Do babies naturally start napping in cot eventually?

[FTM1993]

Hi - I have a 6 month old who sleeps well in his cot at nighttime but during the day doesn't like going down in it, just cries even if I put him down drowsy or asleep. I don't mind the contact napping and he does nap when we are out and about too. But I guess eventually it would be nice to use his nap time to get some house chores done so that he has my full attention when he's awake. Do I need to research some gentle sleep training techniques to achieve this or is it a developmental thing where eventually they nap in their cots? I understand it will be different for each baby but what are people's experiences?

Try the first nap of the day in the cot. This is the easiest one to change for most babies. Let the baby fuss for 5-10 minutes and don't go in during that time unless they are crying. That was often enough time for my baby to just fall asleep. But you don't necessarily get long independent naps to start with!

Also... I just took the baby & play mat to wherever I was going so baby did chores with me. Once they can crawl or bum shuffle, this will NOT be an option! Let them 'help' with the washing up while they can 🤣

Mine never did. But she did stay asleep in her pushchair when stationary. So when contact napping became impractical, for all her naps we'd walk her down the street, recline the pushchair then bring it back inside once asleep and leave her in the hallway and she'd sleep a couple hours. It worked quite well for us and it didn't matter that she wasn't in her cot. She did sleep through the night in the cot though! And she did sleep in the cot at nursery for some reason!

My DD was the same. I’d put her in her pram and take her for a quick walk for her to fall asleep then leave her in her pram (either outside the back door or in the porch).

Gave me time to do some chores without wrestling her to sleep. She’d also get some fresh air too and seem to sleep so much better outside. I still do it with DD now and she’s 16 months. Once she wakes up I take her to the park/library/walk around town as she’s already to go.

Now she only needs to be walked for two minutes before dropping off, sometimes she drops off in the pram before I’ve even put my shoes on. Bit of a shame really as I quite enjoyed my old routine of walking down to the shop to get myself a treat.

Similar to previous poster, mine never ever napped in her cot. She slept in it at night but would only nap in her buggy. I gave up on the idea of cot naps and just went with her preference. She's now three and doesn't nap at all!