Help! 4 month old wants to be held ALL the time

[NooNooMummy]

Is there anything I can do about this? Will she grow out of this?! She's a contented baby, sleeps well at night (ie from 8pm-ish to 6am-ish with a midnight feed) and she feeds well.

BUT - she refuses to nap anywhere other than in my arms or in her daddy's arms and, if we're lucky, she'll sometimes agree to lie in her pram for a while and have a little nap when I take her for a walk. She also doesn't like to be on her own for more than 10mins - eg she starts to get upset if she's on her playmat alone for more than a few mins.

I totally understand her point of view - ie who wants to play on their own?! and why would you lie in a moses basket when you can sleep in mummy's arms?! - and i am fine with it for as long as she needs this but it's exhausting and I'm wondering when I might start having a few mins to do stuff when she plays/ sleeps. And is there anything I can do to help her get there?

Bump

Maybe I should put this in Am I Being Unreasonable?

Have you considered a sling/carrier? It sounds like exactly what you need.

I honestly cannot recommend them enough. However- if you want it to be comfortable for you and your baby you need to make sure you getter a proper wide seat one, with good support, not the high street baby bjorn type. Google a bit and you'll see what I mean. Manduca, Connecta, Tula are example of very good ones. you can put it on, baby falla alseep and you can get on with stuff. You can even breastfeed with baby in the sling and nobody can tell!

There may well be a sling group near you with who can help you try a few before you spend money, and many places have sling libraries where you can hire them to try.

If you are on facebook, there are groups there that sell them second hand quite cheaply. They are mostly closed groups that you ask to join. It's all very friendly.
www.facebook.com/groups/affordable.slings/
www.facebook.com/groups/babywearing.fsot/

They aren't cheap but it's money well spent, because you can sell them on and they keep their value.

Get a really good sling a proper one like a ergo or tula. Then you can do what ever you need while still carrying her. she will grow out of it at some point but no one can tell you when as they are all different. A sling really help us DD want to keen on the pram and never liked her play mat. it wasn't until she was mobile that she got more ok nterested in toys. And all ellectronics they aren't supposed to play with.

What I also meant to say is, it's quite normal. I know it's exhausting. It does get easier, when they get bigger and can play a bit more by themselves.

My wee one is the same - sleeps well at night but only naps properly if she is being held. I do have a sling for her to sleep in so I can still do stuff during the day and she had just started to have her morning snooze in a wee swing seat. I don't think I have much in the way of advice but I am just assuming it will get better as she gets older? (Fingers crossed!)

My ds1 was like this. I carried him in a sling a lot, in and out the house 4 months was the worst, he went through the 4 month sleep regression really badly. He did love the jumperoo and I gradually got him used to entertaining himself in there while I pottered in and out the room doing housework. He was a late crawler, but as soon as he realised he could move himself about he was much happier.

Aah! Thank you, everyone.