My daughter does not sleep in the day

[Twin Sister]

I have a 6 month old daughter who hardly sleeps in the day. She has never slept well in the day but currently she will have three 10 minute "naps" a day and that is it. She sleeps well at night though and only wakes once for a quick feed and more than often just sleeps through. She wakes up smiling and laughing and seems happy and contented for most of the day. If she does get a bit fussy during the day, she will nurse and have one of her 10 minute naps, and then wakes up happy again. If I put her in her car seat and run errands I can force a longer nap on her, or if I let her sleep on my tummy she will have a longer nap (impossible most days with a 3yr old to look after as well)

Bedtime...well we try for 8:00 and she will fall asleep at that time, but she will only sleep for 10-20 minutes and then wake up and want to play again. It takes us until anywhere between 9 and 10 to get her back to sleep again. She sleeps in my bed as it's the only way she stays asleep and if you move her she wakes up crying.

We have never swaddled her as she hates it, she is breastfed only (we have tried some solids but she is not ready), and she does have a cold right now. Any tips on how to help her sleep better/more would be most appreciated.

[YoYo]

I'm hanging for some tips for the same thing...my DD just wants to be in the action ALLLL the time. Sleep is for sissys apparently!

[*LittleMissSummer*]

My DD used to be like that too. But we just kept putting her back into her cot. We let her cry and then after 10 mins we would put the dummy back in rub her back and sometimes she fell asleep other times we had to walk out.

Shes now in a routine of bed at 8 wakes up at 5:30 and she has two 1 hour naps a day.

I learnt that it comes down to persistance you need to keep trying or so it works on my DD.

[HotI]

Just letting you know you are not alone. There are a few of us with kiddies that just don't want to miss out on the action. I am reading 'No cry Sleep Solution' for the third time, but i don't know if i am actually going to be able to change much. Some kids just do well on little sleep.

Sleep is for sissys apparently!

[nickle730]

I'm subscribing... I posted pretty much the same thing about my DD last week. She is only 9 weeks, but like your DD she has never slept during the day and we're lucky if we get a couple of 10 minute catnaps. Several people suggested silent reflux to me and my DD is now on Zantac. The reflux appears to be less but still no day sleeps! I'm guessing you would have picked up reflux in your DD by now.

Exhausting isn't it? I have tried everything to settle my DD during the day and the only place she will nap is on my chest, but I also have other children to care for. Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have any answers for you, but at least you know you're not alone! Hopefully others will come in with some advice...

[Janie]

Good luck, it is VERY difficult when your bub isn't keen on sleep! Rest assured it does get better, if only we knew when!!!

KM, it's great that you found something that worked for you and your DD But as this post is in the 'no-cry' section, you'll probably find that leaving bub for 10 minutes isn't something the OP wants to do.

[onthefly]

DS was the same for a long time. Honestly, nothign fixed it. It just sorted itself out from around 15-16 months when he was down to one sleep.
I know how hard it is during the day when you don't get a break, so don't take this as a fob off, but at least your little one sleeps well through the night. The only thing I can suggest is recreating the nighttime setting during the day

[AngelPants]

i am also feeling ur pain lovely ur not alone. is she too heavy for a sling or carrier? before DS weighed 67tonne that was the only way i could get him to sleep during the day. now hes too heavy

[Twin Sister]

Thanks for your replies, it does help to know we are not alone. I am really glad she sleeps well at night but I was getting kind of worried about her lack of daytime sleeps. Doesn't she NEED naps? I do LOL.

I love that she's so snuggly and wants to be close to me but it does get exhausting and makes it impossible to get anything done. I put a movie on for DS so she could have a nap on me and then the phone rang and I couldn;'t answer it. It was working well and then the power went out and I had to get flashlights and make a fire so her nap got cut short again.

Yeah crying it out is not an option for us. I just can't do that to her. My son took a soother so he was much easier but she refuses to take one which seems to make her a lighter sleeper.

She is small enough for a carrier, and she does fall asleep in one, but I find it very restricting and can't do anything while she is in there so I may as well just be sitting on the couch holding her or running errands with her in the car seat. We do go for walks sometimes when I know she needs a nap but it's been so cold lately (it's winter here) that it's been hard.

No wonder they make babies so cute, one look at their sweet little faces and you can forgive them the world