7 month old will only take naps on me or in the buggy or sling - not in his cot

[Nickname1980]

I've always allowed my baby to nap on me. I actually love it - it makes us both slow down and I read my books (post on mumsnet...), catch up on tv etc. But lately I've begun to wonder if I'm creating a bad habit. Will he ever nap on his own? Or will he always need this kind of help to get to sleep?

I'm just wanting to hear from people who also let their babies nap on them, and how/ when they stopped and whether or not they thought it was a good or bad thing..

My baby takes three naps a day - two short, one long - either on me, nursing on and off, or in his sling or the buggy.

He isn't the best sleeper at night - he wakes two or three times for a feed.

So does my 7 month old. Nursery manage to transfer him into a cot once they get him to sleep in his pushchair.

He generally sleeps from 9pm-5am ish without a wake up so night sleep is ok.

I suppose it is a bad habit really but I never wanted to be stuck in the house for naps during the day. Plus he's warm and babies are meant to be cuddled

Marking my place as I came on to ask the EXACT same thing.
I'd love to know how to train her to know to go to sleep when I put her into bed (well I suppose she knows what her bed is for, just fights it till I pick her up). I'm hoping that like a PP she just grows out of it!!!

Very normal. Just try to rest, don't have him on the sling all the time because your back will suffer voice of experience remember to take care of yourself.

One of mine was similar. I was happy having her sleep on me or in the sling until she was about 9 months and getting heavier. I started feeding her sleep and putting her in her cot once asleep/drowsy/awake over a period of a few weeks. I also found sitting in the room helped then doing gradual retreat. I found some useful ideas and reassurance in the no cry sleep solution. She was napping much better by about 12, 13 months.

Snap! My 5 month old is exactly the same. I actually love having him sleep in the sling (cuddly and portable - perfect) and he loves it too, but at 18lb he's becoming quite a weight. Sometimes I can get him to sleep in the buggy or car if moving, and occasionally (randomly) he will carry on sleeping in buggy or car seat once motion has stopped, but it's totally erratic. Like your baby, OP, he wakes 2-3 times a night. One of my friends gave me the 'rod for your own back' talk a couple of weeks ago and now we're back from holiday, once I've given him a couple of days for his nighttime sleep to settle down again, I'm thinking of trying again with naps in the cot. (In fact I just tried this morning but after 15 mins of his screaming blue murder, gave up and he's sleeping in the sling again!) Does anyone have tips for little pre-nap routines to help him recognise that the cot is his new sleepy place? I don't want to feed him to sleep because I do that too often at night (another rod...)

DD1 is 3, she never napped in a basket/cot, all naps on us, sling or car seat till one and buggy after that. It would have been nice if she'd napped in the bot but not the end of the world that she didn't. Hoping DD2 might be different but not looking that way at 15 days !

Cot not bot!