Does anyone still cuddle their 1 yo to sleep?

[fluffyanimal]

Or am I just a soft as sh*te bad mother? I know I know I should train him to go to sleep by himself, but I actually really love cuddling ds to sleep. It doesn't affect how well he sleeps and he can readily settle himself if he wakes in the night. Just wanted to know if anyone else still does or whether I am an anomaly?!

[madmarchhare]

If you like to do it, carry on doing it .

[IdrisTheDragon]

Both DH and I sometimes cuddle DD (17 months) to sleep.

[funnypeculiar]

If you like it & are happy - why not?!
I don't (like my evenings too much!) - but dd always comes into bed at 4am and has milk and cuddles then snuggles up with us. Have absoltely no intention of even thinking about trying to stop it - I love it!!

[goingfor3]

I cuddle my dd who's just turned three to sleep.

[damewashalot]

I do and I really should know better as he is ds3 it's nice

[OrmIrian]

I still cuddle my 4yr old to sleep quite often. Usually the only time in the day when I unequivocally love being with him

[stressteddy]

If it feels right - keep doing it. Enjoy all of these precious moments

[Twiglett]

I have never cuddled a child to sleep

although am very happy for my children to share my bed and they often climb in in the middle of the night .. and I will never stop it .. DD does it more often at nearly 3, DS is 6

I think you should see whether he can get to sleep on his own personally .. because that is a skill that babies can lose if they are only ever cuddled to sleep and that isn't fair to the child

[funnypeculiar]

Twiglett - is it really a skill you have a 'window' to learn?? (not challenging, genuinely asking) - why is learning to go to sleep different to learning to resettle yourself??

[Twiglett]

I don't know whether it is .. but you don't know either if you've never just left him .. I do think its very different resettling when you're in snoozy-mode and going to sleep from having an active day

I just wonder whether as they get more aware they are probably more prone to thinking 'oh its sleep time, I'm tired, so I'll just wait for mummy cuddles because that's how I sleep .. I'll wait a bit longer .. where is she .. oh now I'm overtired WWWWWWWAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

IYSWIM

[suejonez]

I never used to but since I have gone back to work he has been very unsettled and I have been cuddling him to sleep. Once we are in some kind of routine I plan to cuddle him to sleep on the days I work but not when he's seen me all day. At least thats the plan.

[Twiglett]

also what if you want to go out before bedtime .. what is a babysitter going to do to get him to sleep?

what if you need to go away for a night, will he accept your partner

I just think its not sensible teaching a child that the way to get to sleep is to have xyz prop unless its a moveable prop like a teddy or blankie

[damewashalot]

Agree with twiglett that it's not the best idea, sort of fell into it as bfed to sleep and would be really gone, nappy change etc wouldn't wake him enough to go down awake and tends to just snuggle up with bedtime milk and nod off.
It gives me a reason to just sit and cuddle him when I spend the rest of my life rushing around.

[funnypeculiar]

Does he settle ok on his own for daytime sleeps? (ie is he learning the 'skill' at other times?) And how long does it take to settle him in the eve?

Are you planning other children? If so you might want to try & make sure he CAN go to sleep on his own if/when you need him to...

[pooka]

When I put ds to bed for his afternoon nap I cuddle him until he falls asleep. IN the evening, we cuddle for a while adn then he goes into his cot and falls asleep himself there. DH never cuddles him to sleep, but that doesn't seem to make a difference - he doesn't not fall asleep if he's not been cuddled.
I like doing it, mostly because I often feel like I get precious little time in the day to cuddle him and really pay him attention (also have dd 3.5).

[fluffyanimal]

Thanks for your replies everyone. In response: at nursery he has his daytime naps and goes to sleep on his own, so I know he can do it. We have tbh never tried it at night but we do have an excellent bed time routine. The babysitter point is a good one - he'll happily be cuddled to sleep by dh as well as me, but we've never been out before he's in bed, we always wait until he's asleep and then go out. I will do it soon (ish ) but my feeble excuse at the moment is that he has had one bug after another since starting nursery and I just don't feel that although I know he is mature enough now to do it, that it is fair to try a new routine until he is completely healthy and not needing extra cuddles.

But I just love that moment when he drifts off looking up at me and relaxes down into my arms awwwwwww .

Soft as sh*te, told you.

[pooka]

I just sit there sniffing ds's hair. It's dreamy