Our 3 month old won't nap!

Glowing

Hi all,

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has experienced this, but we're at the end of our teather with a very cranky, overtired baby.

She is a great sleeper overnight, from 11 until 9ish - but she refuses to nap in the day, apart from her 45 min morning nap for some reason which goes like clockwork, but after 1 or 2pm, forget it! Her eyes are out on stalks for the rest of the day and despite falling asleep in the car/buggy etc, she just won't nap at home. She will scream blue murder when I try to transfer her into her cot or crib (even after I think she's asleep).

I think she is too young to try the crying it out technique, so does anyone have any tips on what worked for them? Its heartbreaking to see a normally happy smiley baby just exhausted. I have resorted to breastfeeding her to sleep and leaving her on the couch for a nap the odd time, and even getting into bed with her, but its just not going to work for the long term. I'd love to be able to transfer her into her cot awake and for her to settle herself happily.

Help!

How Strange

Glowing it sounds normal enough to me. My son used to nap no problem in the morning but I'd have to bring him out in the buggy to nap in the afternoon.

I don't think they learn to nap until 4-5 months and in my experience they it really start napping consistently around 6 months.

Morph the Cat

OP - put her in the car seat and rock her to sleep on the couch beside you. Not ideal, but works for us when we don't think they'll completely settle on their own.

lounakin

Yep, same here! I had the baby napping on me or in a sling for ages before she started napping in the cot!

Xdancer

My little one was the same at 3 months. She didn't start napping properly until about 6 months. Until then I used to take her for walks, let her sleep on me or take a nap myself with her next to me on the bed. I tried to do these things around the same time everyday and eventually she grew into napping.

littlemissfixit

My two slept good as newborn until about 5-6 wks old and then learned to nap around the 3-4 months mark. I used to nurse my daughter to sleep and sometimes could transfer her to moses basket sometimes not. My son could often be rocked to sleep with the kitchen fan going, sound was probably southing him, but you can also get white noise cd's if you havent tried it, its worth a try.
I was very paranoid about giving them bad habits but I realised that its just phases and that later on, it was a lot easier to teach them to sleep in their cot for naps.
Whatever strategy you use, and even if it means the stroller, car seat, nursing etc. the most important is to get them some sleep. And I would say that periodically try again, when everyone is rested, sometimes they just change overnight.
Try white noise, and if you have a basket instead of cot, they sometimes feel more secure and snuggly maybe?!
They also say that a baby who has trouble going to sleep as the day goes on is because he is put down to late and overtired. Never worked for me to put them down earlier, but you never know!

ariana`

Xdancer wrote: »

My little one was the same at 3 months. She didn't start napping properly until about 6 months. Until then I used to take her for walks, let her sleep on me or take a nap myself with her next to me on the bed. I tried to do these things around the same time everyday and eventually she grew into napping.

My 1st was the same, he didn't nap from 3wks - 6mths, then suddenly he fell into a perfect routine. The months in between were tough but on the plus side I lost so much weight walking with him in the buggy so he'd sleep! I ended up a stone lighter then pre-pregnancy :-)

Glowing

Right! I'm kinda seeing the error of my ways now! I live in an idealistic world where when baby naps, she must do so in her cot and exactly 2 hours after she last woke but I guess that's not the case for babies of her age? I didn't realise napping was something that came a bit later. So its ok when she is wrecked tired to just let her sleep on me or daddy rather than risk waking her by trying to get her into her cot? I actually started napping her in her cot as her Moses basket was so small she would just bang her arms and legs constantly, she hated it!

Things are getting so much trickier now that she is developing a mind of her own!

Thanks for all the replies!

skit490

ariana` wrote: »

My 1st was the same, he didn't nap from 3wks - 6mths, then suddenly he fell into a perfect routine. The months in between were tough but on the plus side I lost so much weight walking with him in the buggy so he'd sleep! I ended up a stone lighter then pre-pregnancy :-)

This is music to my ears! I was beginning to worry hadn't got good routine going. My little one not great sleeper day or night. But hate to see her cranky n overtired in eve, have to nurse her to sleep. It's hard work planning d days. But guess should just enjoy the mayhem n let her sleep wen she wants for now.

ariana`

Glowing wrote: »

Right! I'm kinda seeing the error of my ways now! I live in an idealistic world where when baby naps, she must do so in her cot and exactly 2 hours after she last woke but I guess that's not the case for babies of her age? I didn't realise napping was something that came a bit later. So its ok when she is wrecked tired to just let her sleep on me or daddy rather than risk waking her by trying to get her into her cot? I actually started napping her in her cot as her Moses basket was so small she would just bang her arms and legs constantly, she hated it!

Things are getting so much trickier now that she is developing a mind of her own!

Thanks for all the replies!

Glowing I was you 3 yrs ago, I have about 5 books dediceted to the subject of babies sleep! I completely freaked out bout it & worried myself silly... but honestly at 6 months he suddenly one day became the perfect Napper & now at near 3 yrs he still loves his nap while a lot of toddlers his age have dropped the nap.

Best of luck.

Julo12

I don't have any great advice as I still walk my 5 month old to sleep morning and afternoon for her naps but it's so good to hear others do it too. I also nurse her to sleep at night and have read so much how this is a sleep 'prop' or 'accidental parenting' as the baby whisperer calls it that i got really upset about what i should do. However these books dont give much help in the way of an alternative as i'm not going to leave her to cry and dont have patience or willpower to spend 2 hours picking her up and putting her down. So I figure if it works for us in that baby gets decent sleeps (most days!) and without too much upset for either of us then we'll keep doing it. I do still worry a bit about when I go back to work and she goes to a crèche but she'll be 10 months plus at that stage so I know a lot will change before then!
And set up some good DVDs for when babas asleep in ur arms, tis a great excuse!!

ariana`

Julo12 wrote: »

I don't have any great advice as I still walk my 5 month old to sleep morning and afternoon for her naps but it's so good to hear others do it too. I also nurse her to sleep at night and have read so much how this is a sleep 'prop' or 'accidental parenting' as the baby whisperer calls it that i got really upset about what i should do. However these books dont give much help in the way of an alternative as i'm not going to leave her to cry and dont have patience or willpower to spend 2 hours picking her up and putting her down. So I figure if it works for us in that baby gets decent sleeps (most days!) and without too much upset for either of us then we'll keep doing it. I do still worry a bit about when I go back to work and she goes to a crèche but she'll be 10 months plus at that stage so I know a lot will change before then!
And set up some good DVDs for when babas asleep in ur arms, tis a great excuse!!

Enjoy it! The day will come when our "babies" won't want to give us a quick hug/kiss never mind cuddle up on the couch... and when number 2 comes along you won't be able spend the day enjoying baby cuddles so enjoy this phase.

That's what I'd do if I could go back in time to baby number 1 :-)

0ctober

I often put my daughter in her crib and then turn on the hair dryer to get her to drift off when she's cranky and just won't sleep. Bit odd I know but whatever works for you and your baby, there's no right or wrong way. And every baby is different, some just don't nap much!

lounakin

0ctober wrote: »

I often put my daughter in her crib and then turn on the hair dryer to get her to drift off when she's cranky and just won't sleep. Bit odd I know but whatever works for you and your baby, there's no right or wrong way. And every baby is different, some just don't nap much!

Oh i remember for the first few months we'd put on radio static for our baby. That worked quite well until she got too old.

NIMAN

Consider yourself lucky.

Ours didn't sleep during the day or night up until she was about 12 months.

For me, sleeping throughout the night is the main one. If thats happening you should be able to cope as you will be rested. If you ain't sleepng properly at night then it can be hell.

liliq

Glowing wrote: »

So its ok when she is wrecked tired to just let her sleep on me or daddy rather than risk waking her by trying to get her into her cot? !

Definitely ok!
We were the same here, no naps until 6 months then within a week or two hed be napping for 1.5 hours at 1130 and maybe 330/4. Didn't know myself!

lazygal

Our wee lass started off with a good stretch of a nap during the day but since about three months she's very hit and miss. I tried implementing a strict schedule, then a loser one but now I just put her down when she's tired. Her morning nap is anywhere from 9am to 11am and for only half an hour. Afternoon nap depends on the morning and is anywhere from noon to 3pm, again half an hour. She won't sleep later, the odd day (maybe once a week) she has a quick catnap/drowsy period during a breasfeed for about 15 minutes at about 6pm. She goes down at 8pm every night and sleeps until 6.30-7.30 am. As the nights are so good, we're not too worried about the days. I'm following her cues, which are similar to how I was as a baby according to my mum, and its made life easier as I found the 'by the book' suggested schedules very stressful to implement. I wouldn't go on what baby 'should' be doing because they haven't read the books to know what they should be doing and every one is different.