Sleep training help!
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So I'm going to play devil's advocate here - do not worry. A big question to ask is do contact naps work for you, and do you enjoy them? Does your body say cuddle and nurse at night? If yes, don't change. The first 3 years of a child's life they're growing and developing rapidly, and one critical part to that is their attachment security. The more you can be responsive to them now, the more they'll have a secure base to launch from and grow into confident adults. So the time you have with them is precious. In nursery they're with different caregivers and in a different environment, so they'll learn different coping mechanisms. They may not sleep at first, but they'll catch up where they can, and should be more familiar with their caregivers over time. They'll always want the 5* package from mum, it's natural. You're their world and they have no idea its 2025 and a cot is safe, they just know when they wake you're not there - it could be growing pains, loneliness, teething, anxiety, hunger... you name it.
How long are you waiting until you put her down? I can’t put my daughter down immediately. I need to give her some time to fall into a deep sleep before putting her down.
I'd like to recommend this FB group (The Beyond Sleep Training Project) for some more situation specific advice for you. Might help reassure or give you some support/ideas to try. 😊 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1844822782469496/?ref=share Sleep training is something introduced to support mothers back into the working world - it goes against eons of evolution and ideally should be a last resort as the wee ones cant self soothe. Another perspective is, if you were that small and unknowing of the world what would you wish for? Some other things to think of are how long do you rock for, or do you feed to sleep? Do you wait until she's in deep sleep before transferring? Is the cot warm or chilly compared to your arms? Are there other ways you can place her down (how she's held as she's lowered)? Does she have to sleep in the cot or would she be OK on a blanket on the floor? Either way, I'll always advocate for an informed choice whatever it may be. 😊
What helped us is gentle sleep training. Our baby would do the same thing. So we put her in her crib one night and of course she screamed. But we did not pick her up. We spotted her in her crib. Rubbed her back, sang, stayed with her. It was really hard. Lasted a while but she eventually fell asleep but woke multiple times that night and we were consistent with leaving her in her crib. Next night she woke less and we consistently would leave her in the crib but try to soothe her in it.the third night. She slept on through the night completely no wake ups. She also will nap in her crib, we put her down drowsy, not sleeping. She was 9 months old when we did this. It is really hard, but was so worth it. Once you put her in the crib, do not take her out to hold her or you have to start the process all over. They will learn to self soothe.