Contact Naps

[AmyMx]

Hey all, first time mum looking for some advice…

Baby boy 4 months sleeps amazing at night can go down in next to me cot on his own and if he wakes up he will get himself back to sleep no issues….

In the day he will NOT sleep unless he is in my arms or in the car, I have tried to swaddle etc white noise I do let him fall asleep in my arms then transfer he stays asleep for maybe 10/15 mins then wakes up and smiling ready to play… The problem is if he is put down he will just completely miss his naps unless held meaning he is then very overtired.

I understand he might want to be close for sleeping so well at night but also worried as people keep saying I will get him into a ‘habit’ and then he won’t go down for naps when he’s a-bit older also I know I am “lucky” that it’s not the other way around and not sleeping at night but I’m kind of confused if he does so well at night why absolutely no chance of a nap on his own in the day??

anyone experienced the same and they grow out of it???

I know you'll have heard this but honestly, the sleeping at night thing is so much more important, my son is 2 and has never slept through, wakes between 2 and 5 times and needs us to resettle him. Exhausted. He was contact napped as he had serious reflux due to cmpa but he did sleep in a moving pram at least so I had some "peace", but for ten months of his life I or my husband sat holding him for every day nap, got nothing done.

We ended up having to call it quits when he got too heavy to rock so we just lay him down in his cot and kept lying him down when he tried to stand up and saying night night lie down, he cried for the first few naps but got used to it. However his night sleep is still crap.

My son did max 30 mins at first on day naps in his cot then they built up gradually and he was doing 2 hrs to 2.5 shen he dropped to one nap. If it was me and I had your sleep situation I'd just keep holding him while he's still so little and has a few naps a day, as its giving him enough rest to then sleep well at night and not be over tired. If you notice any night time disruption or he decides to want to be held at night then you can put him down in the cot and work on none contact naps, usually its patting to sleep sitting by then in their cot and retreating etc.

Thank you for your response! Wow I bet that was hard and it makes me feel almost bad for even writing this but I just can’t wrap my head around what is so different in the day to completely not even entertain it.

I think more so as people were saying he won’t settle if I keep holding him in the day when he gets older but like you say he’s ok a night 🤞. He sometimes wakes up but is ok with dummy or a head stroke then he gets off back to sleep or nappy change etc but not any need for me like the day time.

He does also have reflux but is slightly propt up at night so think that helps x

I think in a choice between good day naps and good night sleep, I would choose night sleep every time, even though I found my crap napper very stressful between 5-7 months (30 minutes naps and hysterical with over tiredness by bedtime).

I put the baby down in the cot for the first nap of the day, but the rest of the day did whatever we had to do to survive - car journeys, contact naps, long pram walks. I would be exhausted from the walk, stop on a bench... PING! Baby's eyes were open again.

While it helps to practice cot naps, I think good independent napping arrives with age and there's not much you can do about it (I certainly tried everything). Magically at 7 months or so, my baby could do two long naps per day in the cot or pram reliably. Before that was chaos, different every day.

Thank you! Yeah no I get that it could be worse, I just worry that he will get “use to it” and not go down for naps without being held for example when he goes to nursery in future I know very long way away & not wishing it away but it’s just a worry.

I probably am really lucky and should just enjoy, I think everyone's opinion's don’t help first time mum commenting on every little thing 😁

Mine grew out of it 🙋 all by himself. I used to worry about it too. I would think he's never going to sleep when I go back to work. But around 8-9 month mark he just stopped contact napping. He started waking up constantly in my arms so I tried him in the cot and he just slept there. I missed it once it ended. All that worrying for nothing but I completely get where you are coming from. Enjoy it if you can (it's great until you need a wee)

Babies change A LOT especially between 6-12 months. You really shouldn't worry about what happens at 7-9-12 months from now.

You are unbelievably lucky that he sleeps through the night (and may that continue!) so just take the win.