How to get 4 month old to nap in cot?

[AliveAndSleeping]

He only naps on the breast, while driving or when we hold him and walk around. The moment I try to put him in the cot he wakes up.

He actually sleeps quite well in the night and only wakes up once. Just the day time naps are so difficult. He's starting to become very cranky during the day. Probably because he's so tired.

I've tried to stick to somewhat of a routine but so far it's not working.

I gave up trying so probably won't be a helpful responder! My 4 month old has however mastered napping on the bed next to me which is much better than me having to hold her allows me some rest. It's not perfect but is working for us!

Try pushing him out in the pram, when he falls asleep you can go home and leave him in the back garden and have a sit down where you can see him.
Neither of mine really slept in a cot.

@mayblossominapril

Try pushing him out in the pram, when he falls asleep you can go home and leave him in the back garden and have a sit down where you can see him. Neither of mine really slept in a cot.

I did that with my older one but he doesn't sleep in the pram. He loves looking around too much.

@milkshakeandchips5

I gave up trying so probably won't be a helpful responder! My 4 month old has however mastered napping on the bed next to me which is much better than me having to hold her allows me some rest. It's not perfect but is working for us!

I'll try that. Maybe from there we can progress to the cot. Do you out him on the bed when he's still awake or fast asleep?

For mine, i used the bouncy chair to aim first for non-contact naps and then from there moved on to the cot. I'd get settled with a drink and then bounce gently with my feet so they could see me until they fell asleep, but minimal interaction so they could drift off. I could then move away (or just have some hands free TV time!)

My son was exactly the same. I tried everything but in the end I just had to give it more time. By 6/7 months he would nap in his cot during the day.
It gave me a chance to sit down with a hot cup of tea as previously he would only nap on me or with me pushing him in the pram. I would walk for hours a day trying to get him to sleep!

@AliveAndSleeping we can do either now. It was absolutely accidental the first time. I was exhausted and put her on the bed next to me roughly around the time of her morning nap and noticed she was settling herself to sleep.

I now follow her bedtime routine (close blinds, put sleeping bag on, white noise) and we're able to do an on the bed nap 2/3 times a day. It doesn't always work but it's better than month 3 where she would only nap if I was moving - that was tough! Even just lying next to her for 30 minutes scrolling on my phone is dreamy!

I did as a PP said and darkened the room exactly as if it was bedtime. Put baby in cot, sleeping bag etc, soft music/white noise. One of mine liked to hear the hoover distantly. Got two jobs done in one!

My second was like this, great sleeper at night but couldn’t fall asleep during the day. All naps were in the sling until around 3 months old or he would be cranky because he couldn’t sleep any more than 5-10 mins otherwise. Wouldn’t sleep in pram either.

To transition him to the cot for naps I used to put him in his sleeping bag in the dark with white noise and hold him with a lovey/comforter between us until he fell asleep. Slowly but surely put him down once he had been asleep for 15 mins first day and lessen the time each day. After about 2 weeks I could transfer him in with the lovey drowsy but awake and he has fallen asleep independently ever since (now 15 months).

So I darken the room, pit him in his sleep bag and then walk with him while singing a couple of songs. Till about s month ago I could then put him in his cot half asleep and he'd nap for 30 mins.

4 months is a difficult age for sleep.

I think the best you can do is to put him to the breast every time he gets a bit tired or cranky. If he’s asleep at the end of a feed then put him in his cot. If he wakes up as soon as you put him in his cot and he still looks tired then put him back on the breast.

I want to add that my DS rarely naps in his cot. TBH a few power naps on the boob is all he needs to get him through the day. As far as he’s concerned there are too many things that are more fun than sleep.

My LO has just turned 4 month and I've only just managed to get him napping in his moses basket (he's only 2nd percentile so still has room in there so not using a cot yet). What worked for us is recreating bedtime somewhat. So I feed him, when he starts to get drowsy I put him into his swaddle bag, then white noise goes on and I rock him. At the moment I'm trying to gradually reduce the amount of time it takes so I'm using my phone and timing 5 minutes, after 5 minutes he's either completely asleep or drowsy, I've had mixed success when drowsy and sometimes he'll stay asleep once put down after the 5 minutes, others he wakes up. If so I just restart my timer and do another 5 minutes then try again. Maximum its taken so far is 20 minutes which is actually less than what nap time used to take before when I was just trying to get him to sleep on boob/in pram/being cuddled.

Good luck op!

Forgot to explain the timer thing, basically I'm doing 5 minute intervals this week, next week I'm going to try 4.5 mins, the week after 4 mins etc until hopefully I can just feed, swaddle bag, and lie him down and he'll self settle. Not super bothered if that doesn't happen though as I don't mind rocking him if its only going to take a few minutes of it