Contact naps

[alwaysleeping]

My DD is 4 and a half months and the only way we can get her to nap during the day is if we let her sleep on one of us. The odd time we can put her down and she will stay asleep but most of the time if we do this she will wake up almost immediately. She didn't used to be like this, I used to be able to put her down once she'd fallen asleep on me and she'd have a good 45 mins - 1hr.
Her night time sleep is great, we give her a bottle in bed upstairs around 10:30 and she will sleep through until 6ish.
Am I making a rod for my own back by allowing her to do this? Or do I just carry on and wait until she's a little older before trying to put her down for naps again?

My DD had the majority of naps as contact naps until she was about 8 months old. I worried the same thing- but one day she started pushing away from me as I rocked her to sleep. Put her down in her cot and she’s napped amazingly in there ever since! 😊 wish I hadn’t wasted so much time worrying about it. Enjoy it as long as it works for you!

I know they have the 4 Months sleep regression so maybe her napping will get better after that's over.

I wondered about the 4 month sleep regression, just not sure how long it's supposed to go on for. Also I think she may be teething...
It's good to know you can let them do this and it doesn't affect them sleeping alone when they're older! Also meant to add she sleeps in her nexttome at night with no issues.

my dd only contact napped too and I didn’t see a way out ever as she always woke up before I’d even finished tranaferring her - if she so much as sniffed a transfer she’d be awake. I tried once a week to get her in her cot for naps. Literally once a week and if she woke I aborted it. Suddenly at 8.5 months she didn’t wake and every nap since has been in her cot happy as Larry.

For me I’m personally so glad I didn’t force my Dc to nap alone and that I let her wait until she was ready to do so. In the grand scheme of things what is 8 months of my life.

I do completely get that in can be very tough on the mother so if it is impacting your mental health then obviously it’s worth trying to get her in a cot - but I just wanted to let you know that it can suddenly change even though it may feel never ending.

sorry me again - As per pps I also now regret worrying about it so much. On my bad days when I was frustrated at being nap trapped I’d remind myself that I am lucky to be able to experience this many cuddles with my Dc which did help. It will improve I promise

Contact napped my 2nd until he was about 6-7 months old and he's now a year, has naps in the car, pram, cot, arms...anywhere really. He is genuinely one of the most chilled, settled and happy babys. Started nursery and hasn't cried once, no separation anxiety, just very content :) some babies want contact for longer, some less but I'm always a believer in your back, your rod and no-one else's business. If you're happy to do it, then I don't see any issue.

We had to contact nap until about 6-7 months. Some babies just can’t do it otherwise. There’s no such thing as a rod for your own back at this age, you just have to do whatever you need to do.

Thank you everyone, this is so reassuring. As a FTM you're always second guessing yourself! I am loving the cuddles with her and I want to soak them up as much as I can. She's currently fast asleep on me as I type this!

Ahh mines doing the same! She’s 20 weeks now and she’s now sleeping mostly 6-7 hours during the night but between 2pm and 10pm she only contact naps. Once I put her down she’s wide awake again! She will sometimes have half hour once we put her down but not much. She’s been like this the past few days now. Mine just fell asleep on me, I put her down and straight away woke up. She’s now laid on my bed kicking away haha.