Baby all of a sudden rejecting travel cot

[Hannah2025]

Hi everyone. My 8 month old son and I are staying at his grandparents for a week whilst my husband is working away. He’s usually a pretty decent sleeper, if he wakes in the night he is quite easy to settle. But since being here the last 4 nights have been really bad. He will not sleep more than 1 hour in his travel cot at night. I’ve had to bring him into my bed and co sleep every night so far during the early hours, but I really don’t sleep well doing that.

He has slept in his travel cot multiple times before, so this is not a new sleep space. It’s really odd and I’ve tried so many things over the last few nights to try and make him more comfortable like different sleep bags, different room temperatures, even different rooms! When I bring him into bed with me he sleeps fine. He also sleeps fine in his pram in the day for naps, but I’m not comfortable leaving him in there for overnight sleep.

Could this be that he has just decided he doesn’t find his travel cot comfy any more? Or am I missing something? I honestly feel like just going home, but I don’t like the thought of just me and him being on our own in the house (I get a bit anxious).

Any help would be greatly appreciated x

It might not be the cot at all. Separation anxiety kicking in, teeth, digestive discomfort as they get used to more solids, missing his dad, now or less exercise than normal, slight aches from newly learnt movement, just a developmental regression...

Sorry, not helpful! DS is 9 months and changes his sleep pattern every week for no obvious reason.

I thought this, but he will sleep the first sleep stretch in his pram in a dark room alone with no bother at all! It’s so odd. It’s ever changing isn’t it. I do try and tell myself ‘this too shall pass’, but it’s so hard in the moment right!

Mine is doing that at the moment. He's shattered and wants to go to bed at 18.30. He wakes up once an hour until 22.00, then sleeps solidly until 01.30, after which he wakes every 90 mins until 9.30am when he's up for the day. I don't think there's rhyme or reason and it will be different next month

Pram is probably cosy and warm as is sleeping with you . The travel cot on the ground in this weather might just be too draughty .

Travel cot mattresses are usually quite hard. I changed ours for a proper mattress and she slept through the night, but she was 12 months old so you’ll have to evaluate whether a different mattress would be safe for a smaller baby.

I agree and the heavier the baby gets the more uncomfortable the thin hard mattress will be. You can buy thinnish proper mattresses (maybe 6-7cm thick) for travel cots

In this weather my first thought would be that they're cold. Add an extra layer of clothes? Does his back/chest feel cold when he wakes? Is the travel cot on the floor or slightly raised?

mine did this and I clocked that he had got heavier and the hard base mattress of the travel cot had got uncomfy for him. I bought an extra mattress for it and he immediately slept like a dream. make sure it’s one that fits properly though

Thanks everyone! I tried putting some blankets underneath his mattress and sheet for extra plumpness and he still went ballistic when put down. It’s so random, he just hates it all of a sudden. He’s definitely not cold I wondered this too, have experimented with warmer bags etc. Not great as we are going on our first holiday next week…but I guess I am going to have to surrender to co sleeping for now! Hoping things just get better in time!

Is he going to sleep independently? If he was he might resettle easier. My son always used to wake and realise that wasn't where he'd fallen asleep. Got much better once he was actually going to sleep in the cot

No :( unfortunately that’s where I’ve gone wrong. He’s never gone to sleep independently, I’ve always settled him. He was a NICU baby so the first part of his life was incubated and when he came back I couldn’t help but want to cuddle him to sleep every night and here we are 8 months on! That being said, he always goes to bed fine in his cot in his own room at our house, it’s just since we’ve been at my parents the last 5 days that he has been upset in his travel cot. Think I’m going to call the trip short and head back home tomorrow in hope he’ll transition back to his cot without a fuss!

Don't feel bad for cuddling him to sleep! I helped my little boy get to sleep for almost 3 years but I just felt that his sleep improved once he was falling asleep in his own bed. When he was 1 year old I used to feed him to sleep but disturb him a little on transfer so he'd realise I was putting him into his cot, that seemed to help a bit. Going home sounds like a good idea :) if you power through feeling anxious about being home without your husband you'll get used to it and be really proud of yourself!

Thank you so much! This is super interesting RE feeding him to sleep but letting him know you’re putting him down. I’ll deffo try this!

I learnt with my youngest to always have her daytime naps in the travel cot so we could take it anywhere and it was familiar to her.

They're very aware at this age. Travel cot a bit uncomfortable and not as big as his hime crib, he's unsettled by new places, overstimulated by many more new people around etc.

My DS really doesn't travel well. We tried, three holidays so far (he's 16/17 months) have been a total disaster. Yes, we went to some nice places ,visited family overseas, got some photos and survived. But it was sleep deprived hell for us.

Mine goes to sleep independently sometimes with a bit of shushing and still wails every hour when he wakes up. Don't beat yourself up about! Some told me every child sleeps eventually, which really helps me chill a bit.

Be careful with travel cot mattresses. All the ones I've met have been horribly soft so that I don't think they're safe. I'm going to buy a mattress from IKEA for the next holiday because they come rolled. We went to the ILs for Christmas and the baby wouldn't sleep in the travel cot. Their spare bed is 140x180 so cosleeping was fun...