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How on earth do I get DD to nap in her cot?

4 replies

TremoloGreen · 06/02/2014 12:15

My DD (9 mo) is a great night sleeper. But I have never managed to get her to sleep in her cot during the the day. I'm really stressed about going back to work as I'm sure she won't nap at nursery or childminders.

At home, she either falls asleep in her pushchair if we're out and about and I leave her in there when we get back, or I breastfeed her to sleep and then put her down in the pushchair. If I try to put her down in the cot, she will wake up either straight away or after 10 minutes. She will then get very distressed at any further attempts to be put back down in the cot, even if I rock her or feed her back into a deep sleep. She's also been quite dependent on white noise in the past but I'm trying to wean her off that.

She is a real sleep fighter during the day and would stay awake all day if she could! This is why feeding to sleep or complete white out has been necessary. Lots of people have commented on how long she can keep herself awake for. I just know a childminder or nursery won't be able to go to the lengths I go to to get her to sleep which is why I'm trying to tackle it now. Has anyone got any ideas? None of my friends seem to have had this problem so I'm starting to feel like a total failure :-(

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Sid77 · 07/02/2014 07:21

I don't have experience of it myself, but you may find that nursery is so exhausting for her that she starts to sleep in the day when she's there. I had a friend who's little boy would reliably sleep at nursery - being completely tired out and seeing all the other children go to sleep really helped him. Hope it works out

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TheUnstoppableWindmill · 07/02/2014 07:30

Please d

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TheUnstoppableWindmill · 07/02/2014 07:34

Sorry!
Please don't worry. I had exactly the same problem- only at about 16 mo would my toddler reliably nap in his cot at home. Before that, we'd rock him in his (flat) buggy. He started nursery at 8 mo and they used a buggy till he was 1, then magically got him to nap in a cot there no problem. The buggy was my request as I was worried about him getting distressed, and they probably could have had him in a cot from the start. He never naps quite as long there (usually 45mins-1hr vs 2hrs at home) but it works just fine. You will be amazed by how differently your baby will respond to a different environment and how adaptable they will be! Our battle now is to get him eating fruit/veg again at home- at nursery he hovers up whatever they put in front of him!