Baby will only sleep on me ?

[LizzeyBenett]

So I'm not sure if I have created a Velcro baby she is only going on 6 weeks so I feel like it's probably natural that she would rather sleep on me ? But during the day especially we can not get her to sleep unless I'm out her on my chest and stay there , the minute I move her ahead wakes. We have done everything from walks to white noise , dark room but she is fighting her sleep like nothing I have ever seen eventually she will be so tired she will fall asleep on my chest . Am I creating a Velcro baby ? I literally can't get her to sleep any other way . Can I ask what everyone else does ? How do get them down during the day ? What's the routine ? Do you out them down in another room or in a Moses basket in the room you are in ?

Moses baskets are great or try a mumaruga zensling. Very comfortable and easy to carry baby in. Shes still very young so don't worry yet, she needs to be with you and that's ok

Obviously at night don't sleep with her on you. Come cosleep but you need to do this safely or use a moses or next to me cot

Thank no it's not at nights he sleeps ok at night weirdly but for what ever reason has started fighting her sleep terribly during the day

Sounds fine to me and completely normal. Use a sling if you need to move around and have your hands free. Or have her sleep in the pram on a walk and push into the house.

If you really want to do naps in a cot, you just have to persist and see what works for her.

Both of mine pretty much slept in a sling when tiny and then in pushchair or car when out and about. They almost never slept in a cot for naps. It didn’t create any issues. They moved on to sleeping independently when a bit older.

Your baby is in her Fourth Trimester so it’s totally normal that she is reassured by sleeping on you as if she’s still inside of you. You are not creating bad habits /velcro baby so don’t worry.

During the next few weeks she will become better at sleeping apart from you but it takes time - she was inside you for 9 months and has only had 6 weeks to get used to life outside the womb which is bright, loud and very different to what she’s used to.

Babies are meant to be held, it's soo tough but if you're able and happy to do it it won't harm them or create bad habits. I loved contact naps with my DD up until she was just over 2 and grew out of needing a nap altogether. For other people she would just lie down on the floor or chair for a nap at that point (obviously not the latter when she was younger and this would have been unsafe) and I think I could have put her down more if I'd tried but I loved sitting with her on me 😍

It's normal for this age, but if you'd rather not you have to keep trying to put her down and eventually it will work!

Mine would only settle on DH at after waking at night for the first 9 weeks. I then went abroad with DC and my parents and without DH, and just settled them in a cot at night, they cried very briefly the first night or two and then self-settled. So it's very early - honestly I think it's no biggie at this stage if she'll only settle on you, they don't develop 'habits' at this age, it's all pretty chaotic. Keep trying putting her down to sleep without you and if it's hopeless, give it a rest for a few days but you'll probably find she settles alone within the next 6 weeks if you keep trying.

What do you do at night?

It is normal. My eldest was like this but did progress to non contact naps when a few months old. Have you got a carrier or sling? I would try putting her in there so you can at least have your hands free when she naps

Thanks all yeah I've ordered a baby carrier / sling so will give that a go

My daughter encouraged her daughter to sleep in her Moses basket rather than on a person ( anyone was fine!) when she was about three weeks old. She has a dodgy back from a horse riding injury so found a baby wrap very uncomfortable. She warmed the mattress with a hot water bottle wrapped in a T-shirt that she had worn before putting baby down after a feed. Whether it was the warmed mattress or mummy’s smell we don’t know but almost immediately she settled to sleep in the Moses basket or the next to me.

I also reccomend a sling. We had to do all day naps in sling until baby was 4 months. Now at 5 months he's sleeping in his crib.
Try not to worry about creating bad habits, it won't :)

DD contact napped until 5 months and DS contact napped and co slept until 7 months but they are both now brilliant sleepers. DS is just 8 mo but is now sleeping in his cot in his own room for his naps and sleeping through the night in there so I can categorically say (for us) it gets better. I spent so long stressing with both of them that they'd never sleep on their own and they both got there on their own and I wish with both I'd spent less time stressing about it and more time enjoying the snuggles because, even though I love having freedom in the evening and having them sleep through, I do kind of miss the sleepy cuddles.

Honestly, go with the flow and enjoy contact naps with your tiny baby. I promise she won't be sleeping on you until she's 12.

Babies need what they need, it's not a 'bad habit' and if that's to sleep on you it won't be doing her any harm.

Keep testing the water putting her down and she will when she's ready. Also a small advice I learnt with my second. When you can put her down, if she's stirring or fussing but not actually crying don't rush to pick her up. This can actually be a way that babies settle themselves to sleep. (Do pick up if crying or distressed obviously)

Learnt this accidentally when I had no choice but to deal with toddler sister!