Trusting your instincts - nap time

I remember a few months ago having a conversation with one of my friends about our babies. We were worrying about letting them fall asleep on us and worrying that it'd mean they'd never be able to nap on their own. She told me that someone had advised her that there's no point in worrying now about something that may not even happen in the future. That really stuck with me and it has turned out to be so true.

My instinct told me to let my tiny son nap wherever he wanted. I knew that he needed me close and he needed to feed himself to sleep. I knew that I needed the rest and my housework could wait. Other people, some without children of their own, told me I was making a rod for my own back and I'd regret it. They told me that I needed to put him down to sleep and I should never ever feed him to sleep. This opinion was backed up by some of the books that I'd read too which looking back now makes me so cross. I was confident enough to ignore the books and unwanted advice. I knew my baby and I knew what was best for him. I could have wasted precious weeks locked in a stressful battle to get Henry to sleep alone in his cot while I hoovered and cleaned downstairs. I cherish the cuddles that we had in the early days so much and I am so glad that we had them as much as we did. Doing these things hasn't made my son a bad 'napper', he's happy and secure and now knows that whenever he wakes up, I'll be close by. He rarely cries when he wakes up, he knows that I will be in to get him as soon as he murmurs so he just lies happily for a while, waking up slowly.

Now, at 7 months Henry will sleep wherever. In his cot, car seat, in bed with me, in his pram, pushchair, swing, my arms, Daddy's arms, Marmar's arms. Anywhere. He has 3 good naps every day and when he's in his cot, I miss the days when I used to have to cuddle him to sleep. 

I haven't had one day where I've had to battle with him to get him in his cot. I've never followed a napping schedule, he's just fallen into one himself. If I'm tired too, we'll just go and lie on the bed together, if I have jobs to do, he'll go in his cot, if I have somewhere to go, he'll sleep in the car. Yesterday was a perfect example. His first nap was in the car on the way to baby group, his second was in his cot while I got on with a few jobs and had a cup of tea with my mum and his third one was in his cot while we ate dinner. Today will be totally different; we've both just woken up from a 2 hour nap in bed and are going into town in a little while so Henry's next nap will be in his pram and his final nap of the day will probably be in his cot while we eat.

Like I've posted before, babies aren't supposed to be independent. They need us for such a short period of time and I'm  making the most of it. 

So if you're a new mum reading this and you're wondering whether to risk putting your sleeping baby into their cot for a nap ...don't bother. Sit down, put your feet up, telly on and enjoy snuggling your little person.