How often do you have your babe in arms?

[Tway]

When DD was born, I held her all the time. I mean Mommy-ready-to-crack all the time. My Mommy instinct told me she needed to feel human touch and know someone was there 'round the clock. I wouldn't even do housework--heck, I wouldn't eat or pee--unless someone was there to hold DD for me. A little excessive, but it's what I felt she needed.

As the months pass, though, I find I hold her less and less. DD is now 10 months, and I hold her maybe a grand total of 3-4 hours a day (plus we co-sleep half the night). DH also holds her for our hour-long walk after supper.

In part, DD wants to be down and exploring a lot--which means no more hours on the couch just feeding and staring at one another. But I also walk her in her stroller now (and take her out whenever we stop) and put her down so I can cook, put a load of laundry on, and so on.

I do feel a little bad, though, that she's not being touched nearly as much as before--even though I know she needs to explore her world. I was just wondering how much you mamas carry your babes these days?

[Knitting Mama]

Cecilia is 4.5 months old, and I would say the majority of her awake time (which honestly isn't much, probably 8 hours a day; she's still a nap every 2 hours kinda girl) is in my arms or on my lap. If it's not, it's playing either independently or with me, but her attention span isn't terribly long, so that's maybe 30-40 minutes of the 8 hours. The rest is being worn or on me.

[AFWife]

At that age I let my son explore his world freely (well, the house anyway!) If he wanted to be held or loved on he would come grab me (and still does at 16mo!)

[RiverandJulie]

Isnt it funny how we want what we dont have.

RIght now, I am yearning for the day my 8mo starts to crawl, so that he will be happy out of my arms and I can get things done and my back gets a rest.

On the other hand, I miss those days when he was sleepy and cuddling in my arms all day long. (during that time, I couldnt wait for the days that he would hang out and smile, laugh and interact with me)

......so it goes with babies

The little guy is teaching me to live in the moment and appreciate the day!

[tallulahma]

ds is 8 months and i still have him in arms or in a carrier about 80% of the time.

some days its still all. freaking. day. and some days he is more independent.... he only naps in arms/carrier too.

i think my girls were similar... i wore dd1 & dd2 almost all day until they were well over a year.

[tallulahma]

Originally Posted by RiverandJulie

Isnt it funny how we want what we dont have.

RIght now, I am yearning for the day my 8mo starts to crawl, so that he will be happy out of my arms and I can get things done and my back gets a rest.

On the other hand, I miss those days when he was sleepy and cuddling in my arms all day long. (during that time, I couldnt wait for the days that he would hang out and smile, laugh and interact with me)

......so it goes with babies

The little guy is teaching me to live in the moment and appreciate the day!

my girls crawled later- like 10months and i was always wishing for them to just crawl already.

ds started crawling so much earlier... 6.5mo- i WASNT READY!!!!


lol. i kept saying, "slow down dude!"

[ErinYay]

V went through a few days of super-clinginess last week where she wanted to be carried and held aaaaaaaall day, and it made me realize how LITTLE I hold her when we're not nursing or asleep!

She's extremely independently-minded, and will hang out on the couch with us for maybe an hour a day combined, usually spent crawling on us, but otherwise she doesn't like to be held. She likes to be picked up from her playroom (which is attached to the living room, but gated) and out of her cosleeper, then she's busy busy busy!

Prior to 5.5 months, when she started becoming more mobile, she was quite happy to be in arms most of the day. I think this is why some of us go particularly baby-crazy at 6-12 months- we miss having a little snugglebug!

[St. Margaret]

Yeah, with DD I felt this compulsion to hold her, and it was probably around that age (10mo) that she really shifted to more time on her own. She still wanted me to play with her the majority of the time... when she learned to walk, it was a great break for me for a couple weeks, when she'd just run around and carry things, it was all new to her .

I didn't even like having her in the car too long, all alone, when she was tiny. Finding a wrap that worked was heavenly for those months

[octobermom]

My LO is 5.5 months she sleeps well at night and we only cosleep if she wakes up she naps on her own.. So from say 6am-7pm her waking hours I'd estimate she is in arms for around 5-6 hours.. Shes just natually playing more sleeping longer its all good its part of growing up (bittersweet but part of the journey) Assuming ones not sperating casuse they think they MUST I'd just go with the flow and let your LO set the pace.
FWIW my LO is at that age where shes does a LOT of little playing right beside me she isn't quite sitting up but shes likes to lay beside me or against me using me as leverage and then plays coos ect but she will also now coo and play on "her own" while I get a few things down with just me talking to her when jsut a month ago she still didn't.

Deanna

[kismetbaby]

My guy is also 10m and he seems to swing widely btw wanting to be held all the time and wanting to just go-go-go. I don't do a lot of babywearing b/c of back problems (and he's a big guy), but I spend many hours a day sitting on the floor or outside with him and letting him crawl in and out of my lap during playtime.

I'd say he's in the stroller or car maybe an hour a day and DH often wears him to sleep. He sleeps in bed with us and nurses down for naps. . .so I feel that he gets lots of touch time despite his adventures in crawling. He was also a babe who was never put down his first few months of life. It wasn't until he was 2-3m old that he would tolerate any time not being held--night and day.

[mommariffic]

Well, right now DS is only 7 weeks so he's held a lot.

He isn't into his P sling OR his Ergo OR his Moby wrap

..So? He's basically in my arms most of the time. If he's not in my arms he's in someones arms whether it's my friends/family/etc. If he's in a deep sleep [like now] he's in his infant pillow or he's on my armchair [like now] and we cosleep.

At 10 months I barely held DD though, I can remember her just being ON THE GO all the time!

[Tway]

Thanks, Mamas!

Ironically, after posting this thread this morning, I ended up carrying DD around a good chunk of the day. She's got about 7 teeth coming in and is unusually cranky.

I remember thinking, way back when, that I couldn't wait till she crawled so I could free up my arms again. I enjoy my new freedom and I relish DD's love of exploration, but I do miss how she used to just be content lying in my arms all day long.

Although there are times I think my back will be relieved if she could just stand up on her own for a sec...

[november]

I was a lot like you at first. The first 4-5 months, I held her all day, every day. The only time I ever put her down was to use the restroom, wash my hands, snarf a quick lunch, etc. Otherwise, she was on my lap or being carried around. I got pretty good at doing chores, laundry, and cooking one handed, lol. I wouldn't do it any other way. Once she started getting mobile (crawling at 6 months), it all changed. If I'm walking around or doing stuff, I still carry her a lot. But otherwise, she does NOT want to be on my lap or be held. If she's being held, she wants me to be movin'. She has the attention span of a gnat, LOL. She just crawls all over the place exploring and unless she expresses frustration or obviously needs some attention (diaper, bottle, or nap), I just kind of leave her be.

[P.J.]

My DS is an extremely mobile and active baby, and not really the type who wants to be held all day long. At 3 months he can already do some commando-style stomach crawling, and he loves to be on the ground practicing. However, he gets really frustrated pretty fast which escalates into full-blown crying if I don't intervene, so I'll then pick him up and we'll walk around the house looking at things and hanging out with the cat or whatever. Otherwise he's very happy to play on the floor with and without me. He just doesn't like sitting around in my arms unless I'm actively playing with him, which we do a lot too. I put him in the wrap if I want/need to get something done like cooking or laundry or make phone calls (but I have to keep moving, if I sit down, within a minute he's whining),and he often falls asleep then. To give my body a break I usually lay him in bed from there. We also usually go for a walk with him in the wrap at some point during the day.

So, it would be hard to give a real number, but I'd reckon at least half the time he's awake we have body contact. I can tell though that as soon as he can really crawl he'll be less inclined to be in my arms as much.

[Sharlla]

id say 70% of the day shes either in my or dh's arms. dh is a sahd and i work sleeping nights so she has both of us in house to indulge her every whim lol
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