I am a first time mum to a 10.5 month old boy. I am returning to work soon and he will be starting with a childminder in late March. I am aware that this is fast approaching and am getting increasingly anxious about naps.
DS has always been a nap resistor, but has extreme screamy reactions when overtired, so I have done everything in my power to prioritise naps and sleep, keeping my eye on awake times etc. He will now have two naps per day - around 3 hours after waking (around 9am or 10am) and approximately 3 to 4 hours after waking from his first nap, usually 2 or 3 ish. He absolutely hated his car seat and pram in the first few months but now will go to sleep in both if I time it right. Prior to this I relied heavily upon rocking him in my arms/ the rocking chair, or breastfeeding him to sleep lying down. He absolutely refuses to be put down in the day, for example, if he falls asleep in my arms- if I transfer him to the cot he screams blue murder and that's the end of the nap. He will sleep for approx an hour ish if he stays where he fell asleep. At night he will breastfeed to sleep and then be transferred no problem to his cot.
I have tried introducing a nap routine of book, song and cuddle and then putting him into his cot with Ewan the dream sheep white noise, but it just doesn't work. He goes ballistic.
When DH tries to get him to sleep he can do it but has to keep cuddling him, if he puts him down in his cot it is game over.
I know I need to prepare him for the childminder, who won't be able to pander to him in the way that I can. I can't bear the thought of using cry it out approaches.
Has anybody had any success with any fairly gentle ish approaches?