sleeping in the carrier a no-no?

[hilty]

My son is almost 4 months old and we are just starting the EASY routine. Up until now, he has been pretty good at sleeping for about 12 hours at night with 2 wakes to feed. I was bringing him into our bed after his early morning feed (5am ish) as he would have a hard time going back to sleep and it helped keep my sanity. I'm trying to break that bad habit now and teach him to get back to sleep on his own.

For his naps, I have rarely been successful at putting him in his bed to nap - as a result we got into the habit of napping in the swing in the kitchen, in the carseat while running errands, or in the baby carrier during our daily walk. He also has really short daytime naps (30-45 mins) unless he's in the carrier, where he'll sleep for an hour and a half or so if permitted. I'd like to teach him to nap in his bed during the day, but I still want to continue my daily walks. Is it bad if he sleeps in the carrier during my walks? Should I schedule my walk for a time when he's awake instead of a time near his nap? If he falls asleep in the carrier anyway, do I just count that as one of his naps and adjust the time of his next nap accordingly?

Thanks for your help!

[debo620]

I think a bit of both. Certainly if you are sleep training then the crib is prefferable for the two main naps. At 4months---he should be on 2 x1.5hr  or so naps plus a catnap of  30-45min. The catnap is considered a freebie and that can be done in the car/stroller etc. There are advantages to having a child who will take a decent nap in the car seat when you are travelling etc. -----so I would keep this up every once and awhile once you have the sleeping in the crib thing well established.

[KathrynK]

agree with deb about keeping up the naps out and about once you have good napping established- but the key I think is to get that good napping right to begin with. It always needs consistency so you may find you have to give up those trips out whilst lo is napping for a week or so and be home at every nap time so lo can get used to his bed. You might feel a bit housebound during this time but trust me it is so worth it if you can get him napping well in his own bed!