:00-Lunch, play
1:15-wind down for nap, same as above
1:30-down for nap
3:00-wake up, diaper change, lunch, play
5:00-cat nap
5:30-wake up
6:30-start betime routine of cereal/fruit, bath, bottle/rocking/lullaby cd.
7:00-down for night
From day one of starting the bedtime and naptime routine he was going to sleep easily within 5 minutes without fussing or anything and he'd sleep for up to 2 hours. Before this he may not take a nap all day and if so would only sleep for about 30 minutes, if that. At night we'd do everything we could think of and it would take a few hours to get him to sleep for the night. Then we decided we needed a bit more structure getting him to sleep. And like I said, this routine worked perfectly from day one. But after about a week- a week and a half, it got harder and longer to get him to sleep. Now, about 2-3 weeks later, it's as if he knows what the routine is, and instead of starting to wind down on his own, he starts fighting immediately upon realizing what's going on. He shakes his head no, he kicks, he arches his back, he fusses, and tries to continue to play. I know I am getting him at the right time. He's not over tired yet, but he fights the nap anyhow. I've taken out his paci to make him mad so that when I give it back he's so relieved he relaxes, and occasionally that works. But I just don't know what to do. Everytime I've ever found something that works for him I can't stay consistent simply because it stops working after about 2 weeks. That's why I don't really want to even bother with something like pu/pd because thats alot of work, I'm scared to do it alone, and what's the point of going through all of that crying and stress? I mean, even if it works it will stop working after 2 weeks, and if it takes 2 weeks or so to get him to go for it, it just doesn't seem worth it. I feel so helpless and I'm not pretty certain that I shouldn't have any more kids, even though I want at least one more, because there's times I feel like I'm entirely the wrong person for motherhood anyway. I know that when he's 13 I won't be able to get him to wake up, but at this point, I feel like I'll have to do this until he's 13. And I'm so stressed out because it seems like my husband just doesn't get it. I can't get him to stick to anything either. He doesn't like giving him baths, so when I'm not home, basically Braeden doesn't get a bath, and my husband also doesn't give him solid food. I think he's 7 months old and he needs it, but if I ask my husband to feed Braeden, he pops a bottle in his mouth even though I've told him over and over he needs to eat solid food first. I am getting so stressed that I think about just leaving. I don't want to do that, but I can't deal with my husbands lack of support and understanding, and I don't know what else to do to get my son to sleep. He does better at night than the day. I would think that his nights would be messed up because that's when my husband messes up the routine, but it's the day when he won't sleep. So now what?
