Velcro baby - give me your top tips!

[blockopop]

My 9 week old boy is getting more needy by the day! During the day, he will only nap on me and when he's awake, he must be held at all times otherwise he has a meltdown. At night he'll sleep in his next 2 me between the hours of 7pm and 3am (wakes up every 2 hours for a feed) and then must be held until we start the day at 7am.

Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with this kind of baby? How can I get more done in the day and is there a way for me to encourage him to be more independent?

No idea about the daytimes, but after 3pm I'd co-sleep rather than hold him so you can get some Zzzz.

My DD was like this, and it got much better at about 4 months. It felt like a miracle having full use of my arms again

A good wrap sling will be your best friend - mine was the best thing I've ever bought! Good luck, it's tough when they go through this stage but I promise it doesn't last. Hopefully you've got someone around to share the load and, I know its easy for me to say, try not to worry about it and enjoy the closeness. One blink and you'll be chasing your toddler around and begging him for a cuddle (personal experience!).

Accept this is how he is now, and maximise contact time (a visit to a sling library will help with this) during the day. It will pass, and you won’t make him clingy. IME, the more cuddles during the day (I used a stretchy wrap), the better chance of a decent chunk of sleep by themselves at night.

I still remember my dd running off into nursery at 2.5 without a backward glance, and thinking ‘well, that HV who told me all that sling time would make her clingy was definitely wrong’.

Babywearing is the only thing that helped. Try not to worry, there isn't anything you can do to make them more independent at this age anyway. They may become more independent as they get older.

Sling and Co sleeping and try and enjoy it and get some good series to watch whilst they sleep. Accept that not much will get done (I only got a cleaner in the days of maternity leave as could not cope and food was very quick stuff =

Yes, a sling was great for us. Really helped.

Sling and co-sleeping. When I started Co-sleeping Dd would go 3-4 hours between feeds rather than every 1-2. Was great!

I wish I'd had mumsnet and the sling advise when my DS was a baby. He was like this for a long time. In my experience it made him more confident as he got older. I'd read the advise of never force or push them away as they became toddlers. He is very confident and independent after all that holding and comfort and certainly knows he is loved .

Sling

Sling

Sling library

Sling

Sling Facebook groups

Sling

Sling on repeat

Also, time - it won’t always be like this

And you can’t spoil a baby

I forgot to mention that my back is screwed from the birth as he was back to back so wearing him is out of the question at the moment

A good sling should not put anymore pressure on your back than holding him in your arms - if anything, it spreads the weight more evenly.

I can fully recommend sling libraries. Mine literally saved my sanity when I took my unsettled newborn (also back-to-back labour) to a 1:1 introduction session. They may not be lending slings just now, but they may be doing private sessions.

Obviously, you know your own body, but I would seriously reconsider giving a properly fitted sling a try.

Agree with @Ihaveoflate - a good sling will be better for your back than holding him all the time. His weight will be distributed across your core and waist, rather than your back and shoulders.

I was put off babywearing initially because my first experience of a carrier was a BabyBjorn, which felt like I was taking all of my DD's weight around my neck. With some help from an experienced friend, I quickly got the hang of a stretchy sling (mine was a Kangawrap I think, but they're all pretty similar!) and it was a total revelation. Your baby won't feel heavy in it, and you'll be able to get your arms back! Give it a try anyway. Good luck!