Nap SOS for 1Yo

I often did the car rides and stroller rides to get them to nap. One son would fall asleep if I took him into the bathroom with me when I showered. He would sit in his Fisher Price Rocker, and the steam, the running water and my singing would put him to sleep. I also took them swimming, as they would generally have a really good nap after swimming.

If she's not going to rest during the day I suggest you at least get a break for yourself. If you can get a break or nap during the day it would do you a world of good. Have a friend or relative either take her for a couple of hours per day or take her to a MDO program.

You cannot be at your best if you are sleep deprived and exhausted. Taking care of your self so you can take care of others better is actually the opposite of being selfish. It's smart and being responsible.

I, myself, never slept as a baby.
**When I had child no. 1, she the the exact same thing. Although, I love sleep! Whereas, my Mom was a night owl and still is. My Mom stayed up w/ me all day and night.

With my daughter it was sensory integration dysfunction ( now called sensory processing///no autism). Not even the pediatrician knew of it back then. Luckily, now, there is soooo much info.

I am not sure if that is what it could be. It was w/ me and my 1st. An Occupational therapist helped my daughter each and every week!

I was a pt parenting teacher then, and I could not get my own child to sleep. For a while, I blamed myself because I tried to let her cry it out and she just cried and cried and cried. I had to take a step back and find a developmental pediatrician and an OT like I would do w/ other parents every so often.

This was my experience. I have sensory, but, I never received OT. I do not have autism. I sleep with a weighted blanket every night (now) and I am always moving (now). When I was a little girl, I loved the movement of the swings at the playground. As I got older, I would go on the twirly bird for hrs. It helped me feel focused and in sync. I was a pretty hypersensitive child.

Even to this day, my Aunts will comment about what a handful I was because I did not sleep through the night until I was older.

Rule out food allergies ! You might want to see an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor just to rule out any concerns there.

The "Out of Sync Child" is a book that describes sensory all too well.

It must be a relief to get more sleep at night !

At times, some kids need more time to get into a sleep routine.

when we had problems with nap at my house.. I did a sleep journal for the kids.. I wrote down the times they slept at night and at nap.

i was able to see a pattern in their sleep. if they napped a lot.. they often got up early.

she needs whatever sleep her body requires.. if she doesnt nap.. she needs lots of nighttime sleep. at that age my kids got up at the same time pretty much every day.. but I could put them to bed earlier ..

at 1 without a nap.. she should go to bed about 630 pm.. very early dinner very early bath.. night night. she should wake up abotu 630 or 7 and be ready to roll.. she should nap abotu 11 am.. 2-3 hours.. you might be waiting too long to put her down so she is overtired. try nap earlier.. make her room dartk.. quiet.. read.. healthy sleep habits.. happy child.. great b ook

What does your doctor say?

I had to lay down with my oldest to get him to nap. He was a catnapper from early on and after age one it was the only way he would nap at all. He is much better at napping now than he has ever been. Starting at about 18 months it seemed like he understood the need for naps and has been better since. There is no magic solution. A tired baby is exhausting for all involved. Good luck.

There is no magic fix, I am sorry.

I know she is 1y/o but have you tried the swing? I am sorry that is all I got.

Are you shooting for one nap or two? If one nap, I would try starting a nap routine about 5 hours after she wakes up. You can't "make" her sleep but could give her the opportunity to be in her crib "resting" and hopefully fall asleep. I would try being really casual and low-key about it. "You don't have to sleep, mommy will come back and check on you in a few minutes, you just have to rest here in your crib for a bit." Make the room dim but not dark. Give here a doll/stuffed animal or a book to look at, and hopefully some quiet time in her crib will lead to sleep. If she calls for you go back in, sing to her, rub her hair, encourage her to lay down, but then once she's calm leave again, etc. I'm not an advocate of crying it out but at age 1 I do think you can be firm and enforce staying in her crib to rest for at least 45 min-1 hr, and in that time hopefully she will fall asleep if you keep doing the same thing day after day! Good luck!

It sounds like you'd daughter may be like mine was, she was afraid of missing something, lol! Even when she nursed she'd jerk her head away at any sound, ouch :-/ She would take naps for my Mom, who watched her while I worked, but for me, no way.

So I asked my Mom how she got her to nap (she had 11 of us, so I KNEW she had a method) and she told me she wore her out physically, then shut everything down. When she was a year she still wasn't walking, so my Mom was still making a play area on the carpet with toys all around the room for my daughter to have to work, by crawling or whatever method, to get to. She'd let her get some easily at first to get her to play along, then move them further away. She'd do this about an hour before she wanted her to go to sleep, for about a half an hour to 45 minutes. When she saw she was tiring she'd give her a cup of milk, turn off lights and TV's, draw drapes, and let her play quietly on the floor or bed with unexciting toys like a couple of plush animals. Sometimes she'd play with my daughter's hair, gently running her fingers through it to relax her, talking in whispers or not at all. And covered her and let her sleep where she went down. On nice days she took her in the backyard or strolled her to the park to play on a large blanket doing the same, she'd always fall asleep on the way home, so Mom put her in the stroller after the backyard, strolled to the front and maybe to a couple of houses and left her in it when she went to sleep.

I thought, "Oh, sure, that'll work," but tried and it all worked together, meaning, no wearing her out and not shutting things down, she'd re-energize, or just try quieting everything down, it didn't work.

As she began to walk it was even easier, she'd run around to get toys at home or at the park a block from our apartment. It also worked to do it again before dinner so she'd sleep well that night. After dinner the TV was off, her bath warm, the lights dimmed, talking in whispers, a story, and she was out.

So try lots of physical exercise, really lots, then quiet everything down, no excitement at all. Hope this helps :)

Thanks for all your responses! I'm going into the doctor today so we'll see if be says anything different. At every well-check he's just commiserated how every child is different and some are tougher than others. It's hard when I have a high energy 3yo at home as well.
I shoot for two naps as she gets tired an hour to an hour and a half after waking. She's mastered the naps that take the edge off but aren't restorative. She just gets foggier and foggier as the day progresses.
I've tried Healthy Sleep Habits and she will scream and cry as long as you let her and 90% of the time doesn't result in a nap.
It looks like I've got some more options from y'all's advice. I'm very appreciative!!