A napping problem - or not? Advice needed!

[Al&Em]

Hi everyone

I've ummmed and ahhhed about this for ages but the book I'm reading (Your baby to toddler month by month) suggests that you should tackle any sleep problems now before they get too set in their ways. Problem is I don't know whether we have a sleep problem or not....

My little boy is 10 months old and has always been a good sleeper. He sleeps through the night routinely and has two naps a day (short morning one and longer lunchtime one). Problem is that he only sleeps in his buggy at nap times. I've tried getting him to sleep in his cot (which he does happily at night-time) but he just sits up/plays with his toys/chats to himself - everything but sleep. He is definitely tired because when I resort to rocking him in the buggy he goes to sleep instantly. And he's not unhappy or crying in his cot, he just doesn't go to sleep...

The buggy thing doesn't bother me as he naps well and it means he can sleep when we're on the go or inside at home, so in that sense I'm not sure that it's actually a problem. But I'm worried that it might be for when I go back to work and he goes to nursery in a couple of months time... Or even that it could turn into a problem as he gets bigger and refuses the buggy!

So do I need to bite the bullet and get tough about cot-sleeping or not to worry about it and just be grateful that he sleeps at all?! Advice/Reassurance very much appreciated!

[Mathilda]

Hi, I wouldn't worry too much about nursery. With me, my daughter has her two daytime naps in the buggy, this suits me well as don't have to traipse up & down stairs, and she can sleep if we're out and about. The times I have tried putting her in the cot for naps she doesn't sleep well. But at nursery (3 days/week) they hold her and rock her to sleep and then put her in a cot, and she seems fine with it.

[Ruth_Baldock]

Personally, if buggy sleep isn't a problem for you atm, I say leave it as it is. Don't worry about nursery, because it seems that babies often nap differently at nursery to home anyway!

He may like the buggy for naps because he feels cosy and enclosed, is there anything you could do to replIcate this in his cot if needs be?

[Jo'sEnglish]

I have the same thing! Although my little boy is only 5 months. I've spent the last few weeks trying to get him to sleep in his cot in the day and he is just wide awake in there. If I put him in asleep he either wakes up immediately or just sleeps for about 20 minutes and then wakes up.

Anyway, it was stressing me out because we were both tired and grumpy and on Friday I had a 'I'm doing this all wrong, I'm a terrible mother' day and then on Saturday I woke up and thought, why does it matter? He sleeps well in his buggy, I can go out and about with him, I don't need to worry about if the cat has got in the cot with him, he obviously likes being downstairs in the day with me - what's the problem? And I remembered the wise words someone once said which was it is only a problem if it is a problem for YOU. Which it isn't.

Anyway, in short, the conclusion I reached was if he is happy in his buggy and you don't mind it don't worry about feeling like he 'should' sleep in his cot!

And I'm sure at nursery everything will be different anyway.... And if he does refuse to sleep in the buggy when he is bigger then tackle that problem if/when it comes!

[Mellors]

I really wouldn't sweat it, as long as they nap at all is the main thing (for sanity's sake). They're different at nursery anyway. My 3 year old still has a long lunchtime nap at home, but wouldn't dream of it at nursery and never did, so i just put her to bed early on the nursery days.

[Sanne Panne]

Both my kids nap/napped very differently in childcare than with me. To me this would be a case of don't fix what ain't broken! :)

[sandy_rose]

I had all sorts of worries about my little one's napping once he started at her childminder's but it was never a problem, she sleeps like a log there and at least 30 mins longer than she would at home!

[childsleepsolutions]

Hi, I am a Child Sleep Consultant and I really don't think you have a problem! It is only a bad thing if it makes your life hard and it sounds to me like you are very happy with it so my advice is to carry on as you are! If he were struggling to settle at night or was only managing very short naps it would be advisable to work on it but as this isn't the case just go with it!

If it becomes a problem then tackle it then, I think that if you tried now your heart wouldn't be in it and you would probably not see it through anyway.

Take care and enjoy the good sleep!

[Al&Em]

Phew! Thanks all for your reassurance, definitely feel better about it now. Think we'll just press on then and hope that he might one day just decide to nap in his cot sometimes - optimistically naiive?? :)

[njc97]

Just to repeat what others have said - our son never slept in his cot, he had to be put in buggy and taken outside (and would then usually fall asleep before you got to the end of the road). But when he went to nursery he slept there well from the start. Before he got too big for the buggy, he decided he didn't need a sleep at home (or in buggy) at all (around 2 years old from memory) but oddly was still having a sleep at nursery every day.