Should my 11 month old still nap on me?

My two never just went off to sleep in their own cots. But it was such a special time together and I didn't mind being there for them when they needed me. Today they are 9 and 12 and confident, happy children. We have such a close bond. I still spend lots of time with them at their bedtimes and it's still great.

I don't think you'll ever look back and regret those naps. In the years to come, you'll look back and cherish those memories. You sound so happy writing about it. Please don't stop because other people tell you your daughter "should" be sleeping in her cot. She'll have so many years ahead of her to sleep in her own bed (and before anyone says, "but she'll never learn to sleep by herself" - ever heard of a 16-year-old needing naps on their mother?). Just enjoy her littleness and the close bond with her for as long as it makes both of you happy.

Absolutely!

If you're struggling to keep on top of things, perhaps reduce the contact naps and use some of the time to get bits done about the house. Personally, I wouldn't be sitting for hours knowing the house is a mess.

Both of mine napped on me...Happy memories watching Greys Anatomy!
DS (6) slept in my bed until age 3 and DD (3) is still in. No stress, just happy little children.

I'm sorry there are so many ignorant uninformed people answering your question. Look at all the research and be comfortable knowing you aren't doing anything bad

If you have an hour or two to be sat down in the middle of the day, I’m pretty envious of you!

I’m sorry your ds is difficult at night time but contact napping doesn’t cause this for everyone. I contact napped with my child till she was well over 1. She’s over 2 now and goes to bed at night okay. It will be different for everyone.

Exactly, it's all cute and cuddly now but when you have spend hours at night either sitting with your dc till they sleep or doing musical rooms at night because they keep waking for years then you will look back and regret it.

I did this with my first and honestly regretted it to this day. He is a terrible sleeper. Speaking to a few friends who have kids with poor sleep habits they did this too. My dc is 8 and still needs me to lie with him to sleep, wakes up during the night to come lie by him, just doesn't sleep well. Otoh we sleep trained my baby at 1 year, and she's 18m now and puts herself to sleep, sleeps through and can keep this routine if we stay anywhere too! At night I put the baby in her cot and have to sit with my ds till he falls asleep! Oh and he had terrible separation anxiety too.

You do need to cut back down as in the future you will resent it .maybe not right now but you will .

My god I miss those contact nails so much, when I try to hug my 2 year old now he says 'stop it mummy' 😢 I only get cuddles on his terms 😂

No one else's business where your DD naps.

As a PP says - there’s a lot of scaremongering that you need to somehow prepare them for other types of naps or sleeping alone. No, children adapt. A baby will know quickly at nursery you aren’t there and it’s a different scenario and therefore she will sleep differently there. No issue.

I contact napped with all 3 of mine and they co sleep and when they need to go in their bed eg if one of them is unwell and I don’t want to spread it, or when I had a new baby so it was unsafe, they trot off very happily to their beds.

I also wouldn’t prioritise housework over the cuddles - fuck that!

Contact naps are great, but getting her used to being put down for them sometimes is also a good idea.

If she can be put down it gives you the flexibility to choose. Fancy a sit down and a contact nap -brilliant! Have guests arriving for dinner in an hour, or you have a stomach bug or you've got a delivery scheduled for half way through - put her down for that one. It also makes it easier if anyone else is looking after her.

I tried to make sure (when on more than one nap a day) that at least one nap was a contact nap, and one wasn't too both keep that closeness and the versatility.

Our son stopped contact napping at 4 months. I think it’s lovely your baby still wants to sleep on you at 11 months. They won’t want to forever, enjoy x

Don't worry, she won't be doing it when she's 30.

Oh and one of mine went to nursery from one.
Every nap at home was either in the pram or sling or breastfed and held for the nap. Naps great from day one at nursery.

Continued to breastfed and contact nap at home. Toddler never once self settled for a nap at home or slept in an cot until napping stopped (not a problem with me) but was napping on their own on a little floor bed Mon - Fri at nursery.

I know SO many people with this experience. We were all terrified that we somehow had to prepare our babies for a nursery routine at home and obviously we couldn’t really but then every one of us discovered that nursery is just a different environment and the baby behaves completely differently there. All the worry was unfounded.

My daughter is 3.5 and most nights I don't put her down in her cot to go to sleep. I lay on the sofa, she lays on me, her head on my chest and we cuddle. I love it. She loves it. I won't always be able to do it. She'll grow out of it as she gets older. So, I'm making the most of the time I have with her now while she's still little and enjoys a cuddle with her mum.

Oh this was the best part of having babies / toddlers!

My kids are older now and I am so, so glad I soaked all of that up as much as I could.

If you're fine with it it's fine. It won't be forever.

I think look ahead to what you need to do in future. If you're back to work in a month or two and she has never had a non-contact nap, I think you're setting her up for problems.

If she's going to be home with you for the foreseeable then there's less pressure to change soon, but you might want to practice cot naps for when she's too big to comfortably lie on you for hours!

If you are both happy then enjoy and cherish the time, you are not doing anything wrong

My favourite memories of maternity leave with all three of mine is cuddling up on the sofa together while they napped on me. It doesn't last long - enjoy it while you can.