[BayouMomof3]

Ok - please tell me we are not alone in this.

I was just wondering who all holds their baby while he/she sleeps - I'm talking during naps, mainly.

Our dd is 9 months old and we still hold her pretty much for the duration of her naps. Sometimes, I will nurse her to sleep and then just lay on the bed with her while she sleeps but usually it's me or my dh that rocks and holds her while she sleeps.
If I have to hear one more time "Do you EVER put that baby down?" from my inlaws - I may SCREAM!!!

I don't mind holding her and neither does dh so WHY does it matter to other people so much!?!? Do they NOT remember that we did this same thing with our other dd's?!!? They turned out perfectly fine. They DO walk! Cause I hear from them that she'll *never* walk...why walk when she can be carried!?! She's 9 months old for goodness sake!!!!

Anyone else or do you think we should start putting her in the bed? Problem is that we cosleep so I certainly don't want her rolling off (even though we have bed rails up) ... anyway - I just wanted reassurance, I guess.

 

[Glittergal]

Hey!

Our dd is 8.5 months and we do the same exact thing. We love to hold her and don't mind it at all. And yes, we get those annoying comments from everyone although the kicker is, everyone in my family pretty much held their babies all the time too. My sister, who has a daughter who is 12, especially gives me grief. I was thrilled when she watched baby videos and she commented that the videos reminded her how she never left her daughter's side and how she constantly needed to have my sister by her at all times. On the other hand, sometimes I do feel like this holding during naps has come back to bite me in the a**. Now we can't lay her down ever and it is very very difficult to get her to sleep, even in arms, at the breast or in a sling. This is especially frustrating for other people when they watch her as she just won't' nap all day, no matter how tired she gets! She also is a very light sleeper and notices the second I move so I'm literally paralized during nap times. I think next baby, I might put down a little more in hopes of getting a better sleeper. Actually I doubt I'll be able to - there is just something so amazing about holding a sweaty milky little baby

 

[mommybritt]

I'm writing this as my twins nap in their slings on me, so yes, we do it too!

 

[tink79]

I'm also writing as DD snoozes in the sling

Luckily, I don't hear much negativity towards wearing DD, my family is very pro-AP and they've seen the positive side to it... I can definitely see how you'd be frustrated, you are definitely not alone though...

 

[Annais]

We do it too! Though sometimes I do put her down in the AM so I can clean a bit, but we always take the afternoon nap together. I love it.

When we first had dd, my mom said that we should go out so that we wouldn't tell her to put dd down and stop holding her, and I explained that I would NEVER tell anyone to stop holding my dd. Unfortunately, my SIL used to tell my parents to put the babies down so they "wouldn't get used to being held". I just think that is so sad. Fortunately, I think my parents are into our parenting style! Of course, MIL is a whole other story...

 

[joesmom]

i ALWAYS held joe when he napped, enjoy it while you can!!!!

 

[Messy Nessie]

We do!

I used to nurse her the ENTIRE time she would nap... it was the only way we could get her naps to last more than 10 minutes. I have done this practically since birth, with a few weeks of experimenting with the crib/PNP. Now that she has 8 teeth it has become unbearable to nurse her for 2-3 hrs at a time, so my DH naps with her on the recliner.

It is actually a perfect solution b/c my DH is a night owl and never gets much sleep at night. So he is "forced" into napping. :LOL

I'm pretty lucky... my MIL/FIL are pretty crunchy and my parents just adore DD that they don't care what we do, as long as she is happy!

So we haven't had to defend it yet. Who knows if she will ever nap alone... We're not really worried, mny DH figures that once she gets too heavy to be on his chest, that he will make a little pallet on the floor and they will nap together their.

I love the sight of them napping on the chair together... it is so cozy and sweet. I can only imagine how safe and secure she must feel. No wonder she doesn't want to nap alone!

 

[loving-my-babies]

I SO know what you mean! I hold ds (4 1/2 mo.) 24/7, I mean all his naps, he takes on me, we don't even own a crib (it freaks me out to put him in there) and people make comments (even dh) like "put him down for a second, will you?" grrr.. these people are driving me *insane*.. just LET US BE! my son & me...

 

[rainbow dancer]

Holding the baby here, too - and loving every minute of it. This time is so precious and will be over so quickly - so I savour those quiet moments on the couch when she is in my arms and has safely entered dreamland.
Our friends shake their heads - though nobody would say anything aloud- and I just KNOW that I am doing the right thing!!!

 

[Mami]

My daughter is 10 months and we also hold her during naps and always have since she was born, partly out of necessity because she simply would not sleep otherwise...we sometimes lay her down if we're about to have lunch or something but generally she'll be awake 5 minutes later, so there's no real point. Even with holding and nursing(I also nurse for the ENTIRE nap sometimes) she rarely takes more than a 45 minute nap. Mostly 20 minute catnaps, occasionally she'll go for 1 and a half hours. Never thought of it as lucky because we miss them, but in this regard I think it's lucky that our parents don't live near us, because they don't give us any non-supportive comments.(not that they really would anyway)

 

[1ColoradoMomma]

Good for you! Don't even listen to them when they say those kinds of things to you -- it drives me crazy. How can you love a baby too much??

Tracy

 

[CajunMama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainbow dancer Holding the baby here, too - and loving every minute of it. This time is so precious and will be over so quickly - so I savour those quiet moments on the couch when she is in my arms and has safely entered dreamland.

ITA!!! They grow up so fast- I love gazing at my sweet baby while he drools milk all over me!

There is nothing like that sweet baby breath while they are sleeping on you.

You are doing great mama!

 

[N2theWoods]

I do it too. I keep a book by the chair where I nurse her down for naps and she sleeps on me and I alternately read, or gaze at her and stroke her softly. I LOVE it.

 

[azyre]

My 15 mo baby is asleep on my lap now, on a V pillow. She gets held for about half her naps these days. I may try and put her down, or I may happily surf for the remainder of her nap

She used to be held more but she naps longer now, so I lay her down more often.

With regards to the bed - she never rolled much in her sleep and still cries when she wakes up most of the time - or just starts breathing differently so I can tell on the monitor she is awake. We have one guard rail and I'd out pillows around her. Now she can get off the bed by herself, so I just dump her there

Up until about 8 months old she slept her lying down naps in the swing in the main part of the house with me, she slept longer there because it was curved and moved. I would *quietly* clean around her

I love holding her while she sleeps. Sometimes the time if good for other things but this is a special time and I don't want to squander it cleaning my house while my babe sleeps somewhere alone!

Now she is getting old and sleep less in the sling, when she is getting particularly whingy I think to myself "she needs a sling nap". So I go to the shops and walk around until she goes to sleep and then have some lunch or something myself.

 

[Delight]

We do this all the time as well. I just look at her and think of how fast she will grow up and how when she is 13, she won't let me hold her while she naps

hee hee! It's such a short, wonderful time...so I cherish every moment. I do get comments, but I'm not the type to care about what others' think much. Hold those babies!

 

[loving-my-babies]

I also wanted to add, yesterday, during my baby's nap, I felt temped to put him down for a second... so I laid him down on my bed... starting walking away, they I giggled, went back and got him.. my arms feel so empty without him! (since he's 20 lbs my arms can easily notice his absence, lol)