My 7 month old used to be on a wonderful 2:3:4 nap schedule...two hours after she woke up in the morning, she'd go down. Then 3 hours after she woke from her morning nap, she'd go down for her afternoon nap, and, give or take, about 4 hours after waking from the afternoon nap, she was down for the night.
Lately, she's been fighting that morning nap, which is unusual since that used to be the one that was the easiest to get her down for. For example, she's been up since 6:30 this morning and normally would be out like a light by 8:30/8:45. This morning (and other mornings), she is completely fighting it...crying/babbling/crying/babbling, etc etc. She's clean, fed, warm enough, etc and is not yet teething. She shows all the signs of being tired (pulling her ears, hair, rubbing her eyes).
So, my question for all the moms is how do you handle this? Knowing your baby is tired, do you keep him/her in the crib until they fall asleep, or do you eventually just give up and take the baby out and try again for the afternoon nap? It's so hard to know what to do but it's also frustrating because I KNOW she's tired.
My son went through the same thing. My advice is to let her play a little, she's probable growing out of that morning nap and her schedule is changing. Good luck!
Try waiting a little later to put her down-like around 10ish-then she might sleep til lunch then play some and then go down around 2-3 for her afternoon nap.
Could be teething or ear problems or a growth spurt. My son was fussing for a whole month before his first teeth popped through at 6 months old. His gums were getting hard, and he'd drool a bit more. Just as he'd get over a few teeth, a few more would come in. Oragel would numb his gums sometimes. Just when you get them in a routine something changes. If I put him in his stroller and take him on a walk at nap time, he'd fall asleep in the stroller and nap most of the way. He'd always fall asleep when riding in the car, too, no matter how short the trip was. (He's in 5th grade now and still sleeps in the car on long trips.)
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i never use to push the issue of naps. i would put them in bed if they were fussy cranky or just miserable. they usually went to sleep shortly after. sometimes naps just happened while they were playing on the floor. if that was the case i would pick them up and put them in their bed. all of us go thru what i like to call the "morning fade" some of us snap out of it easily and others want a nap in the worse way. she might not need that morning nap at the same time anymore. it might be her sleeping schedule is changing a bit. i would let that nap go for a while...if she falls asleep later then thats fine. i wouldnt push the crib and leave them there to see if they go to sleep...if they haven't been to sleep in 10 min. or so i doubt they will. you might even get a problem with them sleeping in it at all...they might find it a punishment and want no part of it...then it will be a whole new problem to deal with. if they fall asleep and are still sleeping after 4 then i would wake them up.
