5 month refusing morning nap

[supergolden88]

My son (who is definitely well on his way to outdo his big sister) has been refusing to go down for a morning nap.

He used to nap for about 45 minutes at around 9am (then down to 30 and recently 10 or nothing at all).

He usually gets up between 6 and 6.30 and is out of bed and active by 7am. Yet he fights having a nap tooth and nail and frequently wont sleep till 11/12 or much later.

I think 5 months is too early to drop this nap. How on earth do I get him to sleep? Barring going for a walk and that doesn't even work half the time.

[Gussy]

Hi SG, I agree 5 months seems a bit early to be dropping the morning nap. My son always does a 30 min nap or takes ages to settle when he's overtired. Could you try putting him down a bit earlier for a few days, say 8.30am, just to try and claw back some extra sleep? It might take a good few days of doing this before he decides he might want to try it!

I know by 8.30am my 1 year old is ready for a sleep, especially if his night is disturbed or he's had a few days of rubbish napping. Once he's back on track and caught up I can go back to putting him down nearer 9/9.30am. Maybe worth a try?

Caveat - its only my experience, it might not work and many others may say drop the nap etc!!

x

[Saffron]

This used to happen to my daughter from time to time. In our case it has been just a phase she went through periodically. I wonder if there is a developmental link? There have also been rare times when she wouldn't nap all day. She'd go through one of these dry spells for some days, then a new nap routine would sort itself out. It might just be your son's body trying to adjust to a new sleep phase? xx

[Peppa]

Hello,

I have been wondering about this daytime sleep thing too.... my little one (now 7 months) has not been sleeping much in the day at all for quite a few weeks, probably since she turned 5 months. She has been having two 30 min sleeps per day, the first at around 11:30 am and then the second at 4pm ish. Recently there have been days where she just has one lunch time sleep.

I can't spend too much time "helping" her to sleep in her cot, last time I tried - my 2 year old emptied a large bottle of water over his bedroom carpet and washed his teddies in the loo.

[supergolden88]

Peppa you made me laugh. Quite a feat.

I wanted to add that any other naps last exactly 30 minutes unless out in pushchair (but even then only about 45 minutes). It is driving me round the bend. I picked him up and tried to breastfeed back to sleep to break the cycle and he was comatose on the boob. Minute he was in cot, wide awake. Tried shushing and patting for 20 minutes before giving up. Now want to scream

[Mellors]

Gin? (for both of you) x

[supergolden88]

Am bathing in it later