Is it better for ds to sleep in pram or his cot?

[Leah4]

Hi, my ds is almost 5 months and sleeps very little during the day. He normally has three short naps a day, which last a maximum of 40 minutes, and he wakes up tired.
If he awakes at 7.30am, he will be tired by 9.30am. He has all his naps in his buggy, which is placed in a quiet part of my house. I have to get him to sleep by singing and rocking it a bit. He will sleep longer if he is in the car or sometimes when I am out in his buggy. He used to go to sleep in his cot after a feed in the day, until he was almost 3 months. I do breastfeed him to sleep at night, before being put in his cot. He will normally stir after 10mins and cry, and my DH quickly gets him back to sleep. He wakes up a couple of times in the night and I have to give him a feed to get him back to sleep.

I would like him to go to sleep in his cot for day naps as there is more space and I am wondering what will happen once he gets bigger. This week I have tried to give him a feed before putting him in his cot but he just wakes up as soon as he's put in it. I then have to cuddle him, and try again yet he awakes again.

How can I extend his sleep, and also get him to sleep in his cot for naps? Sorry for the long post! Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Yes, it is a bit bigger than my dd's doll pram! It is quite narrow and he already stretches to the side and plays with the material. Would also like to use the room he's in downstairs when he is asleep, or when we have friends round. He doesn't have a feed before i put him in buggy at home, but expects this in the day as I do feed him until sleepy at night. He's in his cot now, and still only sleeps for 35 mins waking up tired. That's something else to dela with later! Took a bit longer and almost gave him a feed after 10 mins, but he put his thumb in and went to sleep. he took out his thumb after 5 mins. My DH has to rock ds to seep when he gets him to bed and he is much more unsettled without a feed in the evening.

Do you mean you put him in a different room to sleep? I park ds in the hallway where his pram normally sits and he sleeps there we go on around him as usual and never disturb him he is used to it.
I did always find that my 2 seemed to get comfort from the noise around them during the day.
What make is your pram?? You will probably be surprised how long he is able to sleep in it for, right now he stretches to reach the sides but even when his shoulders are the wisth of the sides he should still sleep comfortably in it.

Hi Leah4 - how did your day go today???

I think one nap in the cot per day sounds a great idea - gives you the flexibility to be out and about when you want to be, but have him out of the way at home when you're there. If he went off after 10 mins again, it sounds like you're doing a great job to get him settled, and I agree, it will be easier on your Mum if he is used to it, as she may not want to be out in the buggy as much.

As for the short naps, he may sleep for longer as he gets more relaxed in the cot - saying that, at that age my DS used to catnap more, now he's a bit older he seems to sleep for fewer, longer blocks. Not sure why, just did it on his own accord. So maybe it's just a phase??

Hi, my buggy is a Graco. I used to put ds in the hallway for naps in his pram but the doorbell and our stairs, used to wake him up. Yet he not such a light sleeper when out!

I am generally home in the mornings so I put ds in his cot when he was tired yesterday at 930am. Took a bit longer than the day before to get him to sleep. I had to go out at lunch time, so he slept in the buggy, but still for only a short time. I normally put a muslin cloth over it to stop the sun and also to help him know it's time to sleep, although a friend said yesterday that he needs to see outside so he knows it's day time. It certainly is not dark in his pram!

He got over tired late in the day and took ages to go to sleep in his buggy on the way home. It was really had to settle him. This does happen a few times but more so this week.

I would like him to sleep in his cot at lunchtime, but I am normally out at groups or busy, and don't want to have to rush back. Yet he may start sleeping longer at that nap once older, and then will see. Is it worth staying at home for both naps for a few days to help him to settle in the cot? He he has short cat naps, he gets tired earlier and then needs more short naps in the day. Hope this long phase will end soon, as on the few occaisions he sleeps longer, normaly when out, it really helps him to wake up more refreshed, and less overtired in the early evening.

It might be worth staying at home for a couple of days to get him really used to sleeping in the cot - my friend did it when she had real problems with her DD (much worse than yours) and it definitely did help. It's not essential though, as long as you put him down at least once a day, but it probably will speed the process up.

I agree with you about putting the muslin up when you're out. As you say, it hardly makes it pitch dark so he knows it's still day time but will help block out some of the stimulation so he can settle to sleep. We did the same with a cot sheet when were were out in the evening on holiday, with DS in the buggy.

Extending naps is difficult - my DS went through a phase of having 4 or even 5 short naps in a day, but they're seemed to lengthen now. That Baby Whisperer book has ideas on how to extend them but I've never tried them - my DS didn't seem to wake up grumpy or overtired when he was having short naps, so I never really worried about it. They might be worth a try though if he is still tired when he wakes.

Keep smiling!!

I personally wouldn't stay at home for a few days to settle him in his cot because you may find once he is settling in his cot it is difficult to get him to sleep anywhere else and then you are tied to the day for sleeps.
He is also only 5 onths old and may not need 2 fixed naps a day so if even despite your best efforts he will not sleep for very long he may just need a few short naps in the day and hope that in a few months when he is more mobile he may extend his sleeps by himself.

Although I did try and encourage ds to sleep longer it was because when he was awake he was always soo tired because he wasn't getting enough sleep and cried and grizzled the whole time.

Can I just ask why it is so important for you he goes in his cot? one of my last buggies was a Graco and dd who is very large could sleep in it at 2.

You do seem to be very determined that it's his cot he sleeps in and I don't really understand why. You seem to be putting a lot of time and energy into something that could tie you to the house. Babies and toddlers really do seem to sleep well when outside in a pushchair in the fresh air. Isn't this an option for you?

I want to also have the option of him sleeping somewhere otehr than his buggy downstairs in buggy soon, as I will be getting some building work done downstairs and in the garden. I want to have the flexibility of ds being able to also nap in his buggy when out, which I do at the moment. I have to go out at least twice in the day. He has been harder to settle for a later nap in the day over the past couple weeks as I think that he is still so tired and grizzly when he wakes up from earlier naps. Have tried to to extend his naps but nothing works. So will just leave that to him!

I went out yesterday with ds in the buggy and he didn't sleep at all athough he was showing all the signs of tiredness. He had not napped from 1.30apm, and had only an hour's sleep all day so was very tired by 7.30pm when he went to bed. Hope it is just a phase.

Also takes him ages to get to sleep in the buggy. He is a lovely, happy and smiley baby, so yes i am still smiling Jojay! Thanks

The thing is he is still very young and with my ds it took me forever it seemes at the time to get him sleeping in the day but now he sleeps anywhere anytime including teice set off crawling along the floor and given up on the rug and literally fallen asleep in seconds.
We had some work done at the beginning of the year and it was hard going and I spent a lot of time wheeling the pram about the house so he wasn't annoyed.

Good to know that some babies sleep through a lot of noise. Yet he may not sleep through lots of very loud drilling of concrete! I am still going out everyday in the buggy so he can have a nap, as I want him to be able to sleep in other places, so it does not tie me to the house especially when I need to do things with DD.

He has had a couple of naps in his cot since Friday, yet he still does grumble quite a bit before. Must get some musical toy which plays Twinkle Twinkle, so it can be part of his nap routine, and help my voice!