Looking for some advice! Getting my 5 month old to nap is a bit of a battle. First nap of the day is easy because he naps in the pram when I take the dog for a walk and will generally stay asleep even when we go back into the house and stop. After that though, naps often don’t happen unless we happen to go back out so he is in the car or pram. I do not want his sleep to be reliant on us not being indoors as I getting to the point when I feel I can’t actuslly spend a day at home.
Today the weather is terrible but we still went out for our morning walk so he has had one nap. I have just managed to get him to fall asleep in his cot but to do so I now feel like a terrible Mum!! I waited until it was obvious that he was starting to get tired and I put him down in his cot with white noise (just like we did at night). He was happy there for about 10 mins and then started to cry. I went in and picked him up, waited for him to calm down and then put him back now. I repeated this several times (felt like a hundred!) until it got to the point that he was constantly screaming even when I was holding him. I could feel myself getting angry and I hate feeling that way with him so I quickly put him down and went and stood in the garden (in the pouring rain!) for a few minutes until I had calmed down. I can’t back in to complete silence and a fast asleep child.
I am so pleased that he is having a nap but can’t get over the guilt of leaving him screaming. I do not believe in leaving a baby to cry but I just didn’t know what else to do. Can anyone give me any advice on how you have made day time naps less traumatic for you and your little ones. I feel like I am constantly obsessing about his sleep. Thank you