8 month old still naps on me

[kellyc1987]

I know it's a bad habit to get in to but my 8 month old still takes all his naps on me after I rock him to sleep. If I put him down drowsy he rolls straight onto his front and stands up, same if I wait 5/10/15/20 minutes after he has fallen asleep.

I was originally meant to be going back to work in April but I've applied for a new job with better hours (no night shifts woohoo) and if I get it I will be starting in January and my aunt will be looking after Lucas when his dad isn't around which will be often

I'm just wondering the best way to get him out of the habit before I go back to work. Any suggestions?

 

[Bun87]

What about rocking him in a pram til he drops off and letting him sleep there? Or use a carrier for him to nap in which your aunt could use? Keeps you hands free to do things then 😊 x

 

[rwhite]

Following...I have same situation with my 7 month old, but I feed her to sleep not rock her, and I'm due back at work in Jan too They're tricky, aren't they!

 

[MindUtopia]

How will he sleep when he's at your aunt's? I would think about that and try different things to get him used to whatever that environment will be. My daughter slept on me every nap until she was 9 months and started nursery. To start, someone there just held her until she was comfortable sleeping on her own (this is an option). If your aunt doesn't want to be stuck at home all the time, she might end up taking him out in the pushchair during the day anyway, so if he'll sleep in there just fine, that's an option. If she tends to be a homebody and won't be going out during the day, then just try different tricks seeing what works. My daughter's nursery found that cuddling her til she was sleepy then lying her down wrapped partially in a blanket and rocking her in the blanket worked great. After a while, she'd just take herself over to the mats in the corner and go to sleep on her own when she was tired. You might find something else works better for your LO. Don't worry though, you haven't created a bad habit. That's obviously what worked well and it's made life a lot easier than it might have been, and it's great developmentally for him to have so much close time with you. They're pretty malleable though, so if you try a few things, you'll eventually hit on something that works.

 

[SarahBear]

My 8 month old naps in the carrier too.

 

[staralfur]

My LO napped on me until she was over a year old. We didn't get her out of the habit at all when I went back to school/work, my mom and DH both just found their own ways to soothe her (for a while she slept on my mom's lap, too). I didn't mind her napping on me whenever I was home so we just kept things the same.

 

[kellyc1987]

Thanks everyone... He will either sleep in his pram/car seat or a travel cot at her house, she looks after 4 other kids too but 3 of them go to school so I guess he will get time to nap on the school run.

I might bring the pram up and try and get him asleep in that sometimes to get used to it... I do enjoy our sleepy cuddles though.