After visiting the MCHN yesterday I realised that I really need to get Maddy to take at least ONE daytime nap/sleep. She currently is up all day until about 5pm where she is so overtired she screams for 1-2hrs and then finally falls off to sleep for about an hour.

Sometimes if I'm lucky I can get her to have one or two 15min naps in her pram but she never allows herself to fall into a proper sleep. I've tried her in her sleeping bag, wrapping, unwrapping..you name it, she won't sleep.

She is almost 6kgs and I'm sure it won't be too long before the bassinet is too restrictive for her at night too. Thus, I've been trying to get her to have a day nap in her cot so she can get used to it; with the idea to eventually move her into the cot for nighttime sleeps as well.

I don't want to turn to controlled crying because I don't personally believe in it for my child; but I've already found myself bordering on it. I feed, play and then when she shows tired signs, I put her into her cot and tell her I love her and it's time for a nap. Maddy will watch her mobile for a few minutes and then when she realises she isn't coming out, it's on for young and old.

Today I even tried letting her cry and going in there every 5-10mins to reassure her, pat her on the leg/back, fix up the sheets etc; but she just ignores me and cries even more hysterically. I know to a certain extent she is just testing me as she'll often stop mid-cry and look at me with a smile. After an hour of this behaviour this morning, she still showed no signs of exhausting herself and I ended up having to bring her out into the lounge room with me.

I'm generally happy to keep her with me about the house, but it does make it difficult to get anything done and she often just wants to be held and is not happy to be in the pram, on the mat on the floor or in the bouncer. The H'a'b is great but it gets hot after a while for both of us.

Am I creating a rod for my back by not having created a better daytime sleep pattern at the beginning? It can't be good for a 3 month old baby to be awake for more than 12 hours straight but she just fights sleep no matter what.

I'm at a loss with what to do...she gets herself so hysterical she sometimes vomits. Perhaps her problem is with the cot in particular? I just don't know what to do. Its gotten to a point where there are even days where I don't have a shower until my husband gets home because she just cries.

Has anyone else been through this and managed to implement a day time sleep routine successfully?