how do I encourage my 4 mth old to nap in his cot?

[NORRIS1]

My 4 month old son has never been a good napper, unless he was out in the pram. I thought I had cracked it for the past 2 months as he would nap in his moses basket, 2 or 3 times a day, sometimes only for 35 mins (you could set your watch by him)but that was better than nothing! However for the past couple of weeks he has cried when I have put him in the basket - he is too big for it to be honest and I am wondering if he feels too big in there now so at the moment I am taking him in the pram 2 or 3 times a day - a bit frustrating in rain, wind and sleet! He won't let me rock him to sleep anymore, think he feels too big for that now. I want to introduce him to napping in his cot (which he sleeps in at night), but have a feeling that its going to be a disaster. I have been told you shouldn't do this until they are sleeping through the night which he isn't. Does anyone have any tips? I'm worried I may put him off his cot at night as well!

dont know what to suggest BUT i had a similar problem and i put my boy in his basket..then the whole thing into the cot to get him used to it.

Sorry if this doesnt help, maybe someone will be along that can soon.

Hi, we switched to napping in the cot sometime between months 3 and 4. Previously it was pram pram pram. The only way was to have complete darkness (thanks to Becky77) and white noise. AS far as I can tell, it did not affect bedtime at night. There were some tears in the beginning, I must admit. I sat by and did shush/pat -- 5-10 min or so. Now she goes down without a peep (except now that she is teething!). Good luck!

Thanks for that. Think we will get Xmas out of the way and then give it a go. I'm sure there will be tears but its for his own good in the long run!

I had mosses basket in cot too, we had a perfect switch over, don't think ds even noticed.
Ds came out of basket before 3 months, but until weaning stage I had him sleep at night in cot/basket and for naps he was in a reclined baby bouncer chair thing in the living room.
It might take q while to get him out of the habit of sleeping when going for a walk though.
Goodluck

I'm in a similar postion with 4.5 month old DS, was really struggling to get him napping in cot although was fine at night. Spent a week in total stress with screaming baby, then gave up for a few weeks and tried again this time putting him down in total darknesss. This has improved things especially during morning nap although he wakes after 40-50 mins (would only do 20-30 before) but is getting better all the time. I'm also going to give it a really good shot in New Year to try and get him napping for longer although not quite sure how!! Any ideas??

My DS naps for longer if he's on his front - on his back his legs seem to twitch and wake him up after 35-45 mins. But on his front he will nap for an hour and a half.

I know it's a cot death risk factor but I think I've eliminated all the other risk factors and have decided that he/I need the sleep - he also sleeps on his front at night while he's in his cot - on his back while he's in bed with us....

I have loads of friends that have layed their babes to sleep on front. For alot of them, they didn't see the sense in laying on back

thanks for the advice. I have tried all week with no success except for 20 minutes yesterday morning! Perhaps I will try the dark room and white noise tip. Its too cold for the pram this week!