What do you do if baby will NOT go down at night

If baby isn’t tired then they aren’t tired. We’ll play for another 15-20 and try again. Anyone voting cry it out is rank for that 🤢

Let him nap less throughout the day.

@Sharon yep agree with this

What time is he waking?

@Sharon I guess I worry if he doesn't get a later afternoon nap he'll be a nightmare all evening. His first nap is usually late morning xx

@Charley usually around 7:30-8am

I have to end our second nap at 3 to get him down at 7 - your babe might just be ready for a longer wake window x

Maybe too many naps/too long or wake windows not enough or not doing enough during the day (physically and mentally) to make him tired? Consistent bedtime and wake-up time are a must. My LO has 1-2 naps a day now, depending on the length. He has bedtime at 7:30 and wakes up at 6:30 and one wake up at the minute during the night (poorly with infection and teething). Every baby is so very different, so it's impossible to know what will work best for yours, but my lo is awake for more than 3 hours before bed. 2 nap example for my lo. 6:30 wake up 9:30-10am 1st nap 2 hours 2:30 2nd nap 40mins 7:30 bed Apart from wake up and bed, the rest is rough. He often has 1 nap in the morning, lasting 3 hours.

@Jodie same as this. If my baby sleeps after 3pm he is so much harder to get down! Bedtime at 6.30/7pm.

@Rebecca I’ll be honest with you, I’m an absolute nap Nazi - I don’t let my little boy nap for a second longer than he has to because if I do he doesn’t sleep. If he does 25 mins instead of a hour, I’m like, tough - you’re done. And if he’s pissy between 4 and 7.30, I just put up with it. Yeah, he’s an absolute goblin most evenings but at least he sleeps. I just try keep him constantly distracted until it’s time for bed. To calculate naps, you need to know his 24hr sleep need - track all his sleep for a week, then take an average. If he sleeps for, say, 14 hours, and you want him to do 7.30-7.30, that’s only two hours max of day sleep. And by this age he really should be doing just the two naps. Try extending that last wake window to at least four hours too.

I would recommend you to check out Dr Lyndsey Hookway - she has an Instagram account with loads of super helpful baby sleep content. She really knows her stuff and has helped me tremendously just by following her and reading her content.

I guess we need more information to help. I see baby wakes at 7:30-8. If baby wakes at 8, it would be totally reasonable for them to want to sleep around 9PM. 11 hours of sleep is perfectly fine for babies this age depending on how much they sleep during the day. I would give baby 3.5h wake window minimum before bed, especially if they still fight bedtime, at this age they can have up to a 4h WW. How long does baby sleep during the day?

@Sharon exactly this. I'm like this with naps too - I would rather have one too short and suffer the consequences than have him go over and postpone bedtime!

Have you tried waking LO up earlier in the morning? My baby used to wake at 8/9am and go to bed at 11pm/midnight. She now wakes up 6-7am and goes to bed between 9-10pm. Last wake window about 4 hours x

@Sharon thanks for the advice :) yeah I'll cut back on naps where possible. Just wondering what you do when you need to say take a car journey late afternoon and baby falls asleep. I can't just be constantly reaching back and prodding him awake 😂

@Rebecca I would time the drive with his nap wherever possible. So I’d keep him awake until it was time to leave. We are going to do a long drive tomorrow and I’m worried he’s going to a) sleep the whole way and fuck up his schedule or b) scream the whole way and fuck up my mental health. Not sure which one is worse. 😖 If you do end up with a late afternoon nap that is gonna screw up the schedule, just bring bedtime later and wake him up at the usual time.

@Sharon yeah I had the same thought! So it ended up being...scream half the way until falling asleep with 20 mins to go until home...🙈. There's no way I could go on a plane or anything with a baby, I'd lose my fucking mind