6 month old only naps in sling - how to fix?

[RadarLoveBug]

My six month old DD only has a nap in the sling and only if I walk for the duration of the nap. She's getting bigger/heavier and I'm exhausted. I also have older DC who are getting none of me really at the moment. DD was poorly as a little one and I didn't want to cause her any more distress so I just did what she needed but now she's fit and well and I have a problem! She doesn't nap on any particular schedule but generally 3 times a day. At night she screams the place down for a good 15-20 minutes even though I'm holding her. She will then feed to sleep and I can transfer her into the cot once she's properly out. I'm too tired to think and there seem to be so many different options. Any guidance much appreciated.

Master a back carry with a more supportive sling or switch to buckled carrier?

Can anyone else help? Partner? Mum? MIL?

No I really need to get her in the cot to nap. My back is toast and she's only going to get bigger. I have two good quality carriers, appropriately fitted. If I need to walk during the nap there's real limitations on what I can do with the older ones. DH works all day so he helps at bedtime and on the weekends.

Yes that sounds hard hard work.

One tip .
You need to get baby to sleep where they will stay asleep .
Can you rock thr buggy indoors back and forth and leave baby to nap their whwn asleep ?

My DS was like this - by 6 months I was broken.
I started by getting him to nap in a routine - I can't quite remember what it was now, something like every 90mins- then started putting him in the pram and pushing it back and forth and then once the routine seemed to be working I started putting him in the cot for the "easiest" (first?) nap of the day and went from there.
The late afternoon nap was always in the sling/pram though.

Fleur - did he scream when you put him in the buggy? To be fair she often screams in the sling before she sleeps.

Yes! I would put him in his pram, play white noise and cover with a snooze shade. I would then rock him for about 10/15 mins and he would usually go off. I would keep rocking for a bit once he was asleep to make sure he was completely off.

I think at 6 months once he got the idea that he went to sleep at certain intervals it made it easier to transition to the cot.

He has always been one to cry before he sleeps - it changed to singing once he was about 15 months (which is faaar better on the ears!).

I think I need to start with a schedule or intervals so I at least can predict when she's tired. Right now I just wait for her to give me cues and then I put her in the sling and begin the endless march but she shouts even then!

That really helped me Radar - I think it was someone on here who helped me at first and told me to try to het him to sleep 90 mins after he woke. It was a revelation!

I never managed to work out DS's sleep cues.

We are the same , 90 mins on the dot we take him in the pram , or rock him or boob him to sleep ... he is 5 kill Nathan old , and it's so much better now we do it every 90 mins (he even sleeps better in a night)

Sorry! 4 months old.. typing left handed while feeding

At six months, many babies start moving towards a 2-3-4 routine. So first nap within 2 hours of waking (can even be as little as an hour after waking), second nap max three hours after the end of the first one (again maybe even two hours of awake time) then four hours max awake before night-time bedtime. If your baby is on the shorter intervals, then add a short catnap in the afternoon.

It can feel utterly ludicrous putting the baby down for a nap at eight a.m. but in my experience, the guidelines seem to work well for my children and very many of my friends' children also.

As someone above said, the first nap of the day is usually the easiest one to crack, so perhaps focus on getting that one out of the sling as your initial goal - implement this one ruthlessly and be more flexible if required with the other naps until you build up to getting rid of sling sleep altogether. If you can, try to avoid building elaborate or unsustainable new sleep crutches but obviously you will probably need to give a bit of help at first. Maybe replicate your nighttime routine?

I recommend the Good Night Sleep Tight book by Kim West as worth a look for suggestions of age-appropriate routines