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My bab won’t cot nap!

6 replies

minnaloushe · 25/07/2019 16:21

Hello! Proud new mama of 11-week old baby boy here. He’s exclusively breastfed and falls asleep on the boob at night when I usually nod off too and, on waking, gently put him in his side cot where he can sleep through from 6-ish hours.

Without the boob it is a long, long time of crying and rocking and putting him down drowsy, waking again, crying until he falls asleep in my arms, I wait 45 mins and the night put him down. So feeding to sleep at the mo is fine by me.

But during the day he will only nap in the baby carrier which means I have to go out every nap time. He falls asleep almost instantly and can have a nap upwards of an hour and a half. I need to get him used to napping in his cot though...I have tried literally everything, staying beside him and patting and shushing, picking up, calming, putting back, letting him cry it out but with me by his side reassuring him, nothing works. After an hour or more I just pick him up and he falls into an unsettled sleep and I figure it is better he has a rest rather than starting the whole palaver again.

Any tips? I do the whole gentle, winding down routine. Is he just still too little? Same issue in pram, he’s happy as Larry until he gets tired and then just starts screaming and won’t nod off.

Thank you!!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
sewinginscotland · 25/07/2019 20:56

Mine was the same at 11 weeks for naps (although he'd sleep in arms so at least I could get some quality box set/mumsnet time in).

I worked on getting him into his cot 'drowsy but awake' at night, then one day decided to risk it and put him into his cot 'drowsy but awake' for a nap and it worked!

I did this from 8 weeks: www.ahaparenting.com/Ages-stages/babies/teaching-your-baby-to-put-himself-to-sleep

At 11 weeks, he's considered a bit young for any sleep training - if you want to go that route, most guides suggest waiting till they're 6 months.

burritofan · 26/07/2019 09:44

I would take the path of least resistance and just do all the naps in the carrier, it sounds like he gets a good stretch of sleep in there.

nomushrooms · 28/07/2019 03:07

Would he nap in a buggy? Works a treat in our house and now doesn’t have to be moving. Means you can go out whenever without worrying about nap time.

minnaloushe · 28/07/2019 08:33

No he won’t nap in a buggy. He’s happy as Larry in it until he gets tired and then it’s the same story, cortisol just soars and he can scream for an hour without falling asleep in it!

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LoisLittsLover · 28/07/2019 08:36

Dd never managed a cot nap - did make days out easier though

minnaloushe · 28/07/2019 12:12

Ha, it does, doesn’t it?! Curious whether there was any long term effect on naps/day sleeping, establishing a routine later on?

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