Do your babes take their naps in a sling?

[sammymama]

Hi Mamas,

I have a 10 month old baby girl who looooves her sling. I am grateful for it b/c she sleeps great in it (two 1 1/2 hr naps a day, and then "bed" at 7ish, until I go up around 9 and then she sleeps in bed with us). However, she's getting kind of big for it and her feet are starting to hang out the sides. So I'm wondering, does anyone else out there have a big baby still napping in the sling? And if you used to and transitioned them out to something else I'd love to know your story!

I should add - my girl is a super light sleeper and still wakes every 40 min once she's asleep. It is really hard to get her to fall asleep without her sling (she doesn't fall asleep on the boob), but every now and then when I get her to fall asleep in my arms and try to put her down she wakes up within 10 minutes. This has been since she was about 8 weeks old. So now I put her in her sling, bounce on an exercise ball for a few minutes and she's out - and then if she stirs I just bounce for a second more and she goes back to sleep. But since she's getting so big I'm wondering if I should start trying to do something else...

Thanks for reading!!

[2ID_Wife]

My 20 month old naps in our wrap or MT daily. I have never used a ring sling past 5 months to be honest so I have no idea if a different hold/position would help her sleep in it better.

[Black Orchid]

My older DD would start out naps in the sling, but once she got too big we resorted to holding and patting her for naps on our chest. We did use the ring sling and did a modified upright tummy-to-tummy hold, though, I do remember.

She was our first so we had the ability to do that. Eventually we transitioned her to napping on her own. My younger DD napped in her sling as a baby, but I don't think we used the ring sling past 6 months. I preferred a fitted sling.

[clovergirl]

With my second baby (1st one worn consistently) we pretty much used the ring sling for naps until 2yrs old (when I was pregnant). We really only used the ring sling with her for the first year, then I got a couple other carriers but we were pretty set in our ways by then. With #3, we used lots of different carriers from the start, but once he got to about 20lbs (around 6mo old) we switched to doing back carries for nap time. It was much more comfortable for me then a front/hip carry (with a ring sling or even a mei tai) for napping. We did that until around 2yrs, when he pretty much stopped napping.
So it's definitely possible to transition to a different style carrier. I hope you find something that works better for you soon.

[noobmom]

Both my babies napped in their ring slings. Normally I carried them upright in a front carry. I don't like tucking their feet in so they've always slept with their legs out.

[mommyjeanette]

My baby is almost a year old and he can still nap in the sling. I use the slings with the deep pocket (Nojo and Over The Shoulder Baby Holder) so there is plenty of room for him to cuddle up with his feet inside. He loooooves it.
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[Lauren710]

My almost-19-month-old has only been napping on my back in a wrap on the weekends (I WOH, otherwise it'd be every day). She's been going through a minor second separation anxiety type thing, so it's great to have her able to nap on me but still be out of the way while I do housework and whatnot She used to nap in her own crib prior to this latest phase, eventually I'll try it again but wearing for naps is working best for us right now.

[leighann79]

My third child (the first I wore) napped in a carrier every day for almost 2 years. Once she was 6months old or so it was usually on my back in the wrap or MT though. When we used the sling, it was in a tummy-to-tummy position.
At about 11 months, so got so heavy for me that I started getting her used to laying down. I'd put her to sleep in the carrier and then lay her down. At first I laid with her the whole time. Then I would get up and go nurse her back asleep any time she stirred. With in a coupld of months she was napping on her own about an hour or two.

DS2 likes to fall asleep on my lap, on the boppy with a side to side motion. lol He transfers to the bed much eaiser. He will also nap in a carrier, but I don't do it as often. We use the MT or tummy-to-tummy in the sling.

Neither ever liked the cradle hold much.