Why won't my baby nap anywhere except being held?
Babies frequently cry the moment they are put down in a bassinet, forcing caregivers to spend the entire day holding them for every single nap. This constant contact leaves parents exhausted and unable to accomplish basic daily tasks.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using baby carriers to keep the baby close while having free hands
- 2Accepting the phase and letting go of trying to get chores done
- 3Using bouncer chairs, play mats, or crib carousels to distract the baby temporarily
- 4Propping the baby up with a pillow during feeding to get them used to not being in arms
- 5holding the baby anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour after feeding
- 6picking the baby right back up to get her to fall straight back to sleep
- 7Lie down next to the baby to coach and help them move their arms and legs into a position to get up
- 8Use a toy or object to entice them and guide them toward a sitting position
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“If she gets tips over or gets laid on the floor… she just stays there like an utterly defeated starfish.”source ↗
“She’ll lay there indefinitely, and will NOT roll over or sit up. Eventually she’ll get upset like she’s stuck.”source ↗
“Every time we feed him, burp him and change his diaper, we try putting him in his bassinet and he doesn’t like it. He’ll cry like crazy until we pick him up.”source ↗
“The problem is I’m at work the whole day, so my wife ends up spending most of the day holding him and can’t really do much of anything else. She’s getting really tired and exhausted.”source ↗
“My problem until 6 months was that every nap had to be a contact nap.”source ↗
“She will be fed to sleep at night. Transferred in a few mins and then sleep a long stretch 4-7 hours. But after that stretch, she gets up for her bottle, falls asleep eating. But no matter how long you hold her for she will wake up when you put her back in the cot.”source ↗
“I have tried holding 5 mins all the way to one hour… this can happen 4-5 times and last 2 hours.”source ↗
“How can I stop this two hour middle of the night battle???”source ↗
Where this came up
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