How to get 10 month old to nap in cot

[Soher]

DS 10 months has never napped great, early days he slept on me, he now will only nap for any length of time in the pram.

He will do 30 mins in the cot in the morning, but his lunch time nap if I put him in the cot he will also only do 30 mins which makes him so tired.

I’m now resorting to walking 1.5-2hours a day so he gets a decent sleep in the afternoon otherwise bed time is hell. The thing is I’m absolutely exhausted from this, DH is working away a lot so I’ve not got much help apart from weekends. DS also wakes at 5am everyday.

Will he eventually start sleeping longer or will I be walking forever…

Mine was all contact naps and pram naps until he dropped to the one midday nap. Then he was fine in his cot.

Before that, I used it as an opportunity to get out and walk with headphones in and an audiobook. Do you have to be walking the whole time or can you walk to a cafe and let him sleep while you have a break and a cup of tea? Or take a short walk and leave the pram in the garden? Perhaps white noise on in the pram?

When mine dropped to the one midday nap that's when it all clicked. By then they're up and walking and more active so hopefully he'll be tired and have one solid sleep in the middle of the day. I liked that much better that two or three fiddly naps throughout the day. It did mean I had to make sure we were always up and out doing something active in the morning. But the payoff was a solid 2-3 hour nap after lunch.

My 11 month-old is exactly the same. Her big sister was also the same, until like PP she dropped to one nap.

I tried eeeeeeverything (including a sleep consultant) to improve DD1’s sleep.

In the end I decided just rolling with it is best. It’s so tough to change that adapting to it is the least stressful option. Unlike PP I don’t mind two naps - she can sleep in the buggy on the way to and from something. Plus it keeps you fit!

I feel a tonne better knowing others have had the same so thank you!
All my mum friends think I’m mental but they don’t understand he literally does not sleep in the cot.

@Yourethebeerthief if I stop moving even for a second he wakes up.

@Eloraa We tried a sleep consultant too (a very well known one😂) who made absolutely no difference. Definitely keeping me fit , I weigh less than I did before I had him.

I was thinking when he is down to 1 nap he may sleep in the cot then so it’s good to hear that is quite likely. I will perceiver.

Wish I had lost weight! I made up for it with constant stops for tea and cake 🤦🏼‍♀️

Definitely just roll with it for now. Your mum pals are either very lucky or bullshitting a bit. It's perfectly normal for them to do pram/car/contact naps until they're a bit older and drop to one nap.

Fingers crossed that when he drops to one nap he'll be so tired he'll sleep in his cot no bother. What helped for us was keeping naptimes the exact same as bedtime. Except for brushing teeth we kept everything the same. So lullabies on, totally dark, and even put his jammies on and read a story before putting him down. We don't bother with jammies or a story anymore, he just goes down no problem if he needs a nap, but it helped in the early days.

Don't be afraid to sleep train for the nap when the time comes.