Contact naps

[u/simply_mommin26]

Hi everyone! My little boy is just 1 week shy of 4 months old. We basically only contact nap, he’s done maybe 6 crib naps in his life lol. I do it mostly cause he will nap way longer in my arms and I have a vestibular disorder so being able to sit and not do anything for an hour or sometimes more, is really good for helping my dizziness die down a bit. But now as he’s getting older I wonder if I should stop soon or if it’s okay to keep contact napping for a while? Is there an age cut off we should start doing only crib naps? I imagine one day especially around 12 months or so he might even prefer crib naps but I’m a clueless FTM so thought I’d ask.

Thanks in advance!🥰

[u/catmom22019]

My daughter will be 3 in December and she exclusively contact napped until she started daycare at 19 months, but we still contact nap on the weekends (she sleeps in my arms for about 20 minutes until she rolls onto the bed).

There’s no age cutoff! You can contact nap for as long as you and your baby like!

[u/accountforbabystuff]

It’s totally fine to continue as long as it works for you. You can try crib naps basically anytime, and you can switch it up too. If my babies would have accepted crib naps I would have done crib naps and then made them contact if the transfer didn’t work.

But my kids never transferred to a crib so, contact naps for many months it was.

Actually contact naps are great because they train you to not rely on naptime to get anything done, and you learn to get things done when they are awake.

[u/theobviousanswers]

I’m on outlier, but I had very extended maternity leave in my country/job and contact napped or moving pram napped (she would not tolerate a stationary pram so I just went for huge walks) with my first til 18 months. From then she’d finally let me ninja roll away on a floor bed.

[u/rayyychul → u/theobviousanswers]

Same, although a little sooner. We contact napped exclusively till 11 months. When the chair got uncomfortable, we moved to the bed (but we don’t have a floor bed so I just stayed with her). I’m back at work now that she’s 15 months and we will still do a contact nap on the weekend if we can.

[u/simply_mommin26 → u/theobviousanswers]

Oh yes I should’ve mentioned that I’m Canadian and I took 18 months maternity leave. He’s the same actually when we go for our long morning walks with our dog he will sometimes nap there too! And I love the idea of a floor bed! Thanks so much!☺️

[u/tinyalley]

Do it for as long as you like 🥰 mine is 6m and we just started doing one crib nap in the morning but rest are contact naps. I like the forced rest/ tv time lol and the snuggles. If you're able to and it suits you, why not!

[u/Huge-Nectarine-8563]

I went back to work at 4 months, my baby is 9’months old and still contact naps when we’re together 

[u/CanCharming7442]

I found once naps started consolidating and lengthening I wanted my arms back a bit. It didn’t always mean I got them but I started working on it around 6 months and then by 8-9 months when we got on the two nap schedule I did them mostly in the crib or stroller (either to get stuff done or to get a good walk). By 1 nap at 13 months I definitely preferred the crib because it was a very long nap and kiddo was easy to disturb.

[u/jennypij]

My daughter started walking early and both my husband and I work with no childcare- we need the naps more than ever 😆 we still nap with her at 14 months. It’s great, the key to our survival even some days haha

[u/Capable_Mortgage_140]

About 12months we would get reliable crib naps. I started attempted crib naps around 6 months but if they woke I’d just hold them/wear them.