The advice on the internet goes from “it’s developmentally normal for babies to nap on you for their first 3 months” to “at 3 months, start putting baby down for all naps drowsy but awake”… Am I missing something here? Where’s the middle ground? If my 3-month-old could sarcastically laugh, she probably would have when I tried putting her in her crib today.
She’s too young for sleep training, and I’m not sure if we’ll even go that route, but isolating myself in a dark room for hours isn’t sustainable, especially with work looming.
I’d love to hear others’ experiences with contact napping — specifically, how did you transition to crib naps eventually?
Your baby will probably start to establish more autonomous sleeping habits between the ages of 9 and 12 months as they learn to comprehend and anticipate daily schedules and improve their ability to soothe themselves. At this point, you can progressively cut back on contact naps while still creating a safe and cozy sleeping environment.
Thank God I came across this comment. This has really bothered me for so long, my daughter is 4 months and I have been trying to reduce contact sleep gradually however, every time she touches her crib, she realizes she’s left and wails so loudly. Maybe I’ll just wait till she’s older enough to try again