Need help getting 9 month old to nap?

Question

She is at the sitters 3 days a week and naps fine there. Naps in a playard there, we use a crib. I put her down at the same times the sitter does for her naps. She will sometimes cry first and then just baby talk and whatever or just baby talk the whole time. This continues up to 45 minutes sometimes and she is still awake. It seems when she does fall asleep it is usually only for 30 minutes. I get so frusturated, I dont know what to do. I have just left her go and other times I go in her room and lay her back down (cause she is usually sitting up or standing up in crib). She goes to bed at 9 every night and is up anywhere between 7-8am so she does sleep all night. Should I just give up on naps, seems she is too young for that. When our son was her age he slept from 10-12 and then from 2-4 and then he was okay for the evening. We have been giving her an evening nap which is no more than 1 hour, if not she gets to grouchy, any suggestions would be great. Thanks

Answer 1

If she was tired she would go to sleep. If you want to keep trying to give her a nap, don't get frustrated when she doesn't go to sleep. Make it "rest time" instead. If she doesn't have trouble sleeping at night and she really isn't grouchy until its bed time I don't see why its a big dea to give a nap. She doesn't have to have one.

Answer 2

Maybe see what else the sitter includes in her routine--what time she eats, whether or not she gets a bottle and is rocked, whether the sitter sings, uses a noise machine, or plays music. The best thing I can say is maybe the area she sleeps in at the sitter's is darker than your house or maybe she plays harder there.

I'd suggest installing one of those cheap plastic window shades in your daughter's window. Then close it and attach sticky velcro to the window frame and the back of the plastic shade so that you can literally press it shut at naptime. That should seal out most of the light. This will help especially if you also have blinds. Or, invest in some really heavy, dark curtains (you can always cover the other side with a cute baby fabric) to make the room darker. I'd also suggest a humidifier, noise machine, or cheap small box fan to block out any noises.

As long as your daughter isn't too fussy, then leave her whether or not she's sleeping. Resting is better than letting her roam around the house wide awake. This will let her know that she at least has "quiet" time every day. I'd try to make your routine as consistent as it is at the sitter's as possible and to also make sure the room is dark and she is unable to hear you walking around, talking on the phone or to your son, animals making noises, or even your son playing. This should cut down on any distractions. If all of this fails and she still won't sleep, then I'd say she's probably done with naps.

My niece stopped napping at around 6 months--she wasn't terribly crabby or anything, she just needed less sleep than other babies. She's absolutely fine--I've heard it's a sign of intelligence (could be a wive's tale, but I'll believe it since she's so smart). Good luck!

Answer 3

My son was a terrible napper....7 days a week! LOL! I darkened his room and still only got 2, 45 min naps a day. He cut out his morning nap at 10 months and now he's 21 months and takes one, 1 hr nap a day. However, I started putting him down early-like 6pm-and he sleeps all night until 7am. So I suggest to let her just do the short naps and then put her to bed early on those nights. I know you said you've done a third nap without much luck, but try and do the nigh time routine and put her down at 8 or 7:30 or even 7. Give it a try once or twice and see how that works. Unfortunately, she is probably sleeping differently b/c of the atmosphere and she wants to spend more time with you during the day. Good luck! I know how frustrating it can be!

P.S. I used tin foil to darken my son's room and that really helped without having to pay for a dark-out shade.

Answer 4

I find with my two boys consistency is important. Obviously, she has a hard time adjusting from the sitters to home. I would suggest to ask the babysitter her exact routine for nap. If she has a specific time, she uses a playpen, does she give her a bottle?Rock her? Is it light or darkened in the room.You should set up her playpen in your house too and try and keep as much the same as possible. My children have fallen asleep to soft music since birth, maybe you could have a lullabye CD that travels with her. The babysitter could play it at nap and so could you, that way there is one constant regardless of where she is sleeping. She might find it comforting.

Answer 5

purely because of the fact Sitter won't desire to/be waiting to place her down with snuggles for a snooze does no longer propose you will possibly be able to desire to provide up. If it somewhat works for you, that's astounding. while she's with a sitter, she'll understand that mom is long previous and Sitter would not do snuggles and he or she'll the two nap by making use of herself or pass her nap. that's alright to try this. If Sitter have been to do nap time on relax mats on the floor, you does no longer initiate making your daughter provide up sound asleep in her crib because of the fact Sitter does no longer be waiting to permit her nap in a crib there, stunning? Snuggling with you during nap time would not might desire to pass the two. quickly she would be able to be spending even much less time with you and those extra beneficial minutes of snuggling at nap time at the same time as the two one among you're mutually would be much extra significant to her.

Answer 6

she might be more tired when at the sitter- more kids= more stimulation. maybe try taking her out right after breakfast to wherever "the kids" are...a park, mcdonalds playland, or the kids area at the mall (and a whole lotta purell) just for 20-30 minutes or so....of course then you might have to deal with falling asleep in the car.....
or the nap schedule could be changing- maybe it's going down to once a day.... i remember my own kids doing that..what a sad day for mom......
good luck!

Answer 7

i wear my baby out by letting her crawl around on the floor and chasing her and letting her play with the puppy (supervised) and putting her in her exersaucer and then when i see shes getting grouchy feed her solid food then change her diaper and put her in the crib with a warm bottle it usually gets her to sleep for over an hour

Answer 8

The only way I can think of is to continually lay her down. Also, dont talk to her when you do it. Eventually, she'll see she's not provoking a reaction from you, and will slowly stop getting up as much.