will only nap in the car....ideas anyone??

[BabyMama]

hi

i've had some rough times with DS - never been a great sleeper but over the last month he's started to sleep all night. i say this gingerly as he's just had 2 bad nights in a row but i'm hoping it's just a phase

anyhoo, DS seemed to start sleeping at night when he dropped his 1 day sleep. he would just fight and fight it and eventually i gave up trying.

i do find though that he's tired and cranky, needing a sleep in the day. the only thing that will get him to sleep is a drive in the car (first time since he was born that he'll sleep in the car - go figure!) - i don't mind but it's getting to be expensive with fuel and i worry about the wear & tear on the car. i'm doing 50km or more per day just to get him to sleep so it's not the ideal situation. he occasionally sleeps in the pram but this is only very occasionally.

so i want to try to get him to have a day sleep at home - i've tried laying down with him (to him that's playtime), putting him in his cot (screams). any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

[Peach*]

With DD I put her in the pram with a cover over her and go for a walk. Similar to the car the bumpy movement gets her to sleep, then when we get home I will uncover her and put her in a corner where I can see her.

Im not sure if this is helpful at all as I can see from your ticker your DS is a bit older than DD. Though Id share anyway.
Good luck!

[Arcadia]

How does he fall asleep normally? With a boob/bottle or rocked or patted?

Could you try and replicate the night - even give him a warm bath to calm him down?

What about some white noise in his room, to replicate the sound of the car? You could try a fan, or even a radio that is off a station.

My DD loves a monotone drone...so I just hold her shoulder in the cot (facing away from me) and drone out mum, mum, mum, mum, mum, mum.

Day sleeps are hard. DD is having two, and I find the afternoon one a killer some days.

GL with it!

[Dollyroux]

Maybe a vibrating swing or rocker? These are expensive so see if you could borrow one first to see if you have any luck?

Hope the day sleeps improve soon

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I was just going to suggest covering the pram aswell or some background noise in the bedroom.

DD is starting to drop her afternoon nap but still has one in the morning from 10 - 11 or 12, i am starting to try and push that to a litte bit later if i can so there is less need for the afternoon nap.

Does he show any tired signs at all or is it just the grumpy crabby behavior we all love?
I know now DD has dropped that nap sometimes she gets a bit grumpy but i give her a snack or a bottle if she missed one and she seems to perk right up?

Not sure if this helps... good luck..

[squidipa]

with ds i used to have an extra car seat so i would use that in a recline type position slightly and put him up by the window so he could see out side worked a treat or in front of tv but he preferred the window.

[BabyMama]

thanks for your suggestions everyone.

i do try covering him in the pram - if i do it before he falls asleep he just spends the whole time trying to pull it down. he does occasionally fall asleep in the pram so i'll keep trying it.

dolly - i'm not sure if i could find anything that would be ok for his weight - he's 16 months. i might have a look though. thanks for the idea.

anna - at night he has a bath, cuddle (sometimes with a feed) and then i put him down awake and he falls asleep. he has a CD of ocean sounds. i've tried replicating the same environment and routine apart from the bath. i might try giving him a little bath in the day and see how that goes.

avasmum - he gets grumpy and does show his normal tired signs. he can do without the nap but he's really beside himself by 4-5pm. i figure that he's tired if he does sleep in the car (for 1 hour or so).

squidipa - i'd never thought of the car seat by the window. will give that a try.

thanks again everyone - having the support of BB gals is wonderful

[Softy]

Not sure I can suggest anything new but maybe rocking to sleep and then putting in the cot??? My little 'angel' is 15 months and is just starting to fight the day nap, used to be no worries just cuddle and rock for 5-10 mins and she'd be asleep. Now she plays up wants to go in the cot but runs around and plays, so I say ok mummy go and walk out...she cries, I come back in 1-2 mins, this goes on a few times then I put on my 'stern' mummy voice take her out of the cot, rock and bounce her and she goes off to sleep and then I put her in the cot. She is getting blooming heavy though so am not looking forward to when this doesn't work. Good luck, let me know how you go

[BabyMama]

thanks for all your suggestions.

so we just moved in with the folks so we can save some money while our house is being built. DS has decided that napping in the cot ain't so bad after all - who knows why??

thanks for all the support and ideas everyone