Bedtime: DD falls asleep easily but up and crying after 40 mins

the "try again in 10 minutes" trick is a tough one, I've used it myself on the (very rare) occasion that DS didn't want to take a nap and I think when you are going along a no-cry route its one of the options you can use, but if its happening every day/every other day then I think the nap is probably at the wrong time in the first place or you are not settling for long enough before the nap (ie avoiding overly active play, keeping things quiet, gradually winding down, giving your baby "cues" that a nap is coming.) When it happens with the last nap of the day, you need a cut-off point where if she isn't asleep by "x" o'clock you give up, skip the nap and move bedtime half an hour earlier to compensate if need be. DS never napped well in his pram either, some babies need a very clear napping environment and are far too easily woken for napping out and about. if you keep in mind how far you have come since her early sleep situation, you can see you have made amazing progress. Solids probably won't affect her sleep all that much, but it is quite exciting anyway, although you also feel a bit sad you are no longer the sole source of her food, enjoy :)

hi Kie, as nutty said do you notice any tired cues (sneezing, hiccups, rubbing eyes, yawning etc) and do you notice that they happen at a specific time...for example, my DS at that age could only stay awake for about an hour and a half at a time (now at 6 months its 2 hours plus or more in the afternoon). I'd imagine that if she slept today from 1.10pm to 2pm that she wouldn't be ready for a nap by 3pm which is perhaps why she protested? And then it could be that by 4/4.30 she was probably too overtired to settle? As for rocking to sleep - if you don't have to I'd try and avoid that (speaking from experience of having to rock to sleep for quite some time!)....you could try putting her on her side, patting her back and shhing softly. I think fixed nap times are a good idea, but also be flexible depending on her wake up times and how long she can stay awake for. I find that if my DS hasn't slept well at lunchtime (on a good day 2 hours) then I'll take him for a walk in the pram in the afternoon for a 20 min nap around 3.30/4pm. It is nice to get out, he falls asleep without too much hassle and then we're good to go until bedtime. Perhaps you could try doing this for the last short nap if it's easier than just putting her down in her cot again? And then even if she doesn't sleep she'll at least have rested and not be too overstimulated and you'll be less stressed. As for any sleep training, as kiwi said you need to think about what you are comfortable with. We did a bit of training with DS around that age (as he was waking up to every hour through the night!!) where we left him for at least 20 mins before going to him and very quickly he learnt to resettle himself. We have a video monitor though so at least we could watch to see that he was OK while he protested. However this was at night as his naps were OK....these days he still wakes up occasionally during his naps and I'll leave him for a little while (as generally he is just mucking around and playing, not crying) to see if he'll resettle but if he doesn't I'll go and pat/shush him and offer dummy and then if he STILL won't sleep I'll go out of the room and come back in and cheerfully announce it's time to wake up and get him up and try again later (often in pram as mentioned above). Hope this helps :) PS - solids aren't necessarily the answer to sleep issues, but I'm sure you know that.

Yep pretty much she is waking at the end of her sleep cycle, just like she does with her daytime naps. My wee guy was the same, he could not transition to the next sleep cycle without help and had 45 minute naps until he was something like 8 months at which point they naturally lengthened to 90 minutes and then to one 4 hour nap which was bliss although now at 15 months he only naps for 2 1/2 hours each day. Is she waking every 45-90 minutes through the night or once she gets back to sleep is she sleeping some long stretches? If its all night you might have to work on it a bit more, figuring out what it is she is dependent on (if its your closeness she needs then you can try co-sleeping for a few months) if its rocking, a dummy, music etc then you might want to think about weaning her off it so she doesn't wake expecting it all night. At this age, I would start to try and be more consistent about fixed nap times beginning with her first nap (regardless of when she wakes), and have a fixed bedtime, which might need to be earlier than 7. You could try shifting to 3 naps and a 6pm bedtime. I also found it useful to have the biggest gap between naps as the gap between the last nap and bedtime, so make sure her last nap begins no later than 3pm, and make sure she is awake between 4 pm and bedtime (which you might shift to 6:30 or even earlier if she needs it) I don't think its a good idea to have a nap at 5pm, its getting too close to bedtime and confuses their body clock. You are at a bit of a crossroads now as she is "old enough" for various sleep training techniques should you choose to use them. As you know I'm not a sleep training mama and have always given comfort when my wee guy has asked for it. I just want to reassure you that even without leaving your baby to cry-it-out she will eventually learn to self-settle and won't call for you, I do accept though that it might take longer than if you try the various approaches that other mums may suggest and you have to figure out what is right for you. My wee guy woke quite a lot between the 5-9 month mark then gradually started to settle himself, eventually doing 12 hour stretches by the 12 month mark. Basically I'd tweak her nap routine now, eventually dropping to 3 fixed nap times (although you might start with 4 fixed times if she can't cope with the gaps between 3) and starting now with a fixed (not an "ish") morning nap and bedtime and focussing on her being awake between 4pm and bed. Hopefully that helps some, :)

From what i've read babies sleep in 40 min cycles. When you put a baby to sleep who is overtired it is harder for them to get a good sleep and generally wake up after 40 mins or 1 cycle. Watch for you DD's sleepcues and try putting her to bed as soon as she displays any IE sneezing, blinking, staring off, rubbing face and yawning. At 5 months my DD woke at 7am slept 8.30-11am 1pm-3pm and 4.30-5.30pm and went to bed at 7pm for 12 hours. It took me a long time to get into this routine but used the baby whisperer book for hints and tips. Of course not all babies sleep the same amount and some need less than others. The baby whisperer book also has a method of resettling a baby just nefore the 40min time to get themto go through to a 2 nd sleep cycle. Also think about where your DD is sleeping.My DD would never sleeplonger than 40mins in her pram but would sleepfor hours at home. Whatever you decide to do, DONT give up after a few attempts stick with what you decide to do and be consistent!