I think you kind of just have to keep trying. Maybe not every day if you don’t feel like it, but a few times a week? They are changing so often that you never know when a new method or the same old method will suddenly work.
And obviously it depends so much on the baby. For us, he was fine with bassinet naps until 5 weeks. Since then he alternates between only wanting contact naps and then every few weeks he gets better at crib naps. Recently at 14 weeks we’ve been doing what another person here said, patting to sleep with pacifier in the crib after he’s already very drowsy.
Seems like he’s gotten to the point where 1) he isn’t always more comfortable being held, and 2) where he has enough awareness that he likes falling asleep and waking up in the same place, rather than being transferred while fast asleep.
My LO is 6m next week and still doing it! Plan to train for naps this weekend. Not excited about it. She does sleep independently at night and puts herself to sleep.
Around 12 months I had enough. He was down to one nap and I couldn’t keep being in bed for 2-3 hours a day. I didn’t have the strength to sleep train him so I just wouldn’t put him to bed and if he wanted to sleep, he could sleep wherever we were. After 3 days, he started pointing to his crib when he was tired. Now he loves his afternoon naps in the crib and I love my 2-3 hour break.
My 3-month-old is rolling over to her tummy now. I just pat her butt in the crib now and she falls asleep. Before that, it was only contact naps for us too. I had to pat her butt while rocking her to get her to fall asleep. Now, when she’s tired, I just set her in her crib and she rolls over and I pat her butt until she falls asleep.
She’s 2 months now and still contact naps a good bit but it’s helped us by trying to do independent naps during the day and not just at night when we are super tired. The biggest thing for us was waiting a few minutes to pick her up when she cries. We used to pick her up right away and I think that actually fully woke her up (hard to go back to bed). A dark room that’s cold with white noise has also helped. Now the most she’s done is 3 hours sleeping independently. Progress is slow but seems to be working.
Almost 9 months and still contact napping She had a brief period around 4-5 months where she did 30 minute naps in the crib but she wasn’t getting enough total sleep so we went back to contact naps. I’m hoping to transition to crib naps in the next couple of weeks as I’d like her to be well experienced in solo napping by the time she starts daycare at 12 months.
At 6 months we still contact nap! Sometimes I can put her down in the bassinet or crib, but she usually sleeps less and it’s quite rare. Maybe 3 or 4 times so far.
As I am reading this I just put baby down for her first afternoon nap in her crib at 12 weeks. She has been asleep in a sleep sack in the crib now for about 20 minutes. I am starting with one nap a day in her crib and then hopefully all naps. I am also hoping to get her used to her crib since we will be moving her to that soon. She has completely outgrown her bassinet she has like one inch left lol.
My LO is the same way; I found the help by swaddling since the swaddle smells like me, he tends to fall asleep and stay asleep. I think he likes the security and I swaddle at night as well so I think he connects it to sleepy time.
We’re a year in and still do the occasional contact nap. She’s gotten so good at napping in her cot but now that she’s only on one nap a day, I don’t mind a cuddle! It’s so draining when they’re on three, four naps a day and won’t be put down. When my daughter was two months old she just didn’t want to be put down to nap ever so it wasn’t till six months we felt ready to get her used to her cot during the day. It was slow going and we still need to rescue the nap sometimes but she got there!
I stopped a few weeks before I went back to work (she was almost 6 months). It went well; the first nap was the easiest. Sometimes I still contact nap on the weekends. Her naps with the nanny are still crap though but I have just accepted that.
She had a brief period around 4-5 months where she did 30 minute naps in the crib but she wasn’t getting enough total sleep so we went back to contact naps. I’m hoping to transition to crib naps in the next couple of weeks as I’d like her to be well experienced in solo napping by the time she starts daycare at 12 months.