How to get my 7 month old to nap in cot

[pinkdaisies]

Ok- it seems like just about everyone else I know has babies who nap in their cots during the day... but I just can't get my 7 month old DS to. He's not a bad sleeper at night (wakes twice- one for a 10.30pm dream feed, once at 4) and is fine in his cot then, but by day I march up and down the road with him in his pushchair, or carefully time car journeys to get him to nap.

I havn't tried the cot thing for about a month now and am desperate to try again and get it to work. Any tips? Is some form of CC the only way? He really doesn't repsond to PU/PD type things as he gets wound up.

Please help!

i used alison scott wright book' good baby' i think which has really good advice on getting the day naps sorted in the cot!! it goes on about getting baby to sleep through the night, but like me that bit was fine,so just concentrated on the parts for day sleep. baby whisperer also good.

i didn't have to do CC, thank the lord as would have been crap at it. she took to it after a couple of days. its all to do with rituals and continuity and the fact that he likes his cot already is great. so its just establishing a routine and cues for him to know its time to nap IN MY COT! and to not need motion.

couldn't let this go unanswered, as this was me a couple of months ago!

it worked for me.good luck

The thing that cured my DD from non-cot napping was time. Sorry, that's probably not that helpful, but I know exactly how you feel and have posted similar problems.

DD's 11m now and about 6 weeks ago or so I got fed-up of her being so tired and grouchy during the day because I couldn't put her down in her cot, and of her only napping on me occasionally. I had just about given up and had stopped bothering because it was a disaster. But one day I thought right, she looks tired, rubbing her eyes, yawning etc, it was about 3 hours after she'd woken in the morning and I tried her in the cot and she cried a bit for literally 2 minutes and then dropped off and now has naps most mornings. I just think that she wsn't ready for it before, for some reason, even though, like your DS, she is usually fine at night. Maybe try your DS again and see if starts to work better as he gets a bit older. I know how hard it is and you feel like everyone else has clockwork babies that just 'go down to sleep' at certain times.

I've just posted this on another thread about sleep resisting baby. It's taken from the baby whisperer. Like you I was getting fed up on marching around with DS in a pushchair!

It takes a bit of time so might not be practical for you but this is what works for DS 21 wks -

1. at first yawn or rubbing of eyes I get him onto changing mat for quiet nappy change
2. lie him on our bed and lie with him, give him dummy and muslin to hold onto and read him a story or whisper/sing to him
3. when he starts to look really drowsy then put him in his cot and leave him to fall asleep. sometimes he gets alarmed at this point so I keep talking to him and make sure he's happy before leaving the room.

All together takes 10-20mins depending on how tired he is.

Before this I was loosing my mind trying to get him to sleep in the pushchair etc and he'd cry whenever I put him in his cot (I was putting him in there at the first yawn and I think this was too early for him) but this seems to have really helped him get to sleep peacefully.

If you've got the time it's worth a go - good luck

yankbabymu, that sounds similar to what I have been trying to do with DD. I think it's important to catch them before they get too tired, but just tired enough, I don't always get it right..I give her a little drink if she wants one, quiet napy change, put the blind down, and then have a cuddle and a lullaby.

Defintely worth a try pinkdaisies, the thing I struggled with was the timing; the eye-rubbing is a really sure sign that I look out for. It's got to beat the endless pushchair marching, I've been there!

I agree that time does it! age and maturity and understanding!

I used to rock in dark room with lullabies. or dance.... or use buggy and transfer... or bottle/breast.

Suddenly after 12 months he understood the word 'sleep' and 'bed' and could nod and point and it all fell into place (or usually it does tho not today when I resorted to buggy again!)

DOn't worry - it all passes in time. But I know how frustrating it is.

Buggies are a GOD SEND! Good luck....

Thanks so much for all your replies. Have just got back from a long push chair walk and DS is FINALLY asleep! I'll definately try the method you've explainied, Yankbabymum! And I guess if that doesn't work, I've just got to hang in there... I know that time flies and these things pass, but it's so frustrating at the time! At least I've got some ideas to try out for teh time being though! Thanks!

I'm slowly starting to spot the sleepy signals (10 months) and rock him to sleep in my arms. Then I put him in his cot (and hope I've got the timing right!)
For the first 8 months or so he wouldn't often nap anywhere except in my arms, and sometimes the pram. We went on a lot of walks!

Was involved with crying survey yonks ago at birth of first child. Spoke to researcher at length who passed on loads of good tips.

Anyway, to summerise.....babies v sensitive to temperature changes. They are often toasty and warm in your arms or pram and then transferred to cool sheets. (You know waht its like when your first get into bed sometimes...can be a bit chilly)

So, I used to warm up the sheets where baby was about to go lay with a hot water bottle, just to take chill off. Fab!

Now, I need to give you health warning re babies over heating/cot deaths etc.....but be sensible, put the hot water bottle in for a couple of minutes b4 baby goes to bed and take bottle out b4 baby gets in (!)......

Good luck!

worked for me!