We’ve lost the Independent nap sleep and don’t know how to get it back

4 - 6 months

My 22 week (4.5 month) old baby was able to fall asleep independently for naps from around 12 weeks old (light training to remove rocking etc).

The regression hit about 2 weeks ago and seemed to mostly effect nights. Until a few days ago, she started rolling so we had to move her to her crib (still in our room), stop swaddling and just use a sleep sack. During this transition she’s completely lost the ability to fall asleep on her own for naps.

Understandably, it’s a difficult transition and so I started contact napping her to ensure she was getting enough day sleep, while we worked on fixing night times (she also lost her ability to fall asleep independently for that - but we are almost back to normal with that after 4 nights). Now that night time is back in order, how do I get the independent nap skills back, whilst still ensuring she gets enough day sleep to not destroy the nights? I’m at a loss!

I have been trying every day for the last 4 days to put her down for her first and second naps in the crib, but honestly I don’t see any progress. I leave her for 30 mins on the first nap before I step in and contact. I’ve also tried waiting 15, then putting a hand and shushing her, which just seems to excite her and picking up seems to unsettle her entirely. For the second nap, I can’t waste as much time as otherwise there won’t be enough hours left in the day to get her the nap hours she need - aiming for at least 3, ideally 3.5.

Notes:

She started getting hysterical about her fourth nap a week ago, so we dropped that and moved bedtime up.

Approx. wake is 7-7.45am, bedtime is 7.30pm-8pm.

Wake windows are a bit wobbly lately as she seems to be ready for longer some days and not others. Roughly 1.75/2/2/2.25.

Used to manage independently falling asleep for 30-40 mins and I would rescue the second nap of the day by another hour-ish (extend with contact) to make sure she was getting enough day time sleep.

Posted Dec 9, 2025, 9:01 AM UTC

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