She refuses to nap!

Not really a BF issue, but figured I'd post here anyway...

DD is 7 months old on Saturday. She's never been a great napper for
me, altho when smaller at least she'd sleep ON me. She no longer does
that. Still, we usually manage a 30 min or one hour nap at least each
weekend day (she's at daycare during the week, where she naps
beautifully 90% of the time).

This weekend, we didn't even get that. She was up at 5am, and never
went to sleep except for a brief doze while nursing (like a few
minutes) until 8:30pm Sat, same thing Sunday although we managed to
get her down about 6:45pm. She's up every 3-4 hours at night to nurse,
although she doesn't fully wake up during those times usually.

WHY won't she nap?!!! She'll nurse for hours in the evening but she
doesn't nurse to sleep anymore.

"CJRA" wrote in message
ups.com...
Not really a BF issue, but figured I'd post here anyway...

DD is 7 months old on Saturday. She's never been a great napper for
me, altho when smaller at least she'd sleep ON me. She no longer does
that. Still, we usually manage a 30 min or one hour nap at least each
weekend day (she's at daycare during the week, where she naps
beautifully 90% of the time).

This weekend, we didn't even get that. She was up at 5am, and never
went to sleep except for a brief doze while nursing (like a few
minutes) until 8:30pm Sat, same thing Sunday although we managed to
get her down about 6:45pm. She's up every 3-4 hours at night to nurse,
although she doesn't fully wake up during those times usually.

WHY won't she nap?!!! She'll nurse for hours in the evening but she
doesn't nurse to sleep anymore.

I wonder...
Is she on anything other than BM? Baby cereals or soilds of any sort, or
just BM?
Is her day at daycare fairly active and busy that causes her to nap there,
and days at home fairly laid back, which could cause her to not nap as well
at home?
Do you want her to nurse to sleep or just sleep? Will she go down ~and
sleep~ if you lay her in bed, tell her to have a good nap and leave it at
that? (seeing as you say she doesn't nurse to sleep much)
Other than maybe she just does more while at daycare (with other kids, lots
of activities - sometimes you can't offer the same thing at home) which
makes her sleepier from all the activity during the day.
At this point, I really don't have any other suggestions

WHY won't she nap?!!! She'll nurse for hours in the evening but she
doesn't nurse to sleep anymore.

what are you actually doing to make her nap? might sound like a dumb
question, but if you are just expecting her to fall asleep post nursing then
you may just be expecting the wrong thing for her, what does her day care
provider do? can you do the same thing? co sleeping can be an issue for
having naps as they have no safe place associated with sleep, that they can
be left to just get on with it. At that age, I was nursing them, then
changing there nappies, then plopping them in the cot, sometimes they
fussed, but rarely more than a minute or 2, if it did go on longer than
that, it was usually doomed and they needed a burp, or more to eat, or had
pooed in the fresh nappy etc.

Anne

On Jan 29, 12:38 pm, "xkatx" wrote:
"CJRA" wrote in oglegroups.com...





Not really a BF issue, but figured I'd post here anyway...

DD is 7 months old on Saturday. She's never been a great napper for
me, altho when smaller at least she'd sleep ON me. She no longer does
that. Still, we usually manage a 30 min or one hour nap at least each
weekend day (she's at daycare during the week, where she naps
beautifully 90% of the time).

This weekend, we didn't even get that. She was up at 5am, and never
went to sleep except for a brief doze while nursing (like a few
minutes) until 8:30pm Sat, same thing Sunday although we managed to
get her down about 6:45pm. She's up every 3-4 hours at night to nurse,
although she doesn't fully wake up during those times usually.

WHY won't she nap?!!! She'll nurse for hours in the evening but she
doesn't nurse to sleep anymore.I wonder...

Is she on anything other than BM? Baby cereals or soilds of any sort, or
just BM?

We started solids on Christmas Day, she gets something 'solid' (pureed
vegetables I make) about 3-4x/week.

Is her day at daycare fairly active and busy that causes her to nap there,
and days at home fairly laid back, which could cause her to not nap as well
at home?

They may be an issue. There are other kids and they provide a lot of
stimulation. She's on a different nap schedule to them (she goes down
after), so maybe once it all quiets with all the kids in naps she's
more inclined to do the same.

Do you want her to nurse to sleep or just sleep?

Just sleep is fine. Nursing to sleep is what worked before. I just
want her to sleep - I'd also like her to nurse more during the day,
but I'll be happy with sleep!

Will she go down ~and
sleep~ if you lay her in bed, tell her to have a good nap and leave it at
that? (seeing as you say she doesn't nurse to sleep much)

hahahahahah! That leads to screaming. I've even tried just letting her
fuss (when she's not screaming, just fussy KWIM?) doesn't work. I'm
not a fan of CIO but I was getting desperate...

Other than maybe she just does more while at daycare (with other kids, lots
of activities - sometimes you can't offer the same thing at home) which
makes her sleepier from all the activity during the day.

She probably does have more stimulation at daycare, altho at home we
spend a lot of time playing with her, we're just not kids.

On Jan 29, 3:30 pm, "Anne Rogers" wrote:
WHY won't she nap?!!! She'll nurse for hours in the evening but she
doesn't nurse to sleep anymore.

what are you actually doing to make her nap?
I lay down with her, nurse her, sometimes play music, talk gently
about sleeping... I wait til she's tired and rubbing her eyes,
sometimes I try a little before that (like if she's been up 4+ hrs
already)

might sound like a dumb
question, but if you are just expecting her to fall asleep post nursing then
you may just be expecting the wrong thing for her, what does her day care
provider do? can you do the same thing?

Daycare provider puts her down when she's sleepy, says nap time, walks
out. She says that she might occassionally fuss a minute or two, but
no more and she's out.

co sleeping can be an issue for
having naps as they have no safe place associated with sleep, that they can
be left to just get on with it.

I usually try to nap with her, but we also have a crib we put her in.
Basically, we try both...whatever seems to work. At daycare, when she
was smaller she'd leave her in the living room to sleep even with all
the commotion (she could put her on the couch and block her in w/ a
cushioned table, it's a tiny house, so babysitter is always within a
few feet of there), now she's too big for that and puts her in one of
the kids' rooms, closes the door.

At that age, I was nursing them, then
changing there nappies, then plopping them in the cot, sometimes they
fussed, but rarely more than a minute or 2, if it did go on longer than
that, it was usually doomed and they needed a burp, or more to eat, or had
pooed in the fresh nappy etc.

It *always* goes on for longer than that, and she's not hungry, wet,
gassy, or needing to burp! I check all those things. well, I can sort
of tell the gassiness, so if Ithink it's that, I just cycle her legs a
bit, but it wasn't that this weekend. She wasn't particularly fussy,
except when I'd leave her in the room (after having been with her for
the past hour+)....



Anne

On 29 Jan, 13:54, "CJRA" wrote:
Not really a BF issue, but figured I'd post here anyway...

DD is 7 months old on Saturday. She's never been a great napper for
me, altho when smaller at least she'd sleep ON me. She no longer does
that. Still, we usually manage a 30 min or one hour nap at least each
weekend day (she's at daycare during the week, where she naps
beautifully 90% of the time).

This weekend, we didn't even get that. She was up at 5am, and never
went to sleep except for a brief doze while nursing (like a few
minutes) until 8:30pm Sat, same thing Sunday although we managed to
get her down about 6:45pm. She's up every 3-4 hours at night to nurse,
although she doesn't fully wake up during those times usually.

WHY won't she nap?!!! She'll nurse for hours in the evening but she
doesn't nurse to sleep anymore.

I know your dd is a lot younger than my ds (18mths) but we found that
when he was having trouble napping at home recently we found it works
by replicating exactly what nursery did. So when he has had his lunch,
instead of reading quietly then taking him up to bed, we take him
straight up as soon as he has eaten the last mouthful.We make sure the
room is dark and all toys and books are out of sight. He gets a quick
cuddle then put down. He mostly accepts this and if he doesn't we play
hardball and say no sleep then no dummy, cat, toys, play - but your
lo is too young for that.

Have you tried the pick up put down technique? This worked well for ds
when he was smaller.

Jeni

what are you actually doing to make her nap?
I lay down with her, nurse her, sometimes play music, talk gently
about sleeping... I wait til she's tired and rubbing her eyes,
sometimes I try a little before that (like if she's been up 4+ hrs
already)

hmm, you may actually be putting her down too late, I've never really
figured it out myself, but a lot of the books and websites say you need to
put them down before they get to this stage, once I realised this, it didn't
really help me though, because I couldn't figure out the signs and DS was a
bit like your DD, once he got to that point it was too late, I did an awful
lot of putting him in his pushchair and going for a walk. I still haven't
got the hang of it with DD, but a least when she does get to this point, she
goes down like a dream, as if saying, thanks for finally getting the
message!

co sleeping can be an issue for
having naps as they have no safe place associated with sleep, that they
can
be left to just get on with it.

I usually try to nap with her, but we also have a crib we put her in.
Basically, we try both...whatever seems to work. At daycare, when she
was smaller she'd leave her in the living room to sleep even with all
the commotion (she could put her on the couch and block her in w/ a
cushioned table, it's a tiny house, so babysitter is always within a
few feet of there), now she's too big for that and puts her in one of
the kids' rooms, closes the door.

hmm, I wonder if because she's in day care, that she then wants to see more
of you and that you being present also trying to nap is actually over
stimulating for her, illogical though it sounds. Maybe, much as you dislike
CIO, that within certain parameters, it maybe the only way to break a cycle
and establish a reasonable routine.

How is her weight doing at the moment? It seems to me from my own experience
and others on here, that babies who are like this, often end up underweight
at around a year old, because they just aren't getting enough sleep to allow
them to do the growing, they are using the calories up in staying awake. I
think Sarah's post in the next thread down is helpful, though it doesn't
help in figureing what is the way to get things sorted! Have you tried the
going for a walk in the buggy trick?

Cheers

Anne

On Jan 30, 3:02 pm, "Anne Rogers" wrote:
what are you actually doing to make her nap?
I lay down with her, nurse her, sometimes play music, talk gently
about sleeping... I wait til she's tired and rubbing her eyes,
sometimes I try a little before that (like if she's been up 4+ hrs
already)

hmm, you may actually be putting her down too late, I've never really
figured it out myself, but a lot of the books and websites say you need to
put them down before they get to this stage, once I realised this, it didn't
really help me though, because I couldn't figure out the signs and DS was a
bit like your DD, once he got to that point it was too late, I did an awful
lot of putting him in his pushchair and going for a walk. I still haven't
got the hang of it with DD, but a least when she does get to this point, she
goes down like a dream, as if saying, thanks for finally getting the
message!

eh there are plenty of times I put her down before she shows signs,
just because I think she should be tired. Basically, I try both
patterns, neither seems to work

FWIW - I'm a terrible sleeper. I fear she's inherited that!


co sleeping can be an issue for
having naps as they have no safe place associated with sleep, that they
can
be left to just get on with it.

I usually try to nap with her, but we also have a crib we put her in.
Basically, we try both...whatever seems to work. At daycare, when she
was smaller she'd leave her in the living room to sleep even with all
the commotion (she could put her on the couch and block her in w/ a
cushioned table, it's a tiny house, so babysitter is always within a
few feet of there), now she's too big for that and puts her in one of
the kids' rooms, closes the door.

hmm, I wonder if because she's in day care, that she then wants to see more
of you and that you being present also trying to nap is actually over
stimulating for her, illogical though it sounds. Maybe, much as you dislike
CIO, that within certain parameters, it maybe the only way to break a cycle
and establish a reasonable routine.

Well, see, I did. I do think that's a large part of it - she wants
more mommy time. So sometimes I try to nap with her, other times I lay
her down and leave her for awhile and let her cry. If it doesn't go to
full scream I'll leave her longer to see if she eventually settles
down. That's only happened once, and that was at night. Usually, the
scream just gets more intense.

That said, when I was on leave (until 12 weeks) she wasn't a great
napper either, but she would sleep ON me. I could never put her down
and have her sleep during the day though.


How is her weight doing at the moment? It seems to me from my own experience
and others on here, that babies who are like this, often end up underweight
at around a year old, because they just aren't getting enough sleep to allow
them to do the growing, they are using the calories up in staying awake.

I am a little concerned about that. It's fine now, she's in the 40th
percentile, of no concern to her pedi (she's long and skinny like her
dad), but the thought has crossed my mind. She also doesn't eat much
during the day. I htink she's still gaining ok so she makes up for it
at night, but at daycare, she rarely takes more than 8-10oz in an 8.5
hr period.

I
think Sarah's post in the next thread down is helpful, though it doesn't
help in figureing what is the way to get things sorted! Have you tried the
going for a walk in the buggy trick?

heh, I spent all day Saturday walking around town with her, that was
after a couple of hours trying to get the morning nap to work. When it
didn't,I gave up and took her for a looooong walk. I covered the
stroller a bit so she wouldn't get too stimulated by everything around
her, but she didn't like that. She was happy as long as she could see
everything, hence she would not even consider sleeping!

The car also doesn't work, she WILL NOT even doze in there.
Fortunately, she's not particularly fussy during these awake periods,
but she definitely needs more than 8-10 broken hours of sleep per 24
hour period! At least she gets that M-F.

"CJRA" wrote in message
ups.com...


On Jan 29, 12:38 pm, "xkatx" wrote:
"CJRA" wrote in
oglegroups.com...





Not really a BF issue, but figured I'd post here anyway...

DD is 7 months old on Saturday. She's never been a great napper for
me, altho when smaller at least she'd sleep ON me. She no longer does
that. Still, we usually manage a 30 min or one hour nap at least each
weekend day (she's at daycare during the week, where she naps
beautifully 90% of the time).

This weekend, we didn't even get that. She was up at 5am, and never
went to sleep except for a brief doze while nursing (like a few
minutes) until 8:30pm Sat, same thing Sunday although we managed to
get her down about 6:45pm. She's up every 3-4 hours at night to nurse,
although she doesn't fully wake up during those times usually.

WHY won't she nap?!!! She'll nurse for hours in the evening but she
doesn't nurse to sleep anymore.I wonder...

Is she on anything other than BM? Baby cereals or soilds of any sort, or
just BM?

We started solids on Christmas Day, she gets something 'solid' (pureed
vegetables I make) about 3-4x/week.

Does she sleep better if she has those 'solids' or does it not make any
difference? Just to possibly scratch out the possibility that she's not
sleeping because she's hungry. If she nurses for a few minutes, passes out
for a few minutes then is up a few minutes after that, *could* it be
possible she's hungry? She eats enough to satisfy for a short while, but
not enough to get a good fill?
If that doesn't appear to be the case, then I don't know as far as that
goes.
I also just noticed you said earlier that she does get up at night to nurse
but she 'doesn't fully wake up during those times usually' - does that mean
she kind of wakes a bit, squeaks and squawks and is still half asleep, you
feed her and then she goes back down for another short period of time?
(short period of time being the 3-4 hours at night) Have you tried just
letting her honk and beep in her own bed for a while to see if she goes back
to sleep on her own, or will she fully wake up and wake the whole house and
neighbours?
I know DD1 recently started pulling off the, "It's 2am, I want to bang on
the walls, shout and talk to myself" not long ago... Maybe the last couple
months. She is 18 months (in a few days, anyways) and this was totally out
of the blue and out of character for her, seeing as she slept right through
the night since day 1. More often than not she does wake up around 1-3am.
I wake up as well when she's pounding like a crazy lady on the bedroom wall
we share for our rooms. I ignore her, she whines, cries and bangs for maybe
10-15 minutes then puts herself back to sleep and sleeps until 830-9am the
next morning.

Is her day at daycare fairly active and busy that causes her to nap
there,
and days at home fairly laid back, which could cause her to not nap as
well
at home?

They may be an issue. There are other kids and they provide a lot of
stimulation. She's on a different nap schedule to them (she goes down
after), so maybe once it all quiets with all the kids in naps she's
more inclined to do the same.

Is it at all possible to try and mimic the daycare's schedule? If you can
fit it in and try to follow fairly closely what they do, perhaps it might be
a comfort thing that she finds familiar and *maybe* she'll nap at home. Is
it possible for you to have a short nap time when it's time for her to nap?
I know from experience that this may be next to impossible to do if you have
other children, but off hand, I can't remember if you have others!

Do you want her to nurse to sleep or just sleep?

Just sleep is fine. Nursing to sleep is what worked before. I just
want her to sleep - I'd also like her to nurse more during the day,
but I'll be happy with sleep!

Sleep is always good... Maybe she's just at the stage where she's wanting to
nurse less during the day and more at night, or maybe the current sleeping
schedule at home isn't working for her.

Will she go down ~and
sleep~ if you lay her in bed, tell her to have a good nap and leave it at
that? (seeing as you say she doesn't nurse to sleep much)

hahahahahah! That leads to screaming. I've even tried just letting her
fuss (when she's not screaming, just fussy KWIM?) doesn't work. I'm
not a fan of CIO but I was getting desperate...

Ha! It's funny. Mine are the same way. They will not just go to sleep.
They need to be ~put~ to sleep more often than not. My mom always said that
from the start, she would lay my brothers and I down, say it was night
time/nap time/whatever, shut the lights off and we would just go to sleep.
Not sure how much of that I believe, but there are many who do this for
their children and it works for them. For me, I know, and obviously you,
that way probably wouldn't go over very well!
Very seldom will I let them just cry and cry. There's been only a time or
two that I've put DD2 in the swing or on the floor in the living room while
she's screaming her face off and just let her cry. This was only after
feeding, burping, changing diaper, burping again, offering a feed once more,
check for a burp and double check the diaper one last time.

Other than maybe she just does more while at daycare (with other kids,
lots
of activities - sometimes you can't offer the same thing at home) which
makes her sleepier from all the activity during the day.

She probably does have more stimulation at daycare, altho at home we
spend a lot of time playing with her, we're just not kids.

No, there's only so much an adult can take before it's too much! I find if
I sit on the floor too long playing with Lego, reading a book, drawing,
pushing toy cars around and so on, I feel like I'm about 90 years old. You
can try and function at their level for play time, but it's just not the
same when it comes to some things. Not sure where you are, but I know we
often go for walks during the day. We'll walk rain or shine. Go to the
park when it's warm and sunny, walk all bundled up when it's crappy and cold
out. Unless it's real cold for the little ones, like -20C or so or colder,
or real hot, around 30C or warmer, we tend to be out daily. Seems the fresh
air knocks them right out. The heat tends to make them just as sleepy and
beat as the cool, crisp air does!

On Jan 30, 4:18 pm, "xkatx" wrote:
"CJRA" wrote in message

ups.com...







On Jan 29, 12:38 pm, "xkatx" wrote:
"CJRA" wrote in
oglegroups.com...

Not really a BF issue, but figured I'd post here anyway...

DD is 7 months old on Saturday. She's never been a great napper for
me, altho when smaller at least she'd sleep ON me. She no longer does
that. Still, we usually manage a 30 min or one hour nap at least each
weekend day (she's at daycare during the week, where she naps
beautifully 90% of the time).

This weekend, we didn't even get that. She was up at 5am, and never
went to sleep except for a brief doze while nursing (like a few
minutes) until 8:30pm Sat, same thing Sunday although we managed to
get her down about 6:45pm. She's up every 3-4 hours at night to nurse,
although she doesn't fully wake up during those times usually.

WHY won't she nap?!!! She'll nurse for hours in the evening but she
doesn't nurse to sleep anymore.I wonder...

Is she on anything other than BM? Baby cereals or soilds of any sort, or
just BM?

We started solids on Christmas Day, she gets something 'solid' (pureed
vegetables I make) about 3-4x/week.

Does she sleep better if she has those 'solids' or does it not make any
difference?

Not really. She gets at least one dose of solids ont eh weekends,
which is when her nap problem is, however she also gets at least 2
doses during the week in the evening (just not every day), and she
sleeps during the week at night fine (well, she wakes multiple times,
but sleep is normal pattern I think)

Just to possibly scratch out the possibility that she's not
sleeping because she's hungry. If she nurses for a few minutes, passes out
for a few minutes then is up a few minutes after that, *could* it be
possible she's hungry? She eats enough to satisfy for a short while, but
not enough to get a good fill?

heh, that's what she does during the day at daycare, so maybe she's
sleeping because she's hungry rather than the other way around. When
I'm there she goes on nursing marathons. Most of the time she'll nurse
for an hour +, then she'll do little snacking things. She is
definitely reverse cycling, but I'd expect it to continue on the
weekends at least, but she just nurses more on the weekends days AND
nights.

When I say she dozes while nursing, I mean she goes into her trance.
She's still sucking - and god forbid I pull the nipple away even if it
seems she's out. She goes nuts.

If that doesn't appear to be the case, then I don't know as far as that
goes.
I also just noticed you said earlier that she does get up at night to nurse
but she 'doesn't fully wake up during those times usually' - does that mean
she kind of wakes a bit, squeaks and squawks and is still half asleep, you
feed her and then she goes back down for another short period of time?
(short period of time being the 3-4 hours at night)

Yeah, that's exactly it. We're usually cosleeping (do the crib
ocassionally), and usually I nurse her - sometimes it's short,
sometimes long, I usually fall asleep.

Have you tried just
letting her honk and beep in her own bed for a while to see if she goes back
to sleep on her own, or will she fully wake up and wake the whole house and
neighbours?

Yeah, we've tried that, altho not for very long in the middle of the
night, the couple of times I've let her go more than a few minutes she
gets close to a full scream quickly.
Tonight we're trying something new of necessity - I'm sick with a
horrible cold, so (I've just nursed her to sleep for 2+ hrs, but she's
out now) I'm going to sleep in the other room so I *can* sleep and DH
is going to try to do night duty...I'll likely go back to nurse her at
some point, but we're seeing if my being in another room helps (we
have no place else to put her but in our room). On that note, I'm
going away to a conference next week for 2.5 days, and DH will be with
her at nights (daycare in the day), so that will be the real test of
her nights....

I know DD1 recently started pulling off the, "It's 2am, I want to bang on
the walls, shout and talk to myself" not long ago... Maybe the last couple
months. She is 18 months (in a few days, anyways) and this was totally out
of the blue and out of character for her, seeing as she slept right through
the night since day 1. More often than not she does wake up around 1-3am.
I wake up as well when she's pounding like a crazy lady on the bedroom wall
we share for our rooms. I ignore her, she whines, cries and bangs for maybe
10-15 minutes then puts herself back to sleep and sleeps until 830-9am the
next morning.

Is her day at daycare fairly active and busy that causes her to nap
there,
and days at home fairly laid back, which could cause her to not nap as
well
at home?

They may be an issue. There are other kids and they provide a lot of
stimulation. She's on a different nap schedule to them (she goes down
after), so maybe once it all quiets with all the kids in naps she's
more inclined to do the same.

Is it at all possible to try and mimic the daycare's schedule? If you can
fit it in and try to follow fairly closely what they do, perhaps it might be
a comfort thing that she finds familiar and *maybe* she'll nap at home. Is
it possible for you to have a short nap time when it's time for her to nap?

Yes and no. We try for that schedule - tho it's pretty loose -
however, inevitably during the week she'll wake about 4:30/5am, nurse
for awhile, fall back to sleep by 6am, when I get up, then we have to
wake her a 7:10am. On the weekends, almost *always*, no matter when
she goes down to sleep, she is awake about 5am and stays awake.

I'll talk to the babysitter a bit more tomorrow about what routine she
follows to make sure we're doing similar. I think it's more that she
knows mommy and daddy are home and at her disposal ;-)

As for napping when she naps, I'd love to do that and certainly we
try. It has worked sometimes.

I know from experience that this may be next to impossible to do if you have
other children, but off hand, I can't remember if you have others!

nope, she's the first.

Do you want her to nurse to sleep or just sleep?

Just sleep is fine. Nursing to sleep is what worked before. I just
want her to sleep - I'd also like her to nurse more during the day,
but I'll be happy with sleep!

Sleep is always good... Maybe she's just at the stage where she's wanting to
nurse less during the day and more at night, or maybe the current sleeping
schedule at home isn't working for her.

Will she go down ~and
sleep~ if you lay her in bed, tell her to have a good nap and leave it at
that? (seeing as you say she doesn't nurse to sleep much)

hahahahahah! That leads to screaming. I've even tried just letting her
fuss (when she's not screaming, just fussy KWIM?) doesn't work. I'm
not a fan of CIO but I was getting desperate...

Ha! It's funny. Mine are the same way. They will not just go to sleep.
They need to be ~put~ to sleep more often than not. My mom always said that
from the start, she would lay my brothers and I down, say it was night
time/nap time/whatever, shut the lights off and we would just go to sleep.
Not sure how much of that I believe, but there are many who do this for
their children and it works for them. For me, I know, and obviously you,
that way probably wouldn't go over very well!

What's crazy is over Thanksgiving weekend, DD started doing this and I
was sooo excited.

That was short lived.

Very seldom will I let them just cry and cry. There's been only a time or
two that I've put DD2 in the swing or on the floor in the living room while
she's screaming her face off and just let her cry. This was only after
feeding, burping, changing diaper, burping again, offering a feed once more,
check for a burp and double check the diaper one last time.

Yeah, I can tell her cry of pain/wet/poopy (she hardly ever burps and
doesn't fuss when she needs to) vs. the cry of 'pay attention to me.'
I usually oblige the latter, except when she's long overdue for a nap!

Other than maybe she just does more while at daycare (with other kids,
lots
of activities - sometimes you can't offer the same thing at home) which
makes her sleepier from all the activity during the day.

She probably does have more stimulation at daycare, altho at home we
spend a lot of time playing with her, we're just not kids.

No, there's only so much an adult can take before it's too much! I find if
I sit on the floor too long playing with Lego, reading a book, drawing,
pushing toy cars around and so on, I feel like I'm about 90 years old. You
can try and function at their level for play time, but it's just not the
same when it comes to some things. Not sure where you are, but I know we
often go for walks during the day. We'll walk rain or shine. Go to the
park when it's warm and sunny, walk all bundled up when it's crappy and cold
out. Unless it's real cold for the little ones, like -20C or so or colder,
or real hot, around 30C or warmer, we tend to be out daily. Seems the fresh
air knocks them right out. The heat tends to make them just as sleepy and
beat as the cool, crisp air does!- Hide quoted text -

It was cold and damp (by our standards!) lately so we didn't get out
much, but this past weekend was perfect and we spent all Saturday,
once I gave up on the morning nap, out walking. It just makes her more
interested in the world...

Like I said, she's not hugely fussy or too overtired due to the lack
of naps (tho mom and dad are!), but I don't buy that my 7month old can
get by on less than 8 hrs sleep!