Tips on encouraging cot sleeping

[Beatrix]

Ok so DD is now 4 months old and while Im still happy to co sleep at night no issues, I would like to be able to get her to sleep in her cot.

So I am going to attempt to put her down in her cot for day sleeps. At the moment she prefers to sleep in my arms or in the swing so Im guessing she likes motion and well mum LOL

how long would you persist for? by persisting I mean in a day how many attempts to settle and place her down before letting her sleep on me/swing? because I know she needs her sleep and don't want her to go without just because I would prefer the cot over me.

She doesnt self settle and Im not to fussed about that, she isnt rolling yet and still likes to be wrapped so Im not going to take away wrapping and rocking to sleep yet. Dont want to hit her with big change and take her comfort things away all at once.


I was thinking of settling and placing her down 1-2 times per each nap time and if that doesn't working then letting her sleep as she wishes and start again the next nap. Does that sound ok?

[Rouge]

When you put her in the cot how do you settle? We found face strokes over the eyes, eyebrows, forehead etc. soothing sounds. And the biggest trick was to only try the second you saw the tired signs. If its too soon she'll object and if its too late she will fight sleep more because she will feel insecure. Mine didn't settle we'll in my arms or in bed. So for me they screamed more outside the cot. Also warmth is important. Putting a baby into a cold cot is stressful for them when they are used to having a warm body next to them. If you warm up the bed first with some heat packs or a hot water bottle it will immediately feel more like being in your arms.

As for trying. If she's obviously distressed I wouldn't keep trying. You will find though that the more she is in there the more comfortable she will feel. But it's hard because you don't want to associate the cot with screaming.

[Arcadia]

I would try settling her on her side and using patting and your voice (I found the low drone of a monk useful).

I would give it ten mins max and if no luck feed her/rock her to sleep and put her back down when asleep. It will take a few weeks to transition fully i think especially since four months is notorious for sleep issues.

[Frangipani Lou]

Do you feed to sleep? At 4 months it wasn't possible anymore to settle and transfer(she'd wake) so i put a cot mattress on the floor and fed DD to sleep on that so I wouldn't need to transfer her. DP would also pat her to sleep on the mattress.
We did this for ages with the mattress In the lounge room so if DD stirred I was closely to resettle her.

[HotI]

Can you set the cot up as a side cart? Then you can lie on the bed and help her to sleep and then sneak away leaving her there.

I also did the mattress on the floor, feed to sleep and leave.

[Beatrix]

Nah she doesn't feed to sleep only at night,

I must admit I'm terrible at her tired signs, no clue what they are and usually miss them. I have just been lazy and let her sleep on me... She likes to hold your hand while she sleeps and I have tried getting her to hold other things but not interested

[Beatrix]

Hotl- that's what we have, I try it but she just stirs constantly and can't get that deep sleep without the body contact and maybe I give in to easily and just give her what she wants but I just don't see any other option cause I won't let her cry, grizzle/protest yes but cry no

[HotI]

It didn't work for DD until she was older either.

DO you have a lambswool underthingy for the cot?

is there a problem with her sleeping in the swing ? might be a middle ground between in your arms and in a cot.

I couldn't get either of mine to sleep in the cot as a cot, so maybe i'm not the best person to offer advice anyway

[Beatrix]

It didn't work for DD until she was older either.

DO you have a lambswool underthingy for the cot?

is there a problem with her sleeping in the swing ? might be a middle ground between in your arms and in a cot.

I couldn't get either of mine to sleep in the cot as a cot, so maybe i'm not the best person to offer advice anyway

Beside the cost of replacing the batteries lol not really (cause as soon as you turn it off she wakes)

[Beatrix]

Well she is in her cot!

Took about 10min of me laying next to her, holding her hand and stroking her face. She's still sort of stirring so I'm just laying on my bed here to reassure her when she needs.

Thank god for IPads!

[Rouge]

Well done! And just remember it'll go backwards and forwards. It's just a matter of reassuring and going back to basics if you need to. I always stayed in the room too

[Beatrix]

Well it lasted a whole 30-40min but progress still.
She didn't have a great deep sleep, was stirring and startling a bit though so will try again next nap time.

[Arcadia]

Remember as the day progresses she will be less likely to settle without help. So maybe target the early naps and just stick her in the sling for the arvo sleep(s).

Yes and it's always three steps forward two back. I'm slightly nervous about my next bubba and day sleeps because dd was hard work in the day, but ds was a piece of cake, so I know it's often just luck of the draw.

[JLeigh29]

DS went through a sleep regression around the 4 month mark, and 30-40 min sleep cycles were the norm. I'd hold and rock him, humming or saying shhhhh, then when he was almost asleep, put him in the cot. He'd usually stir, but if I kept up the shhhhing/humming and kind of did a cuddle/pat (as much body contact as I could mange with him in the cot and me not, lol!) he'd drop off again within a few mins. At about this age though, he went through a stage of fighting sleep. I'd try for 15mins or so, then bring him back out for a 10-15 min play, then start again. DS hated sleeping with/on us after the first two months and hated slings too. He just wanted to be held the entire time he was awake (apparently there was a big difference to him!) so having him sleep in his cot was my sanity time!

[Beatrix]

thanks everyone

unfort so far no more luck, she is asleep in my arms.. everytime i stand up and walk down to the bedroom she opens her eyes!! How does she know?

[~Gee_Whizzy~]

their instinct is scary

have you tried putting something with your scent on it? i found DD1 settled more easily in her cot if i put one of my tops under her head (flat not folded)

[Beatrix]

She has my fav blanket (one I use in winter when snuggled on couch)

I got another 30-40 min from her, but she woke screaming so back in my arms.

Baby steps!

[Frangipani Lou]

We've changed from feeding or cuddling to sleep on the it mattress a whole ago and just use our bed. Not sure what we'll do when she more mobile though.