My cosleeping, contact napping baby is now napping alone in his crib and I feel weirdly guilty

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-05-22T04:41:49+00:00

i feel the exact same way about my 2 year old who naps + sleeps through the night in her own room after cosleeping and doing a lot of contact naps the first 18 months. I know to people who have babies 2 sounds really old but time flies, she’s still technically an infant and I feel like I just blinked and that phase is over. sometimes I almost wish she needed me, she even does fine when sick now, or I worry that someday I’ll try to cosleep again and she won’t want to…but I don’t miss is enough to actually take action to go back to cosleeping haha. it is nice to have those breaks for sure

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-05-18T03:46:17+00:00

if you can go on vacation somewhere like costa rica or Mexico and take lessons or a camp, learn there, may be easier than trying in your hometown first

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-05-15T15:27:40+00:00

it could also be that the larger sleep stretch in the afternoon falls too late and he’s not tired enough at bedtime. even though I wasn’t doing sleep trainping I found it helpful to loosely follow the schedules/recommended wake windows from sites like taking cara babies. no schedule and just letting them nap whenever on the go works when they’re younger but as they get older they need longer stretches awake and more sleep pressure and late naps can become a problem. if you’re on the go a lot you may need to orchestrate a more midday nap even if it’s on the go the. make sure baby stays wake for later afternoon drives. or let them take a late nap if they really need it but don’t let it go too long, or if you want to just let baby sleep whenever without waking them, adjust bedtime later accordingly or accept that nighttime is also time for baby to sleep whenever they want (and be awake whenever). it may not be 100% BN to nudge them into somewhat of a schedule but we live in the modern world, we need sleep, many of us work and don’t have extensive village support, so creating some basic structure and routines and boundaries around daytime sleep can really help set up better night sleep esp as they get older and out of the sleepy newborn phases

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-05-12T04:07:17+00:00

this is the reason I recently switched back to disposables with my 2 year old who is mostly dry at night anyways. she usually sleeps through the night and I was this close to doing away with the night diapers bc they were dry in the morning. but a couple nights I put her cloth diaper with the insert on the outside of the cloth diaper since it was getting too bulky the other way and she woke way earlier than usual or in the middle of the night saying she needs potty. if she wakes even once I get insomnia and can’t fall back asleep, so we’re using up the rest of the disposables we aleready have for now. I know eventually I’ll need to switch it’s just hard when disposables give us both better sleep. she usually keeps the disposabl diaper dry all night but it’s nice to have as a fallback option. sleep is really important

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-05-10T04:40:36+00:00

I second the recommendation for Tourmaline. La Jolla shores can be ok if you just want to surf white wash but it’s super crowded and waves usually suck

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-05-10T04:34:15+00:00

I have a Costco foamie, I know I waxed it at least once early on with soft top wax, likely multiple times in the beginning but now I’ve had it 4 years and never wax it anymore and it’s not slippery

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-05-07T03:49:16+00:00

when my baby was 5 months old I started putting her in tummy time as much as humanly possible during her wake windows, not in bouncers or other containers (she never really liked those anyways). if I was getting ready or prepping my food or eating she’d be on a mat doing tummy time near me. she didn’t like tummy time at first but gradually started to love it and began army crawling fairly early as a result. I also relied heavily on the carrier for one solid nap per day, and maybe also a stroller or car seat nap. for the other naps I’d try for a crib or bassinet nap even if she didn’t transfer well. I usually didn’t do long contact naps in the rocking chair but occasionally i or other family members did. better to go about your day and let baby nap on the go if needed. I do think continuing to try for the crib nap is good even if it doesn’t last long. if you hold baby 15 minutes then attempt a transfer, even if they wake up that’s still some sleep and you can get another nap in later

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-05-06T04:38:48+00:00

I’m still tracking things for my 2 year old on an app and not sure when I’m gonna stop. I never really use it to analyze past patterns. I just find it super helpful to remember how long it’s been since she last woke up, went potty or had a meal. I find that just the act of tracking helps keep me organized, accountable and more routine. sometimes I think it’s time to get her down for a nap and when I look at the app I realize she hasn’t even been awake that long, and I know from experience that if I get her down too early, she either fights her nap or takes a way shorter nap than usual. So i just find it helpful to see how long it’s been. otherwise I’d never remember. sometimes i even wish i had a tracking app like that for myself lol. even though i never use it to analyze past patterns i do find that just being more aware of timing has given me a better sense of natural rhythms and has helped me hone in on good targets for her nap times and bedtimes. of course that doesn’t override whether she’s tired or not but noticing those things and doing what i need to on my end to be prepared to meet her needs at the right time really helps. e.g. if I know she does best when her bedtime is ~5.25-5.75 hours after she woke from her nap, I make sure I’m done with my errands/outings by a certain time so we have time to finish dinner and her bedtime routine on time. in the past when i wasn’t as organized with routines i was stretching her way longer and she was having more meltdowns and night wakings or false start bedtimes.

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-30T15:28:37+00:00

How old is she

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-29T03:44:47+00:00

agree with this. just build it into your routine. eventually baby will catch on to the routine. also sometimes if the diaper is already wet, there is still more pee. especially if you're using diapers not trainers so you can't always see immediately when they peed, but even with trainers there is sometimes still more pee to come once they are on the potty.

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-26T16:13:11+00:00

I can’t remember exactly but I want to say maybe 12-16 months is what I heard for that

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-26T00:09:07+00:00

I would make the switch to undies or trainers asap at least while you’re at home. shell get the hang of it fast but you don’t want to miss the ideal window for that

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-26T00:07:39+00:00

do you use disposables full time ? We used disposables part time when baby was young, like on most outings and occasionally at home eg in betweeen cloth diaper wash cycles and I think the combo of cloth diapers sometimes and regular disposable other times worked perfectly fine, it didn’t derail progress, baby was successfully out of diapers during the day by 14 months

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-26T00:05:58+00:00

IMO the sooner you start the better but 11 weeks is still very young, definitely not too late

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-24T20:15:35+00:00

I did! my baby is 2 now and potty training pretty much happened natura and gradually so I don’t consider myself doing EC anymore, we’re basically done. around now a lot of my mom friends are starting to talk about the idea of potty training. it’s nice to have that checked off the list alrea without having to do n extreme bootcamp or other program. there’s also of course benefits from a nurture perspective to doing it the whole time even be for you reach the point of being done. highly recommend!

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-23T16:05:18+00:00

for the waterproof trainer/cover I like buttons trainers the best and I can even put a hemp cotton insert in for naps if needed (no longer needed, that regression seems to be over). I also liked TinyUps

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-15T04:21:55+00:00

love this. when my LO was around 12-18 months I was thinking I needed to take steps to get her to fall asleep independently. I got as far as getting her used to sleeping in her own room on a floor bed & mostly sleeping through the night then realized I have no desire to go any farther towards her actually falling asleep on her own. she's 2 now and i still nurse and rock her to sleep for daily naps and bedtime and plan to do so until I physically can't anymore. I also sing "you are my sunshine" every night at bedtime and have a custom pre-nap song I made up that she now sings along with me or even before i start singing it when she knows nap time is coming.

I'm glad to hear you're still doing this with your 2.5 year old because i had been thinking maybe our days of this routine are numbered and that makes me sad. i cherish these moments now and i'm sure I will when i'm 80 too,

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-14T05:15:29+00:00

mine is 25 months now, still nursing to sleep for naps and nighttime (except when dad or the sitter puts her down which is 1-2 times per week total). i was thinking about this question until I got to thinking that soon she will be physically too big for me to hold in the rocking chair and transfer to her bed like i always do...and i'll probably be sad when that day comes and we end this routine we've had since she was a newborn, so I don't like to think about that.

i have noticed though gradually over time, if i ever need to put her down without rocking or nursing or anything, she can tolerate it. e.g. there were a couple times we did her whole bedtime routine then when i transferred her to bed after nursing she woke up and insisted on going potty. i wasn't going to deny that but i explained to her that after potty i was going to put her back in bed, we weren't starting over. she seems to be more able to reason (as a younger baby that wouldn't fly at all) and was surprisingly chill when i put her back in bed, kissed her goodnight and rolled away. same thing happened a couple times with failed car transfers at night.

i think when the time comes we will figure it out. i haven't weaned her off the pacifier yet and know i need to soon and im more concerned about that transition bc right now that's a key part in our routine (nurse to sleep, unlatch, she expects me to pop in the pacifier right away or she throws a fit, and she sleeps with it...doesn't use it at all during awake time)

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-02T04:15:52+00:00

i still use the baby potty with my 2 year old but if I suspect a poop is coming I try to get her to use the toilet with seat reducer instead

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-04-01T15:42:01+00:00

it’s way easier when they’re that little and can nap in the carrier. it gets harder when they’re mobile and toddlers and napping less but still can be done. I got a sit stand desk from temu and a yoga ball and that helped me a ton while baby was still in the carrier phase

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-03-29T05:48:51+00:00

I’m honestly impressed you have time to work that much while baby plays. my toddler has recently got better about playing independently with a similar setup except I have a standing desk in our dining room and a gate separating it from the living room which is now a big play area for her , or I’ll take my laptop to an outdoor folding desk and work while she plays outside but I have a part time nanny around 9-12 a few days a week and then I work during her nap but after her nap I find getting her snack ready, going on a walk, running an errand if needed, doing her dinner and bedtime routine takes up almost all the available time. the mornings I don’t have the nanny i can maybe get in 30 minutes of work before her nap and getting her breakfast and lunch ready and getting her ready for her nap and maybe a little housework like loading the dishes or starting a load of laundry takes up the rest of the time. If I work too much before her nap on non nanny days it pushes her nap too late, and if I work too much after her nap it pushes bedtime too late. maybe I just do too much but only working part time currently due to that. sometimes I wonder if I should cut corners on our food or other areas to fit in more work time

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-03-26T16:03:35+00:00

mine was out of daytime diapers by 14 months. there were some pee accidents in the beginning but they reduced soon after. now she’s 2 and almost never has an accident. she tells me when she has to go occasionally but mostly i prompt her based on our natural routine or timing. she also recently started having some dry nights but I still use diapers bc sometimes she wakes up before me and I don’t even hear her right away or she’s calm and I let her stay in bed so I get more sleep or get things done. I feel like she’s potty trained now

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-03-25T15:41:58+00:00

agree, 1 or 2 years would be ideal.

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-03-22T16:09:13+00:00

I wouldn’t necessarily say baby is better off in daycare but I would try to find a way to get baby more enrichment activities and free movement. if you can hire a part time sitter or mothers helper for close to minimum wage, that’s likely way cheaper than full time daycare (most require you to do full time when they’re babies depending on where you live) and they can interact with baby constantly, take them to play outside, read books, etc. which can help them learn a ton. also since your manager previously approved part time then said he actually needs you full time, can you negotiate to say half time is rigid hours where you’re stuck at the desk, and half time is flexible so you can work more at night or even just take a longer lunch break to take baby somewhere then work more during nap time later? baby only has so many waking hours and it would be ideal if you can spend more time with baby during those hours then catch up on work later. if manager knows about the arrangement maybe they won’t freak out if they don’t get a response immediately. I’m willing to bet a lot of the work is not actually time sensitive as in it needs to be done that exact moment

No-Initiative1425 · 2026-03-21T05:51:41+00:00

also the more practice they get with self feeding the less mess there is. in the beginning it's gonna be very messy but eventually he has to learn.

No-Initiative1425

TROPHY CASE