6

My daughter is just now 10 months old and fights naps as much as possible. We try to follow a schedule of 2-3-4 as much as possible, and she's exhausted, but just will not sleep. She stands in her crib, cries inscesently, falls over and hits her head on the crib. If you're in her room with her, she tries to play with you. This will go on for hours. My wife is at her wits end about why she won't sleep.

You can even get her right to the verge of passing out, lay her down and she will immediately stand up, cry, the only way she will sleep is if my wife nurses her to sleep. But that's not helpful, and not sustainable.

Can anyone suggest anything that might help us figure out how to get my daughter to sleep?

7
  • 1
    Is this new or has she always been difficult this way? Nov 24, 2013 at 8:01
  • She's always been a temperamental sleeper, but this is relatively new in terms of the extreme inability to sleep. Nov 26, 2013 at 4:02
  • Im haVing the same issue. My baby is 10 months old. What time did you give her the first nap after wake-up that worked?
    – user19882
    Nov 19, 2015 at 18:49
  • 2-3-4 schedule was probably the closest, and for my newest daughter, who is 10 months old, she responds well to 2-3-4. That being said, we've found that we have to start the nap process about 20-30 minutes before, with the goal of being asleep 2-3-4 hours after waking. Dec 15, 2015 at 23:28
  • Which sleep consultant did you use?
    – user20453
    Jan 11, 2016 at 20:29

1 Answer 1

4

My first instinct is to ask more questions. It is hard to know with kids this age exactly what is going on because there are so many options so a few more details might help.

The first is, if there has been a change in her mobility. At ten months, many kids are beginning to "cruise" or even walk unsteadily (though walking at this age would be fairly early when considering averages - cruising is when they start to pull themselves up and hold on to something while they "walk" around). This may seem unrelated, but often developmental milestones coincide with sleep pattern changes as well.

She may be overly tired and especially stimulated from the new physical excertions, or, she may also just be going through a "consolidation" stage where she is sleeping more deeply and fully at night and while she still probably needs a morning nap, it may not need to be as long as it has been in the past (making all her sleep cycles a little - off and difficult for everyone and causing her to be over-tired even though the problem stems from too much sleep). Children's sleep patterns and they type of sleep they are getting when, changes a little around a year. Since she is nearing this milestone, she may be experiencing some of the precursors to this change.

There is also the distinct possibility she is teething and needing extra comfort and can't settle because of the discomfort. I was once told, if we had to teethe as adults we would be driven insane by the intense pressure and pain - and lack of restful sleep it can cause. Some little known indicators a new tooth is about to pop through include mild fevers and a slightly stuffed up nose. The other usual indicators like needing to chomp and chew a lot and being fussy, of course, also apply.

The route of the problem dictates slightly different courses of action, but a good place to start might be in watching for clues to whether she is teething or not, if she is, offer her a little baby Tylenol (under the watch of a physician) at times when she needs to sleep to help her sleep be sounder, better quality sleep. If it is either of the other two your plan of attack might be a bit more complex, but might include the introduction of a transitional sleep aid such as a "lovey" or stuffed animal, or a special blanket, waking her slightly earlier from her morning nap or in the morning after nightime sleep and shifting her sleep so she gets more of it during "night sleep" and less of it during naps.

It is hard to know with kids this age exactly what is going on because there are so many options so a few more details might help.

I didn't read the whole thing, but this article may help in better understanding your child's sleep and sleep patterns and how they are likely to change over the coming months.

4
  • She's crawling like crazy, and appears to be learning to shuffle sideways while standing next to objects, like her crib or coffee tables, etc. She has been teething lately, like the past couple of days, but she's been fighting naps for the past couple of weeks. I should note that night time is generally okay, except for about a week when she went through a clear sleep regression (sleeping more like a new born at night). Nov 25, 2013 at 17:42
  • Definitely teething, two teeth on the top are starting to poke through. Nov 26, 2013 at 4:03
  • 4
    I just wanted to comment on this again after a couple of months. We ended up hiring a sleep consultant and determined that we were trying to put her down for a nap too late. She doesn't give good indicators of being tired, so we were missing the window where she would be able to fall asleep. Since figuring that out, she naps like a champion, and sleeps through the night more often than not. Feb 28, 2014 at 18:14
  • Good to know! I'm glad you guys got it figured out!! Feb 28, 2014 at 22:26

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .