Help! Little one will only nap when laying on me

[sadielouise1990]

Looking for some advice - my little girl is 15 weeks, and really has a hard time with napping. She's definitely tired, and after a bit of a fight, she will go. However, she will not let me put her down anywhere! I have been desperately trying to put her in her cot/on the sofa/on her playmat once I know she's asleep, but as soon as I even start to move her away from my body she stirs, and then I have tried moving her slowly, or doing it in a swift movement, and nothing works. The moment I put her down she starts crying, and I have settling her once she's down but she just gets more and more worked up!

I'm just really worried that if I don't sort this now, she will always struggle, and I can't get anything done because she wants to sleep on me!

Arrgghhh I have this. Spent till 4am last night trying to put the little cherub down so I could sleep.

Sometimes for me breastfeeding whilst lying down works, so she's asleep then I give her ten minutes and put her in her cradle.

Also swaddling as she wakes herself when she moves her arms and legs. Then it's a repeat of getting her or sleep again etc

I also am v lucky in that my older dc are a lot older than baby so one of them will take her and she tends to fall asleep and let them put her down more easily than I can for some reason.

Other than that if you come up with a solution let me know too, I'm seeing stars I'm so tired.

We also struggle with this. Have recently bought an electric swing which does seem to help though (only used it once or twice, so early days still). I think the movement tricks them into thinking they're still on you.

The important thing is not to put down a baby who is already asleep. Instead get baby to go to sleep where they will stay asleep.

Have you tried relentless bouncing in a bouncy chair (minus the play arch)? Add in a dummy if there is crying.

Mine all did this but it was something they grew out of and I was then able to put them down once they were asleep.

While they were in the 'sleeping on me' phase, I just got comfortable on the couch with the telly. I did my 'jobs' (washing, etc) while awake, just took them from room to room with me, put in bouncy chair/mat while I got things done.

Mine have both been this way. If I'm honest I just got to a point where I accepted it.

DD1 outgrew it by about 7 months and we adopted safe co-sleeping well before then. DD2 is still very little so I imagine we'll be dealing with it for several more months yet.

I know it's really hard but I find that it's easiest to just accept a lot of this stuff as one of those things that young babies just do and to just go with it if you can.

Enjoy the snuggles!

My second did this. She would fall asleep on me in the evenings and I'd let her stay there while I watched telly or did stuff on the computer. DP brought me anything I needed! I'd take her up to bed with me when I went up (we had a 3 sided cot which was the best thing ever. So much easier than trying to get the baby to back to sleep in a standard cot)

It was a phase, she grew out of it soon enough and it didn't lead to any sleep issues at all. She's 4 now and a good sleeper.

I look back on those times fondly. And I really enjoyed the excuse fir a nice sit down every evening!

If I'd had to be up and doing things I would have used the sling while she slept.

Have a think about why you want her to be in bed. If you have a reason you need to not be sitting on the sofa all evening then that's different. But if the only thing you're worried about is making a rod for your own back - forget it! She's still tiny, she doesn't need sleep training she needs her mum!

Enjoy your baby and the nice rest if you possibly can!

If you can just go with it.

I spent nearly all of dc1 babyhood trying to get her to go in a cot after she had fallen asleep on me. We had the odd lucky sleep but mostly we just drove ourselves insane.

Dc2 babyhood was spent snuggling on the sofa, smelling his lovely baby head and kissing his gorgeous face while he slept. House was messy and we ate sandwiches for dinner more times than I really want to admit. I prioritised the things that really had to be done such as laundry, dishes and a quick mop round and pretty much left everything else.

It passes very quickly

Thanks for all the comments. I don't think it helps that she isn't quite used to sleeping in her big cot yet, and this is where I mainly want her to sleep. We've bit the bullet and put her in her big cot for the first time tonight (she's outgrown her Moses basket!!) in our bedroom, so seeing how we get on with that first.

I just feel I get nothing done and find it difficult to accept, as I am not the type to sit still haha!

I do tend to do my jobs while she's awake and she's quite happy most of the time - just with this heat especially, I feel she's getting way too hot sleeping on me. But we know what British summers' are like so can't imagine it will last long!

I used to do any jobs that need doing while baby was awake, then use baby's frequent nap times as my sit on the sofa and do nothing time.

You could do with baby having somewhere to sleep downstairs. The SIDS recomnendation to room share (be in the same room as baby when baby is sleeping) applies 24 hours a day - so until 6 months old baby should sleep in whatever room you are.

More information here:

:www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/room-sharing/

I used a bouncy chair for naps. Other people use a pushchair, travel cot, pram insert, or just your living room floor.

My baby spent the majority of the first 3 months of her life ( during the day)in a sling strapped to me or her Dad, or asleep on me. I watched a lot of Netflix. She never slept in a cot or by herself, we still bed share now and she is three next week. I love it though. A sling allowed me to get things done.