Sleeping FAQ: 6-9 Months – Lunchtime Nap

How can I get my 6.5-month-old daughter to nap for longer and settle better?

I seem to be surrounded or read about people’s babies who take long naps. I can count on both hands the number of times my 61/2-month-old daughter has ever done a stretch of sleep longer than 45 minutes at lunchtime. I can’t remember when she last slept for 2 hours. Rarely she sleeps for 1 hour and 20 minutes. I used to leave her crying and sometimes she resettled herself at lunchtime but she’s changed and in just 1 month seems so much older and wakeful. She sleeps all night 7.15pm to 7.15am and at every nap time and bedtime she screams constantly until she finally falls asleep. She doesn’t have any wrong sleep associations (never has had): no dummy, cuddling, she is not hungry or thirsty, she sleeps in a dark quiet room, she has a light show and wind down time – you know the drill!
She’s naturally cut her morning nap to 30 minutes (she naps at 9.30), at lunchtime she will only do 30/45 minutes and whereas she used to need another nap at 4pm of 20 minutes she now stays awake until 4:30/4:45 which is so on top of her dinner at 5pm (not to mention the end of the day). If, on those rare occasions, she has a lunchtime nap of 1 1/2 hours, she can make it till bedtime. At lunchtime she won’t nap until at least 1pm. She fights at every nap. She a big girl and has been crawling for weeks now and is very inquisitive which I thought would wear her out.
The older she is getting, the more worried I’m getting as I can see her last nap coming past 5pm and she won’t be able to make it to bedtime without it (or won’t want to sleep either). (I also have a 3-year-old so sometimes her naps are out). Is there anything I can do to tweak her routines?

As you have a 3-year-old as well it is not always easy to get a baby into their cot before they are overtired. As your daughter fights sleep so much she may need some quiet time to really calm down before her nap. This is not always easy to do when there is another child to be cared for as well but try to use ten minutes before your daughters usual nap time to sit with both of them quietly and look at a book. Your inquisitive baby may not like to sit on your lap but will probably come crawling over to you if she sees you sharing a book with your older child. Looking at several short books before naptime or bedtime can help a very active baby or small child just begin to wind down a little and become more used to the transition of being busy in the world to falling asleep in a quiet room. If you do this before each nap, or at least in the morning and at lunch she may become less resisting of settling herself to sleep.
In the afternoon it may be possible for you to take a walk with both children around 4pm. Even if you daughter does not fully nap, she will be resting from all her activity whilst in her pram or buggy. Often just a 10 minute doze whilst walking home well before 5pm can help an active baby of this age get through to bedtime. If you time your walk to be around 4pm she has the chance to nap before 4.45pm, rather than needing to nap just before tea. With a baby who does fight sleep as much as this you will need to be aware of the time and start a gradual wind down using books in the day and a very quiet bath and bedtime routine in the evenings. Again, not always easy to do with two small children but worth trying to help her settle quicker.

Getting her to sleep longer at lunchtime may not fall into place until she no longer needs a morning nap. You could try cutting this nap back to 20 minutes so she is woken before 10am and see if this has any affect on her lunchtime nap. Although a lot of babies need this morning nap until nearer a year many do cut back on it, , especially if they sleep well at night and do not wake early in the morning.

Look back on the days when she does manage 1 1/2 hours at lunch and see if you can see any reason why this can be; is it on an activity day? Or the day after? What did she eat for lunch? How did she spend the morning? What time did she wake? This will help you see if there is a reason why she can sometimes do it. Leaving her to try to resettle at lunch is a good plan. If she will amuse herself in her cot once awake don’t feel you have to get her up after 45 minutes. Make sure there are one or two small soft toys for her to find, should she wake. If she is distressed it may be better to end the nap; let her have some active time in the afternoon before going for a walk around 4pm to let her have another short rest before tea.