Baby won’t nap in the day unless he’s on my chest

[BS222]

This might be weird I don’t know. I’m a first time mum to a baby boy, he’s 12 weeks old tomorrow and he is the best sleeper at night and can sleep through in his next to me between 6-10 hours (not to brag I know how hard it is when they don’t sleep!!) but I’m having trouble getting stuff done in the day because he will not stay asleep unless he is on me... If I put him down he wakes up in about 5 minutes and is then pissed off that he’s awake and gets really fussy and hard to settle again. I am in no way complaining as I know he sleeps well during the night but I feel so touched out and I just want my arms back for a few hours a day so I can sort my mess of a house out and I just can’t understand why he isn’t bothered about comfort in the night but needs me so much during the day.

My 2nd was like this. I had a sleepy wrap sling which he used to sleep in. I also used nap time as an excuse to watch rubbish tv or read my book!! But the sling was great when things needed to be done.

My baby is exactly the same! I try to get at least one pram nap in a day and then at least one in the carrier while I potter round the house. It’s hard - I get so down some days when I feel like I’m stuck to the sofa.

It’s pretty normal. Generally, I think you can have/make a baby who naps in a cot in a dark room or you can have/make a baby who sleeps on you and on the go. You can fight it and try to change it (with varying success) or you can roll with it.

Neither of mine ever napped in a cot. They napped in a sling, in a bouncer, in the car, on walks, on my chest while I watched tv or read a book. Honestly, sometimes you just don’t get stuff done. You just sit and read a book during naptime. It’s much easier in the long run.

I’d then hand them off to Dh for a couple hours as soon as walked in the door and I had plenty of uninterrupted time to get stuff done. Anything I didn’t finish, he did while I was doing bedtime.

Thank you so much🩵🩵🩵 I have a baby carrier but it doesn’t seem very comfortable for him to sleep in he looks a bit stiff in it 🤣🤣 so I will have a look for a sleepy sling. And will also try not to worry too much about the house. My mum and mother in law have been helping as much as possible but I just feel so bad sometimes because I feel like I should be doing it and be able to manage it all, but it’s better to accept help than not xx

My 3 month old is the same and sleeps fairly well at night in his crib. I have seen so many threads like this, including my own a few weeks ago. So I think this must just something be very very normal, that babies eventually grow out of. I don’t think there is much we can do. I just try to make sure the place is tidy in the morning and do a bit of tidying when my husband is home. I am now very used to eating with one hand.

My little girl was exactly the same! The sling is a god send she loved it and I could get some bits done so I really recommend it.
also don’t be too harsh on yourself. This won’t last forever and as frustrating as it is it won’t last forever so try and embrace these sleepy cuddles.
I felt the same as you and would get so frustrated but my baby is nearly 6 months now and it just flies by so fast! We still have a lot of contact naps and I can catch up on my shows and have a hot cup of tea!

The eating with one hand especially the left one I have not yet mastered, I keeping dropping leaves and sweetcorn on my little one’s head 🤣🤣 🙈🙈 it most definitely does seem to be normal they must just want to get as many cuddles in the day to make up for night time. I’ve been doing tidying at night when he’s in bed but then I clock watch to see how much sleep I’ll lose by not sleeping when he’s asleep 🤣🤣🙄xx

My dd did this as a baby 🥺🥰

Hopefully it means you will be close forever ❤️