Baby refuses to nap in cot

[Pea2019]

My baby is 5.5 months old and has always napped on us during the day in our arms as thats the only place he would sleep but he only naps for very short periods on us. We tried to put him down in his cot (in our room) 2 days ago and we swaddled him (as he takes his dummy out, throws it and then cries), and he slept for 2 hours and was the happiest baby for the rest of the day and had another 40 min nap later that afternoon. We tried again yesterday and it’s like he knew, we got him to sleep in our arms and as soon as he touched the cot mattress he woke up and screamed the house down. Tried again just now and the same thing happened. He sleeps in it fine of a night time - i say fine, when he wakes up for his first feed he expects to stay in our bed with us. He used to be ok sleeping on his cot all night but now even thats got bad. I’m only trying to get him to sleep in his cot because i know it’s better for him. Any advice? I’m finding it really stressful

Have you tried sleeping with his sheets for a couple of nights before you put them in his mattress so that his bit has the nice, reassuring smell of you?

I had the same with my lo, he is 15 months now and still will only sleep for max an hour in his cot but for 2+ on us.

Just keep trying, and just dont feel pressured to do it

Have you tried putting him down to nap in his buggy? That way you can rock him back and forth a bit. That's how my 6mo learned to self settle, you can gradually reduce the amount of rocking needed. It's hard putting them down awake but i do think it's better in the long run. The Ewan sleep sheep has also helped us loads

My 13 month old has never napped in his cot but also has never really slept on us either, we always put him in his pram as he loves it. Usually have to push him back and forth for a bit