How much do you hold your baby at 7-8 months?

[Lacrymosa]

I'm sure there is no SET amount, I'm wondering though... I feel like Asia is usually doing tummy time, or in her walker with toys, or being worn around (maybe 2 hours a day), or taking naps, or we're 'playing' or reading books together. And this is what her day consists of. I often worry that she isn't being held/touched enough. I've been letting her 'do her thing' when she is playing with toys and seems entertained, which I used to not do, so this is probably why I'm feeling this way.

Just wondering, how much time each day would you estimate you spend holding/wearing/playing one-on-one with your babies?

Probably an incredibly stupid question..

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by Lacrymosa

I'm sure there is no SET amount, I'm wondering though... I feel like Asia is usually doing tummy time, or in her walker with toys, or being worn around (maybe 2 hours a day), or taking naps, or we're 'playing' or reading books together. And this is what her day consists of. I often worry that she isn't being held/touched enough. I've been letting her 'do her thing' when she is playing with toys and seems entertained, which I used to not do, so this is probably why I'm feeling this way.

Just wondering, how much time each day would you estimate you spend holding/wearing/playing one-on-one with your babies?

Probably an incredibly stupid question..

Uhm, maybe 2-3 hours a day I'm either holding her or playing with her and her brother. The rest of the time she's either playing on the floor, sitting in her high chair eating or napping. She's at a point now where she'd rather be down on the ground playing than be held. Today I tried to wear her while doing yard work, but she fussed until I set her on the trampoline to watch me and practice picking up tiny bits of dirt. She also really likes to use my hands and walk around, so I spend a decent amount of time sitting on the floor while she practices standing/walking.

[jckkeith]

From personal experience I held my baby all the time she liked it and so did .She is 7 months today and now she doesn't even like me to hold her anymore she wants to move around so I don't think it did anything. At that age they need you to hold them so go for it.

[PrincessAnika]

to be honest i never thought about it before....i hold her when she wants held, let her play when she wants to, and play with her when she wants it. naps as needed, and go from there. some days she wants held more than others - i just try to follow her cues and go with it.

[staceychev]

It really depends on the child! I wore my DD all the time on my back in a Mei Tai at that age. She was always the most content snuggling with me and observing the world from that vantage-point. Other kids seem to want to be on their own more. Listen to your child and pay attention to her cues... she'll "tell" you what she needs!

[red and lulu]

it feels like i'm holding or wearing my 7 mo dd all day, which wasn't the case just a month or two ago. i'd say these days she spends less than an hour a day sitting by herself in her high chair or playing... the rest of the time she is in my arms, in the wrap, on my lap..... she's on the cusp of crawling though, and once she gets moving i suspect she'll want to be down more.

i agree with pp though... just follow her cues. if she's happy doing her own thing, that's great.

[Heidi74]

It varies a lot, but I think the average is probably somewhere between 2 and 3 hours for us too. He enjoys playing on the floor with his brother, sleeps 3 or 4 hours total for naps, and also spends quite a bit of time in the stroller when we're out for walks. (Since my baby enjoys being in the stroller, I tend to wear his older brother on my back when we're outside...to get some toddlerwearing time with him. I carry the baby so much when doing chores indoors.) I feel like he's on my back a lot indoors, but it's probably no more then 2 or 3 hours total.

EDIT-Just wanted to add that we do bedshare at night, so he gets a lot of snuggle time then too. I'm actually really glad that he gets that one-on-one time at night, because he has to share me with his brother all day.

[BlueWolf]

I hold my DD as much as she wants to be held, which is probably 3-4 hours a day. She spends a lot of time playing with her toys on the floor, but I'm down there with her doing my own thing. Sometimes she just needs mommy cuddle time, and will spend hours crawling over me and touching me. Sometimes she wants nothing to do with me. I just follow her cues.

[Lacrymosa]

Oh, thank you! This is very helpful, see she's definitely getting to the point where she doesn't always WANT to be held, but I still worried she needed lots of one-on-one contact. I'm doing better about letting her do her own thing though when she's happy doing it.

I guess it's making me a little sad she doesn't always want to be held, too, haha.

Thanks for the responses.

[lilabet]

I WOHM full time and Monday to Friday I hold him at least two hours a day, weekends about 6 or 7 I should imagine.

[batsister]

It's hard to put a number on it, because I usually hold my son for relatively short periods before he wants to crawl around/play in his jumperoo/etc. again. However, I do wear him a fair amount (especially in the evenings when he often wants to be held but not be sitting still, or when I need to cook dinner or something and need to keep him out of trouble). Like others have said, I hold him when he wants to be held, and let him play when he wants to play. He does not usually want to just sit quietly on my lap at this point, though (he is 7.5 months old). I understand feeling a little guilty, but then I remember that I am still following his cues, and babies this age are not like newborns in their needs (i.e., regarding time being held). He also sleeps up against me all night and on me for some naps; does that count?