Daytime nap location for 14 month old

[Ychyfi]

After a few weeks of really upsetting attempts to persuade DD to sleep in the cot when she was 5/6 months old and again when she was about 11 months old, I gave up and decided that if she wanted to nap in the buggy then she could and that I wasn't going to deliberately cause her to be distressed when there was another option that would enable her to go to sleep without upset. I should add that she sleeps in the cot at night. Although she often takes a while to go down, and there is lots of standing up and reaching out her arms etc, when she does eventually lay down and decide to go to sleep, she then sleeps through most nights. She's been doing so since about 8 months old.

Our lovely nanny, who has years of experience and who I know loves DD to bits and would never suggest anything that wasn't in her best interests, has now suggested that we need to get her to sleep in the cot during the day. She has said, for example, that she thinks that it would be more comfortable for DD than the restricted space in the buggy and that when she has a cold it must be hard for her to breathe when flat on her back. I can see the logic in this but I am very nervous of forcing DD to go through another round of what I think is essentially sleep training. For those of you whose little ones slept in their buggies rather than their cots, could I ask when (if?) you made the transition to a cot and whether it was significantly easier than your earlier attempts with a small baby? Thank you!

[Equimum]

DS is 23 months and naps brilliantly in the buggy in a fairly upright position. This is very common in Scandinavia.

[ychyfi]

Generally, she does sleep well in the buggy, and I reckon we could certainly leave her a bit more propped up when she's ill. I did wonder about whether it was bad for her to have restricted space to move around, though? I guess there is also the issue that if we are also going to a playgroup or music group etc then sleeping in the buggy does mean she's been in a limited space for quite a proportion of the day. But I don't know whether I'm being ridiculous.

[Cies]

I love the freedom of naps in the pushchair. Both of mine always nap there, ratjer than a cot.

Does she sleep well in the pushchair? If she's snuffly, couldn't you recline it a bit less?

[Ihateparties]

Because I only ever dreamt of dcs who napped in the pushchair I would say don't change it if you don't need to. I hated the only options being tied to the house for naps or no naps at all.

[Funkytown]

if you are worried about her in the pushchair then maybe look at a bean bag my friend uses one for her daughter and she always looks comfy

[Griffomais]

My DD is 13 months and we've had similar problems to you. All daytime naps were either buggy or car which in the summer was great as she could be in the back garden in the buggy while I got on with things inside or if in the car I would sit out while she slept. However as it's now winter I was beginning to stress about it. Funnily enough all it took was a break in the usual routine - my DH and I were out overnight and when we returned my MIl was waiting at our house and I asked where DD was - in her cot napping!!! I was flabbergasted as I'd literally tried for the whole of my maternity leave to achieve this with no success. Now 10 days on it's still happening. I've started timing it for roughly 3.5 hrs after waking by that time she's normally quite tired as I plan lots of tiring stuff in the first part of the day. She now sleeps for up to 2 hrs which is great for me. I don't know why but someone else putting her down that first time seemed to break the bad cycle. Hope this helps.x