How do I get my 15 week old LO to nap in his cot not his pram?

[rachaelm0]

Hi
I am trying my hardest to get my lo into his cot for a nap (he is 15 weeks).  He'll normally naps for 40 minutes (that's another problem for later!) in his pram pushing him back and forth.  I have tried to put him down in his cot before and he just cooed and smiled at me, after advice on BW I was told he maybe undertired.  I am now waiting until he is yawning etc, doing a wind down routine-reading, sitting quietly (20mins), but he just can't seem to go down in his cot (his A time 1hr 45).  Today he cried for an hour, despite me doing the sshh/pat pupd routine.  He was so tired at the end that I got him up, fed him and he fell to sleep on my boob. 

I have considered moving the pram up to the nursery and pushing him back and forth in there, less and less until I can eventually get him into his cot.  The problem is I have tried to reduce the time I spend pushing him back and forth and he wakes up and starts to cry.  Should I just persevere? 

[anna*]

Shush pat is probably the way to go. The first time you do it, it is to be expected that he might just cry and not nap, but if you persevere he will get the hang of it. Is he swaddled? That can help. And a nice predictable wind-down routine can help too. Shush-pat for 45 mins, if he's still crying then take a break, feed, change nappy if necessary, then start shush-pat again. He will sleep, eventually. And the next time you do it will be easier.

[rachaelm0]

Hi
No I've never swaddled him and now he sucks his fingers so I don't like to restrict that.  I did sshh/pat today and it's so tiring.  Should I keep doing it even if he stops crying? or just while he cries? Then if that doesn't work and he continues to cry, should I do the pupd?

[anna*]

Do you have any of the BW books, they have much more detail on shush-pat for different age groups. You can swaddle with one arm out, which you may find helps him to settle. There's some more detail on shush-pat in this post I wrote: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=141579.msg1557805#msg1557805

If shush-pat doesn't work, you can then move on to PUPD. To be honest, at this age there is not a whole lot of difference. With shush-pat, you shush-pat til he is all the way calm, then lay him down and continue to shush-pat. With PUPD at 4 months, you shush-pat until he stops crying, then lay him down and continue to try to settle him in his cot, pick up again if he really upset and not settling.

It is hard work - PUPD and shush-pat both require consistency and commitment to make them work. But, if you can see it through they really are effective ways of teaching independent sleep without resorting to CIO/CC.

[rachaelm0]

Hi
I've been doing this routine for 4 days now, have been consistent and persistent with my approach and really can't keep it up and letting my baby cry.  No matter whether I do the sshh/pat, pupd, the only way I can get him to sleep in his cot is if he is completely knackered with resisting.  I have also introduced a wind down routine and that doesn't help either.  It seems as soon as I start to read to him now he starts crying because he knows what's coming next.

Where do I go from here?

[anna*]

Can you post your routine? It might be that he's overtired, that's often what's behind sleep resistance.

[rachaelm0]

Wakes:0730, up 0800
E:0830
A:0845-0900, then 30mins wind down
S:0930 (depending how long it takes to settle in his cot)-1010
E:1030ish
A:1010-1210 (incl wind down)
S:1210-1245
E:1300ish
A:1245-1445 (incl wind down)
S:1445-1525ish
E:1600
A:1525-1800 (incl bath, massage, feed-usually will take both breasts at bed)
S:1800
DF:2200/2300
DF:0300/0400
Wake:0500/0600 & feed, goes back to sleep until
Wake:0700/0730 (coos to self in cot)
Up:0800

I know my lo is overtired as he will only sleep for 40minutes at the most in the day.  I have tried to do sshh/pat before he wakes also when he wakes and my lo won't settle back down even though he is clearly still tired and will just cry until the remainder of the sleep times has been and gone.  I do breastfeed and on top of these times as I do so on demand and so he will usually only feed for 10-15 mins at a time and rarely takes both breasts during the day (but usually will at bed).  These times above can vary.  If my lo appears tired I will try to get him down earlier.  Today he was rubbing his eyes only one hour after waking, so I know he needs more sleep.

[anna*]

I think that shortening the A times might help him to settle more easily. 2hrs of awake time is manageable by some at 4 months, but that's after a long nap or a good night. After a short nap you'll need to cut that back, I would try to have him asleep 1.5hrs after waking tomorrow, and if you get another short nap, cut the next A back by another 10 mins. If it's stressing you out, don't spend time trying to extend the nap with shush-pat, just do a short A time and put him down early for his next nap.

Also, if he is really resisting his wind-down, you can cut it right back. Some of them prefer a really short wind-down, just (for example) into nursery, draw curtains, swaddle, song, into cot (and start shush-pat/PUPD as necessary).