Should daytime naps for 10mo be in cot or not?

[cellulitequeen]

Just wondered if anyone could give me some advice. DS now 10mo and has been in a nice little routine for about the last month and now goes to bed between 7pm and 7.30pm and sleeps through til 6'ish. He has two naps a day and I always put him to bed in his cot with the curtains shut. My problem is that this makes me something of a house prisoner, what with planning around naps and meals. I do feel though that by having two quality naps he will sleep better at night. Should I however be trying to get him to sleep in his pram when we are out and about to give me more freedom? What does everyone else do please? Thanks.

My DD has hardly ever napped in her cot during the day as I struggled to ensure I was always in at the right time, even when she was very small. DD would just sleep wherever and whenever whilst I was out and about - cot (rarely!), my bed, other people's beds, pushchair, car seat, sofas, rocker chair, you name it! This worked well for us.

However, you have to do what works for you too. If you are happy with your current situation then that's is okay. If you are wanting to go out more (you say you feel a bit like a house prisoner) then try first of all just going out for one of his naps and see how it goes.

At that stage my dd would not sleep in her buggy until she was absolutely knackered, but while I was not out all day every day, i did not let this interfere with the occasional day out if I wanted to.

I did not ifnd it interfered with her night time sleep though so I wasn't too worried about it.

Just give it a go, some babies would sleep anywhere, others don't, you have to try to know how yours will react.

Ds1 now 4 never slept in his cot during the day and was great at nightime. he would usually have his afternoon nap on the sofa for 2 hours. Or if I was going to the shops I would time it in the afternoon so that he would sleep in his pram. But he was quite adaptable as a baby and would sleep anywhere and not be affected at nightime.

DD used to sleep well at night but never slept well during the day - never once in her cot, ususally in the buggy or car. DS (9) months is totally different. He also sleeps well at night and will sleep in his pram but not for very long and it does seem to make him worse at night if he hasn't slept properly during the day. He does usually sleep in his cot for both his naps. I know what you mean about the lack of freedom, but I've decided it's worth it for the moment. He does cope pretty well on the occasional day out, but if it's more than a couple things deteriorate.

I think it depends what you want to do with your "free" time. If you are happy enjoying the peace at home or catching up on chores then fine let him continue to take his naps in his cot. If, however, you have reached a point where you want him to be more flexible so you can get out more then try it, as Hula suggests, for say a morning which will run over one nap and see. If you don't get too ambitious at first you can always head home if there is a real problem. I think you are right about not wanting him overtired but in a few months time he'll probably only need one nap a day.

ds used to sleep anywhere whenever he was tired whereas with dd I got more into the habit of her sleeping in her cot in the afternoons around ds' school home time. It just depends what suits you.

I used to alternate it a bit at that age. She'd almost always have her morning nap at home in her cot, then sometimes I'd give her her afternoon sleep at home, sometimes out. When out she'd never sleep as well but we'd usually be somewhere fairly interesting so she didn't get to cranky. Now she's 20 months and only has 1 nap a day I still do the same thing, usually at home, but if I want a proper day / time out with her I'll get her to sleep in the pram though she still doesn't sleep anywhere near so well in the pram as in her cot.

Don't let it keep you prisoner! I feel the same way, only mine is because I know DS (9.5 months) will fall asleep in the car if I go anywhere too close to his nap time (even if it's a little early) because the car is soothing. Then when we get home, or where we're going, I have to get him out of his carseat (he's not in one of the baby portable ones any more) and he wakes up, therefore meaning his nap was only about 20 min! NOT ideal. What I usually try to do is compromise and make sure 1 nap is at home per day and maybe 1 nap out somewhere. That way you get out (and it can be for most of the day), but DC gets some quality sleep, too.

Thanks for all your advice and comments. We did go out for the afternoon the other day and ds had a very short nap but then managed to stay awake until bedtime at 7pm. I think I'll stick to my routine of fitting round him and the other times he'll just have to be a little more flexible!