9 month old only naps in car or pram

[croft85]

To start with I thought it was great having a baby that sleeps when you’re out and about. I make sure she naps and don’t wake her unless I really need to - I end up walking or driving round endlessly. However, this means I literally get no time to do anything at home and 9 months in I need to change this for my sanity - I don’t get any help or have family around to give me a break. My husband often away with work too.

How on earth do I help my daughter sleep in her cot in the day (she also doesn’t like it much at night either!)?
I’ve tried and tried but she gets really worked up and I don’t like to leave her to cry. I go in and out for ages but she never drops off. I think I am getting the nap timing right as she rubs her eyes etc when I try it.
Any tips would be gratefully received!
Thank you xx

Do they have a comforter? I had it the other way - lockdown baby who only slept in his cot.

He has a comforter which is only used for sleeping - nap times and bed time so he knows what to do when it comes out! Also been helpful for napping at nursery

Mine both needed to be walked to sleep but would then continue their nap in the garden - would that work for you?

@Lockdownmummy ha! The other way round… I’ve honestly tried comforters so many times - she cries and pushes them away as she knows what they mean. Maybe she wasn’t ready. Will try again!

@Classicblunder good idea but you can’t get to garden without lifting through house, but it’s an option! I’m just desperate for her to sleep in the cot then I can cook or clean as literally no time for it!

Can you push pram back and forth in a hallway/ kitchen/ lounge?

I had a baby that would only do contact napping, car naps or pram. We did gentle sleep training at 7 months - appreciate this may not be the route you want to go but we had one hard week and since then she’ll sleep in her cot no problem. I really wanted to break the habit in time for her starting nursery so we decided we just had to see it out. Fwiw she still sleeps happily in the car so that’s really useful.

My first never napped in her cot. She would sleep in the pram and managed to go from having to walk to get her to sleep to being able to rock her back and forth in the garden or dining room and then she would drop
off. Maybe try rocking the pram in the house? I had to use a cover (bit of fabric between pram handle and hood but open at sides, so well ventilated) otherwise she just wanted to be picked up. I suspect that it had a lot to do with me being willing to preserve with the pram where as if she cried or winged in the cot I’d pick her up again!

I can’t say I got much done when she was asleep though as I enforced a strict being quiet rule! And then sat and watched tv and ate chocolate!

@WeaninWoes I’m going to give that a go! Thank you

@Dollywilde sounds good! This gentle sleep training, did you follow anything in particular? Thanks

@Treesuphooray I’m going to try this! And that’s exactly what I’d do - choc on sofa in silence 😂

no worries, I know it’s not for everyone. We did the Ferber method and came up with intervals we were happy with - put her down then go in at 1 minute of crying, then 3, then 5, then 10. If we got to another 10 and she still hadn’t settled we’d bring her down and try again in half an hour. We didn’t make any plans for a couple of weeks (it was lockdown so it was easier!!) and once she’d settled into it we did try and make a point of getting home for naps for another week or so, but it was worthwhile in the end - this time 9 months ago I could never have imagined I’d be able to give her a kiss, pop her in her cot and she’d get herself off for a nap by herself. She was always an ok nighttime sleeper but I swear cot naps in a quiet room put her in a much cheerier mood for the afternoon. Good luck whatever you decide

100% push back and forth and park up. We had a folding ‘nap buggy’ in DD1’s room for at home naps. Snoozeshade and loud white noise keeps them asleep while you do housework etc.

@croft85 oh no! They are a double edge sword though.... constantly worried that I will lose the little bugger and DS will never sleep again!! 😂

We push the buggy back and forth in the house then park it in a corner of the room.

If it's really hard to get her to nap then maybe look at dropping one. She might not be building up enough sleep pressure (she might not be tired enough)

Have you tried a rocking swing? Ds was a pram sleeper and through the winter I just couldn’t bear it outside. Was given a swing for his first Christmas and he loved it, snoozed for ages in there. It had straps for safety and lasted until he was a good 18 months when he stopped napping completely 😩 we were able to sell it on for a decent price too.

We used to drive one of ours around to sleep, although he could be transferred into his cot without waking,

Rock to sleep then put into cot fully asleep. If your baby is quite big or too heavy to stand and rock, try a rocking chair with them cuddled in tight to you and gentle rock.

Found a baby rockit really helpful, might be worth looking into. Save you rocking the pram back and forth too

Can you feed to sleep? This is what we did until age 3 or so for naps at home and nighttime as it was easiest!

Thanks so much everyone! I’m going to try everything! Although I feel like if I start trying to rock her to sleep now she’ll think it’s a game - she giggles when I do that - seems to have the opposite effect!

@brokenkettle I do feed her to sleep still but she’s really wise to it and is the world’s best sleep resister even if she’s dropping off feeling for a day nap she starts complaining! Always have to end up going for a drive!

Leaving them to cry for a bit while you Hoover etc is ok.
Babies cry.

Never managed this with mine. Lots of random walks in the rain

We purposely have got our two DSs to sleep in the pram in the house by rocking back and forth so that they will sleep either on the go or at home, just always in the pram. I put the extractor fan on and rock youngest DS to sleep it works for us and I can get some stuff done while he’s sleeping then!

@croft85

Thanks so much everyone! I’m going to try everything! Although I feel like if I start trying to rock her to sleep now she’ll think it’s a game - she giggles when I do that - seems to have the opposite effect!

@brokenkettle I do feed her to sleep still but she’s really wise to it and is the world’s best sleep resister even if she’s dropping off feeling for a day nap she starts complaining! Always have to end up going for a drive!

Typical! Good luck!