[lrowe70]

Any advice on how to get a 10 month old to start taking naps?

We bedshare and ever since my babe was born he has either:
a) gone to sleep while nursing(naps and bedtime-but will wake as soon as I get up), or
b) fallen asleep in his carseat while driving(but wakes up as soon as the car is parked)

For a whole bunch of reasons I'd like to be able to put him down for a nap every day(ideally in his crib, but considering he's never slept there that may be a hurdle not worth climbing). However I'm finding it IMPOSSIBLE. He screeches, cries, crawls off, or laughs like I'm playing a funny game with him.

Unless I nap with him, or go on an hour long car ride, he is up ALL FLIPPIN DAY. By nightime he is so overtired that it is beginning to take hours to get him down.

HELP! We've been going to bed at 3am for the past week. It's like having a newborn again except much louder.

[breathing for two]

Have you tried wearing him for awhile before (or maybe into) his expected nap? Eli pretty much passes right out in his mei tai if he's the slightest bit tired.

[joonzgurl]

The carrier is a great suggestion! Once they are asleep though it is hard to get them put down.

Do you have a nap routine? I would start one stat. Even just simple, like before every nap wash his hands and face with a warm wash cloth. It might take a couple weeks, but I have seen drastic improvement in our bedtime since introducing a routine to Avery 3 weeks ago.

Now, when you nurse him to sleep, is he snuggled right up against you? When you get up, is he waking up because your warm body is not longer snuggled up? If that is the case I would suggest putting something else against his body like a blanket or a teddy bear.

Are you trying to get up too soon? I nurse Avery to sleep too. I nurse her until she is pretty well out and I am able to remove my nipple from her mouth without her waking. Then I creep off the bed ever so carefully. Maybe you are trying to get up too soon?

Good luck! Would love for you to come back and let us know how it goes.

[Jule'sMomInOR]

Ditto what Rachel said. I would try to just gradually move away from him, replacing your body heat with a teddy bear or other object. You may have to make it very, very gradual at first or even keep napping with him the entire time but just put a little bit of distance between the two of you so that he can get used to you not being right there. Good luck!

[HippyMomOf4]

I would try wearing him like other suggested. When my little man got to old to nap on our bed I would put him down after nursing in the crib he woke up for about the first week but each time it took him a little longer. I would go back in a get him when he would wake nurse again and just hold him for his nap lol or try the crib again.

[lovemylittlemiss]

We have a similar issue at times but most of the time I can sneak out without waking her. I also wait a looooong time before getting up.

[alwayssmile]

Routine, routine, routine! And once you start one don't expect miracles. It takes kids time to get used to the routine, to start the connection that this means sleep comes next, etc. When we started doing naps in the crib (though he was younger than 10 months), I would go through the whole routine, lay him down, and when he'd cry I'd pick him up and go through the whole time again. By the third time I just did whatever it took to get him to sleep (babywearing in a back carry, going for a walk, going for a car ride, laying down with him, etc). In time he started associating the routine withs sleep and sleep being okay.
One thing I did that worked for us is nursing him in the beginning of my nap routine instead of last. He would get super drowsy and then I'd play instrumental music in his room and read to him books. For awhile it took us reading for 20 minutes for him to accept sleep and moving to the crib, but these days after a year of naps in the crib one short book and he's signing "sleep" to me. It's been a long road, but if you can get naps often night sleep will improve some!

[lrowe70]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to give them a go.
The carrier is a great suggestion, he does get really sleepy in it.
Also I do sleep with him for quite awhile, so it must be the lack of body heat that is waking him. I'll try an animal or blanket.

[Fluga]

Hih I should totally start trying something like that. I'm quite fond of my daily nap though . It would be nice to have an hour for myself in the daytime sometimes though.