Should I stop my baby napping in my arms??

[sunseaandme]

DS 5 months will only nap in my arms. If I put him down once asleep he will wake up within 5-10 mins maximum. I do like the cuddles but I worry about making a rod for my own back. What do I do to get him to nap in his cot? Or will he eventually just nap in his cot without me 'doing' anything?

If it makes a difference he sleeps fine in his cot at night it's just naps he will only sleep on me

Thanks x

I'd try to get them in a cot for the main nap. I used to put my DD down for the lunchtime nap in a cot, but the morning and afternoon naps were snuggles with me.

She dropped the afternoon nap at 7 months and the morning one at about 10 months. At that stage she just then had a long cot nap after lunch which left t me able to get on with other things.

I still miss those snuggles though! It's hard to give them up 🥰

Just to add - it took about a week to get her in the cot for the lunchtime nap. I had to make sure she was really tired and usually full of milk so really sleepy!

Enjoy the cuddles - eventually they sleep alone or don’t nap anymore. From 1 mine just napped on the sofa - never did anything other than contact nap.

If its working for you, you don't need to change anything. They'll stop doing it when they're ready.

My DS used to sleep in my arms until everything became too distracting. He's nearly 10mo now and I really miss contact naps!

No!!! Unless you have other children you’ve abandoned to be able to do so.

Seriously if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. They develop and change all the time at that age, irreversible habits is pretty impossible.

I wouldn’t. Mine is 9 now and I really miss those days.

Ds is 16 months and he doesn't nap unless he's in the carrier or in the car 🤷‍♀️ He will occasionally nap at home cuddled up to us but he rarely chooses to nap 😅 We cosleep and breastfeed every night and I am happy with this. He won't be little forever so I'm enjoying the closeness while I can ❤

Mine are 10 and 7 and I just wondered the other day why I wasted so much time trying to get them to nap in their cots when they wanted to be held. I hoovered every day and spent far too much time ironing baby clothes! I would love to have that time back just sitting holding them.