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Original poster

Leaving baby in room to nap - what age?

51 replies

McOrange · 31/08/2022 13:44

Hi,

I’ve got a one month old who usually sleeps in a next to me crib but once / twice a day I’ve been putting her for a nap in her big cot in her nursery. So far, I’ve been staying in the room with her and browsing MN / eating my lunch etc or flitting in and out to sort laundry and tidy her room etc but I’d like to start using this time to do things like cooking / working out.

I know they’re meant to stay with you at all times sleeping until 6 months but it would be much easier to do those things with her in her cot rather than being in a pram / Moses basket etc with me. Just wondering what others did and when you started leaving them for naps a bit more? I think one month old is too little but probably comfortable with three months…

She was born full term, big baby, EBF

OP posts:
hotelp · 31/08/2022 13:56

Could you get a mobile sleep space (e.g. Moses basket) and have the baby in the same room as you?
I wouldn't leave a 1 month old alone. The risks are probably pretty small in terms of how many people would experience SIDS but the outcome is so unthinkable I wouldn't recommend it.

StrawberryShortcake01 · 31/08/2022 13:57

I did it from birth - if they fell asleep in one room in their bouncer I would leave them in the room, keep the door open and do what I had to do in the rest of the house.

RefuseTheLies · 31/08/2022 14:00

I still stay with my 14 month old while she naps. But that’s mainly because I like to nap too 😆

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Hugasauras · 31/08/2022 14:01

I come in and out frequently but I have another child so if DD2 falls asleep in one room and DD1 needs help with something in the other room or wants some food then I go and do that. I feel comfortable that as long as I'm checking in and out it's okay as I don't think there's a really practical way to live otherwise!

She does sleep in the sling a lot - that might allow you to do some more extended things. Or in the pram so you can wheel her into whatever room you're in? I wouldn't leave her solidly for an hour or something in another room.

Cynderella · 31/08/2022 14:02

StrawberryShortcake01 · 31/08/2022 13:57

I did it from birth - if they fell asleep in one room in their bouncer I would leave them in the room, keep the door open and do what I had to do in the rest of the house.

We did what is now called co-sleeping for years, but during the day, they slept upstairs if other children home or it was noisy and downstairs if it was just me at home. Good to get them used to both, I think.

Original poster
McOrange · 31/08/2022 14:04

I did say in the OP but perhaps didn’t word it clearly enough - yes I could use a pram or Moses basket or sling (and do for the other naps) but I’d like to use this time to cook things like spicy curries or workout which isn’t very practical with having a baby around so I’d like to be able to leave her in the cot for those times

OP posts:
INeedNewShoes · 31/08/2022 14:10

I left DD alone for naps from around 1 month old, but I would do jobs on the same floor as her so that there was noise around her. I think a lot of the danger for young babies sleeping alone comes from being in absolute silence, so I would rattle around sorting laundry or cleaning upstairs if she was in the moses basket in my room, or if I wanted to be cooking/eat I'd put her outside the back door in her pram. At my parents' house she'd be in the hallway in the pram while we ate in the dining room.

She actually didn't fall asleep well with me around. She didn't feed to sleep so it was better to feed her so she was relaxed and then put her in her cot/pram and leave her to it.

Savingpeoplehuntingthings · 31/08/2022 14:12

I left mine to nap from birth. Baby monitor on, got on with what I needed to do.

milawops · 31/08/2022 14:14

From about 6 weeks I would put both mine in their cots to nap while I cleaned/workout out/actually drank a coffee while it was still warm. I have a monitor in their room with a sensor pad under the mattress so I could keep an eye on them

hotelp · 31/08/2022 14:20

McOrange · 31/08/2022 14:04

I did say in the OP but perhaps didn’t word it clearly enough - yes I could use a pram or Moses basket or sling (and do for the other naps) but I’d like to use this time to cook things like spicy curries or workout which isn’t very practical with having a baby around so I’d like to be able to leave her in the cot for those times

Yes I got that from the OP, my response still stands, it's not recommended. That said, many people will take the risk and be fine, it's your decision.

elenacampana · 31/08/2022 14:21

I think she was about 6 weeks when we stopped using the Moses basket for her daytime sleep. I tried the next to me cot in our room but it was impractical whenever I was in our room too so I started putting her in her own cot in her room. I had the monitor on and would pop in on her as and when, as would her dad as he works on the same floor. She’s nearly 10 months now and all sleep is in her own room day or night, when we’re at home.

KweenieBeanz · 31/08/2022 14:34

Just use a monitor?

Cynderella · 31/08/2022 15:07

KweenieBeanz · 31/08/2022 14:34

Just use a monitor?

We used one. For my granddaughter, we had a video app that my daughter paid for. We started with a free one which was fine, but whatever the limitations were, she felt it was worth paying for one, as it wasn't expensive.

Sunshineday2 · 31/08/2022 15:09

I did wait until 6 months because of the risk of sids, but I think I was in the minority. You need to make the choice you think is best for your circumstances.

lilroo87 · 31/08/2022 15:13

6 months but actually my DD rarely slept in her crib, always had to be on me so in a sling.
Even with a monitor it's hard to detect if they're breathing. Really, I wouldn't risk it until atleast 6 months.
By 6 months the SIDS risk has reduced but basically gone by 12 months.
Ive worked out with my DD strapped to me (while she was asleep) or cooked while she napped.
It's completely up to you and you just have to do your research on the risks and make that decision for you.
To me, it wasn't worth the risk of anything happening and me missing it

SalviaOfficinalis · 31/08/2022 15:14

I never has this conundrum as mine wouldn’t nap without being held until 6 months.

Alone while you potter around in the same room/ or in and out of another room with the door open - fine. I wouldn’t want to be in a completely different room cooking until quite a bit older.

Also this lovely napping in the cot might not last, so enjoy it and don’t feel pressure to be productive all the time.

Blueeyedgirl21 · 31/08/2022 15:17

For those of you who genuinely don’t leave the room whilst your baby sleeps, how do you get anything done? Do you really not even pop in and out the room? How do you shower or eat?!

QuiteContinental · 31/08/2022 15:18

Would she not sleep through the workout/spicy curry? Little babies quite often like a good bit of noise!

lilroo87 · 31/08/2022 15:24

Blueeyedgirl21 · 31/08/2022 15:17

For those of you who genuinely don’t leave the room whilst your baby sleeps, how do you get anything done? Do you really not even pop in and out the room? How do you shower or eat?!

Made food/drink while she was in the sling
Shower when DP home
My DD was very much a barnacle baby so the sling was a lifesaver for me as I could never really put her down as she was not happy

BigWoollyJumpers · 31/08/2022 15:33

Pretty much from birth. In their own rooms, or out in the garden in a pram. They slept or amused themselves watching the mobile or leaves on the trees.

These things are always a personal choice, and a personal view on risk. It is recommended in this country, but other countries are different, so who is right and who is wrong?

Blueeyedgirl21 · 31/08/2022 15:34

I feel like the answer to everything on mumsnet is ‘use a sling’ - my baby likes to sleep in her Moses and pram , she doesn’t mind a sling but it’s not possible to run around putting washing away, scrub the kitchen floor etc with her in one !

gogohmm · 31/08/2022 15:35

Never had this issue as they never slept unless touching me

20viona · 31/08/2022 15:36

I used to always leave my daughter napping while I went and did chores prob from a month or so old. How else do you get things done lol

CoreyTaylorsbiggestfan · 31/08/2022 15:37

I got the baby used to day time noise so wherever I was pottering on she napped next to me, either in the Moses basket/crib etc. Never used a sling around the house. Our downstairs is quite small so if I was in the kitchen I would pop her between the kitchen and livingroom door in her Moses basket and she could hear me and I could hear her.
At 6 months she's napped in her crib! But mostly daytime naps were in pram or Moses basket before that

WavePlant · 31/08/2022 15:39

Really wouldn’t. But it sounds like you’re looking for justification to do so so in your case I would only do so with something f like an angel care alarm and sleep apnoea mat

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