Special bed for daytime naps?

[pipnchops]

DD is 11 months and will only nap during the day on my lap after a breast feed or out and about in the car or her push chair. I've decided to stop breastfeeding so now I'm wondering how to get her to nap without going out for a drive or a walk! She is perfectly fine with sleeping in her cot at night but will not go in it during the day. I've tried and tried. I do not want to leave her to cry it out. She still seems to need closeness to me or movement in order to sleep. Is there an end to this?? And if so roughly when?! If anyone has any advice other than leaving her to cry to sleep in her cot that would be great! I've considered bringing her pushchair into the house and rocking her to sleep in the living room, but my house is very small so this isn't practical.

Mine was like this around 11m. Then I went back to work ar 12m, he went to nursery/MIL and all changed. It is a phase and It will pass.

Could you have her fall asleep on your lap then put her in her cot? (I found mine always had a hypnic jerk about 5-10 minutes into sleeping so as long as I waited until after that he stayed asleep!)

If she's fine at night this is just down to habit/what she expects, so you could try a few days of controlled crying (don't just leave her to cry, go back every few minutes) but depends on your nerves. If you're happy having her sleep on your lap go with it - they're only little for a short time.

Oh and when it ends - mine is 2y 3m and still asks to sleep on Mummy lap, but I tell him no and he accepts he has to go to nap in his bed.

By about 1.5 though I think he'd be quite happy to sleep in his cot regularly - it's just a matter of routine though as once he settled into nursery's routine he was quite happy in his cot.

So you haven't got much longer!

Thanks, that's reassuring to know it could just be a phase. Fingers crossed it sorts itself out really as I doubt there is a solution. I've tried transferring her to her cot once she has fallen asleep on my lap and it works fine at night but not in the day. I've also tried controlled crying and it just really stresses us both out and never leads to sleep, just tears from both of us and eventually out of desperation I'll take her out to get her to sleep.

I was absolutely fine with her sleeping on my lap while breast feeding, I used to love it, so I've let her do that until now. But now I've stopped breast feeding she doesn't go to sleep on my lap anymore. So my only option is to take her out and it's getting exhausting.

I suspect the difference between day and night is that at night we always stick to the same routine but during the day there is no routine because no two days are ever the same. Some days we're out and about and these are the best days as she just sleeps as and when she wants to while we're on the go. But other days when we're just at home it's a battle to get her to sleep. I end up just going out for no reason out of desperation. I wish they made rocking day beds for toddlers!!

Something that worked the other day was putting her in her car seat and swinging her in around the living room in it! She fell asleep that way but oh my was it a muscle work out for me! And I know it's not good for them to sleep in their car seat except in a moving car. I was on a really important phone call at the time so couldn't go out. Desperate times!!

How about starting a nap routine? Take her to her bedroom, read some books to wind down, pop her in her sleeping bag, sing a song and say nap time. Will obv take a while to entrench as a routine but will be useful in the months to come.

I know that doesn't answer how to get her off to sleep in her cot. With my first all naps were in the sling or buggy - i was exhausted. He must have been 4/5 months when I stopped. I would put him on his tummy in his cot and rub his back vigorously to simulate some kind of movement (!), with very loud ssssshhhhimh. He would of course fight it, crying loudly but it was a shouty cry not an upset cry and after about 10-15 mins he would go off. Don't get me wrong there were times I thought he would never go off and that I was doing the wrong thing but I stuck to my guns and it always seemed to work. After a while I just ssssshhhhh him with no rubbing then moved to just popping him down with his teddy. That probably took 2-3 weeks of practising like that. We still have the same routine now and he's 2. I definitely think it has helped esp when he's being tricky as he knows after books and our song he has to nap.
Good luck!

Thanks I will try a routine, although it's difficult as we do different things every day so it's hard to get into a routine during the day, but I must try harder because I feel guilty that she's not getting the sleep she needs and the inconsistency is probably driving her and me around the bend. I'll try that and see how I go. Thanks for all your advice.