Daytime nap WHERE, HOW... HELP

[cheshiremama89]

DS is 10 weeks old, he is our first born and up until a couple of weeks ago I was still inundated with family mainly my mum and grandma.

And so naps have been accidental as he has been held/cuddled...

I am now ALONE with the odd visit from my mum once a week.

It occurred to me that I should now be determining a soft routine for DS (and me I guess)

I've noticed he will fall asleep easily if rocked in the pram in the kitchen during the day, and I can then leave him for 30 mins or so.

I get the feeling this isn't the best way, and he will then rely on this to fall asleep..?!?!

*PLEASE CAN YOU SHARE YOUR DAYTIME NAP PROCESS/ROUTINE.

I'm a first timer and am totally winging it!!!*

I used to put ds in the pram and stick a music channel on!! Quite K rock of the pram initially then he went off to some booming beats!! Never owt calm!!

I don't think you need to do anything. Don't worry xx

Peak for naps downstairs, is what most parents do. And rocking him is fine- he's only tiny still. I still have to rock my 9 month old half the time for his prom naps! Don't worry- you are doing fine!

Pram not peak

One thing you could do is make sure that you shut the curtains of whichever room he's having his nap in, then rock in the dim light. So they then associate the dimmer light with sleeping. (This works half the time with mine!)

DD decided she didn't need a nap at 4 months old.

I was on my knees until I put her in the pram and walked her 5 miles until she dozed off.

I can count on my one hand the number of times she slept in her basket/cot after that.

Also used white noise and the tumble dryer and swaddling in her car seat pre this.

Most parents are totally winging it

Sleeps in pram are fine, I put baby DD down wherever I am planning on being, on my bed or in Moses basket if upstairs, in baby bouncer if it's probably a short nap or baby gym or sofa. This weekend she has been mostly in the pram outside as I have been in the garden (and I leave her close to the back door if I go in).

This is so reassuring! I was worried he had to be in his cot, self soothing etc

Imo it's best for dc to have various sleeping places!! My poor friend's ds would only nap in his cot. Her whole day was out AM, quickly home for nap, out PM, home for nap. My ds napped on the floor on a cushion as soon as he outgrew his bouncer as I was worried dh would leave him on the couch!!
As a toddler he would grab a cushion and snuggle on the floor still!!

April makes a good point. It's better that he doesn't just nap in his cot- so much less restrictive. You can get them to nap in pram anywhere. And it's very unusual for a ten week old to self settle so don't put so much pressure on yourself! My nine month old still isn't great at it!

We didn't get into a routine with DDs naps until she was about 14 weeks. Up until then at home she just napped on me when she felt like it which was becoming less frequent. DS has been a great napper from birth so she took me by surprise. Turned out she liked sleeping in her crib, now cot, with her grobag on as-if she was going to bed. She'll do 40 minutes morning & afternoon & around 90 minutes at lunch time. She's not very good at sleep cues so I normally put her down when she's been awake 11/2 to 2 hours & it works pretty well. She'll happily sleep in the pushchair & car seat if we're out.

You really don’t need to do anything. Watch for babies cues

I agree with Bob about closing the curtains (when he gets a bit older, anyway) as a 'sleep time' signal. This worked for me and was a bonus later on when they started to resist their day time sleep but still needed it really. But he's only 10 weeks so don't worry at all - whatever you're doing is fine!