Nap Strike!

Hi,

For two weeks one of my girls has been on a complete nap strike. She will not, absolutely will not nap! She is very tired. I'm at a loss. I've re-read every thing I can find in HSHHC, searched the posts for tips. I've even let her CIO for the last two days at naps. She cries hard for one hour and then I get her up...still no nap. The only thing I've been able to do is drive her. She was doing great - this is so weird. What can I do? Does this pass? Is there hope? Is this my new life? I'm going to lose it.

Also, just a little vent about HSHHC...it's got great info, it's written very confusingly and has odd placement for certain information (IE: gives all the CIO info in the 0-4 month section, but says you can't do it until they are 6 months ideally)...the most maddening line in the whole book is in the section about how to fix a nap problem...here's how it reads: "First, make sure your baby is sleeping well at night"....WELL DUH SHERLOCK! How the heck do you doooo thattttt!!!! It's like he just inserted it as a side-note, a mention on a to-do list. So if they aren't sleeping well at night - they aren't going to nap...yet if they don't nap...they won't sleep well at night. It's an over-tired vicious cycle. Stop the ride - I want off! and so do my poor sleepy sweet babies. :angry:

 

[SIZE=10pt]Is she possibly teething? I know that both of mine fought sleep both day and night when they were cutting those first teeth.

:hug99:

As for HSHHC ~ I got the book, read it. I did find some good information ~ ended up just watching for their clues. After a few weeks, I could pick up on when they were 'ready' for naptime. Now that their getting older, they're awake longer between naps....as long as I watch for their "signs", we're all good.

Hoping it's short lived!!

April [/SIZE]

 

Sorry that the naps have disappeared....that stinks. How many naps a day was she taking? How long is she up between naps? What time does she usually get up in the AM? Has she recently learned to roll over or anything? Sometimes when they learn a new skill they almost get compulsive in practicing which can wreak havoc on sleep. Like the pp said, teething can do the same thing.

 

Oh man, that's tough! I'd be at a loss too. Like pps, I'd also wonder if she's on the verge of some developmental thing, or if she's teething.

This may sound extreme, but have you thought about taking her to the pedi? It seems weird for a formerly good (or even halfway decent) napper to be refusing all naps for that long, and I wonder if anything else is up.

:hug99: I hope she'll get some sleep soon!

 

QUOTE
Is she possibly teething? I know that both of mine fought sleep both day and night when they were cutting those first teeth.

I've wondered that, but how do you ever know before actually seeing the little teeth?

QUOTE
How many naps a day was she taking? How long is she up between naps? What time does she usually get up in the AM? Has she recently learned to roll over or anything?

She was taking almost 4...up at 7:00, cat nap at 7:45-8:00. Nap at 9:30 and then every hour to hour and half of wakefulness after that. I've tried to push them to two hours but they seem to be "ready" at an hour sometimes longer. She did recently learn to roll, but it was a few weeks ago and this seems to be unrelated at this point.

QUOTE
This may sound extreme, but have you thought about taking her to the pedi? It seems weird for a formerly good (or even halfway decent) napper to be refusing all naps for that long, and I wonder if anything else is up.

They have their 6 month well-baby next week. I'm looking forward to it for this very reason! Maybe I should go sooner?

I know this sounds weird, but today we are going to just skip naps all together. She hasn't been sleeping during naps anyway and I've tried everything else so I think I'll just keep her up and see what happens...maybe she'll get so exhausted that she'll sleep finally. Who knows.

Thanks ladies!

 

QUOTE
I've wondered that, but how do you ever know before actually seeing the little teeth?


Sometimes you can tell when a tooth is about to come through - the gum is bumpy and swollen, and may be reddish or grayish. But it's not always obvious, at least with my babies. DS is a real stealth teether - his gums will look normal, and then he'll pop 3 teeth!

 

Turn on the vacuum cleaner in their room. Works every time and I have had nap strikers since BIRTH. Without the vacuum- ZERO naps!

 

QUOTE(ivfbound078 @ Mar 7 2008, 09:47 AM) [snapback]657348[/snapback]
Turn on the vacuum cleaner in their room. Works every time and I have had nap strikers since BIRTH. Without the vacuum- ZERO naps!


I've heard you suggest this and I think it's so cute that you do this all the time! I do use a white noise machine very loudly but haven't tried the vacuum. I'm going to do that today...my DH will be so impressed that I vacuumed! He thinks I forgot how. Good think he knows how to use that appliance! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

I do the vacuum sometimes too, especially if someone is screaming then it also helps to calm them down.
A couple weeks ago I found myself driving on the highway a few days in a row just to get them to sleep because they would wake up if the car stopped moving! Its awful!

Good luck! Hope the vacuum helps!

 

Have you heard of Wonder Weeks? There is a week (or two or three) right around six months where they are going through a developmental leap which can result in a fussy baby who sleeps less. Here's some info about Wonder Week 26:

Wonder Week 26:
The World of Relationships

At about 26 weeks, your baby will start to show the signs of yet another significant leap in his development. If you watch closely, you will see him doing or attempting to do many new things. Whether or not he is crawling at this stage, he will have become significantly more mobile as he learns to coordinate the action of his arms and legs and the rest of his body. Building on his knowledge of events, he his now able to begin to understand the many kinds of relationships among the things that make up his world.

One of the most significant relationships that your baby can now perceive is the distance between one thing and another. We take this for granted as adults, but for a baby it is an alarming discovery, a very radical change in his world. The world is suddenly a very big place in which he is but a tiny, if very vocal, speck. Something he wants can be on a high shelf or outside the range of his crib, and he has no way of getting to it. His mother can walk away, even if only into the next room, and she might as well have gone to China if he can't get to her because he's stuck

Good Luck, and if you are interested in more wonder week info here is a link:
http://www.livingcontrolsystems.com/wonder...content_ww.html
Suzi

 

QUOTE(girls! @ Mar 6 2008, 11:31 PM) [snapback]656989[/snapback]
Hi,

For two weeks one of my girls has been on a complete nap strike. She will not, absolutely will not nap! She is very tired. I'm at a loss. I've re-read every thing I can find in HSHHC, searched the posts for tips. I've even let her CIO for the last two days at naps. She cries hard for one hour and then I get her up...still no nap. The only thing I've been able to do is drive her. She was doing great - this is so weird. What can I do? Does this pass? Is there hope? Is this my new life? I'm going to lose it.

Also, just a little vent about HSHHC...it's got great info, it's written very confusingly and has odd placement for certain information (IE: gives all the CIO info in the 0-4 month section, but says you can't do it until they are 6 months ideally)...the most maddening line in the whole book is in the section about how to fix a nap problem...here's how it reads: "First, make sure your baby is sleeping well at night"....WELL DUH SHERLOCK! How the heck do you doooo thattttt!!!! It's like he just inserted it as a side-note, a mention on a to-do list. So if they aren't sleeping well at night - they aren't going to nap...yet if they don't nap...they won't sleep well at night. It's an over-tired vicious cycle. Stop the ride - I want off! and so do my poor sleepy sweet babies. :angry:


I just had to laugh when I read your vent about HSSHC--I felt THE EXACT SAME WAY!!! And I was reading it at a time when I really needed solid information--instead, like you, I found his writing confusing and at times contradictory. I haven't picked up the book in a while--it's like I had to have complete withdrawal. I hope your problem solves itself. I am no longer saying to myself--"OK, now they are napping 1 1/2 hours so they will for the duration. I KNOW that next week may bring a new situation. My babies also have NEVER been consistent with naps--and now, at 6 months, it continues to change weekly. I keep hoping that as long as they sleep at night.....but, yet, here again, I know that upcoming teething and new motor skills may disrupt that too!!!! Anyway, good luck. From what I have read of this site, it does seem to pass, as with most "stages>" Naomi

 

wonder weeks??? I'm going to have to read up on that.

Glad I'm not alone on the HSHHC thing...I'm not at my peak mental ability these days which I'm sure doesn't help with interpreting his communication style.

 

QUOTE(girls! @ Mar 7 2008, 07:28 PM) [snapback]658320[/snapback]
wonder weeks??? I'm going to have to read up on that.

Glad I'm not alone on the HSHHC thing...I'm not at my peak mental ability these days which I'm sure doesn't help with interpreting his communication style.


You are definitely not alone! I am quite annoyed with Dr. Weissbluth, he contradicts himself quite a bit

And the wonder weeks stuff is pretty cool!!!

Did you try the vacuum?

 

QUOTE(cohlee @ Mar 7 2008, 08:09 PM) [snapback]658428[/snapback]
Did you try the vacuum?



Yes, my non-sleeper laughed...like full-on belly laugh and her sister cried a very frightened cry. It was funny. I think I have the worlds most challenging baby.

 

We had a rough patch right at 6 months with my DS, who is normally a stellar sleeper -- we had to CIO for a few nights, and it did pass.

I know that's absolutely zero help to you right now, though.

How did the no-nap experiment go? I was amazed to read that, because I'm picturing what my babies would do if I tried it....they'd become the crankiest creatures in the world, and then they'd pass out cold wherever they happened to be.

Any chance yours did the same?

 

QUOTE(Becca34 @ Mar 7 2008, 10:52 PM) [snapback]658684[/snapback]
How did the no-nap experiment go? I was amazed to read that, because I'm picturing what my babies would do if I tried it....they'd become the crankiest creatures in the world, and then they'd pass out cold wherever they happened to be.

Any chance yours did the same?



Oh I wish! She cried and screamed most of the day - as she has everyday for the past two weeks but didn't nap, didn't want too, wouldn't consider it. It's strange. I'm seriously going loony. I can't deal with two babies all day with no break (or I guess I can since I have). We all cried at 3 in the afternoon. My non-napper woke her sis for the 3rd time - they were both screaming. I tried all my tricks - nothing helped so we all sat on my big king sized bed and cried...when we had calmed we read books and "good twin" drifted back to sleep while "scary twin" and I smiled at each other and whispered sweet nothings...

Tomorrows new experiment is to separate them and feed right before naps...then I'm going to let her go for 2 hours if that's what it takes. I don't know what else to do. She is absolutely miserable. We've tried tylenol and every sleep suggestion in every book on the market. I'll take her to the doc if it doesn't clear up over the weekend.

 

:hug99: Oh man. What a day. I hope she'll get some sleep!

Do they make Lunesta for babies??? :huh: