Intro & Question about Co-sleeping & naps

bumpuser7846882

Hi all, I'm a FTM due at the end of June. I'm also a high school Latin teacher (this baby has already been very cooperative about timing ) and I'm planning to go back to work at the end of August. I'm interested in a lot of the attachment parenting stuff - especially co-sleeping, babywearing, etc. I know a similar question was asked earlier, but my situation is a little different since I won't be the one getting baby to nap.

My MIL will be taking care of baby while I'm at work (we'll be living together) and it sounds like she basically practiced attachment parenting with DH, so I'm not at all concerned about drastically differing parenting styles. However, since we plan on having the baby in an Arm's Reach co-sleeper at night I was wondering if anyone had experience & advice with having baby nap in a crib during the day when I'm not home in what will eventually be his/her room? 

FWIW, MIL & FIL are retired and DH works from home, so I'll be the only one working outside the home. 

pixieprincss

My parents had to find their own way to get the boys to nap. With DS1, it was 5 mile walks in a stroller around the lake. My dad got a workout in and DS1 got fresh air while sleeping. Win, win! With DS2, they were ready to try babywearing and put him in the mei tai while walking (and pushing big brother) or rock him or just hold him. DH and I are really the only ones who can get our boys to nap laying down consistently, and they are none the worse for it. Flexibility is a beautiful thing for our family dynamic! The short of it: as long as your have a loving caregiver with similar non-CIO philosophies (as it sounds like you do), it will work itself out in time.

grangerize

My dd sleeps with me at night, but slept in a rock n play at daycare. It has a nice incline and is more snug. Now that she's a little older, daycare has been slowly transitioning her to a pack n play. When with me, I still can't get her to sleep alone, but she does fine at daycare! It's funny to me how different they can be with different adults.

bumpuser7846882

Thanks, ladies. I figured that MIL & baby will work something out, but I guess I just wanted to hear that I wasn't going to be making it more difficult for them.

pitterpatter129

DS1 always slept in a crib at daycare or in his crib at home when my DH stayed home with him.  We did part-time daycare/Daddy care for awhile and then full-time daycare eventually.  He always seemed to do well for them.  Kind of like how right now my DH is fighting the bedtime battle, but last night my mother was over and read him a book and he fell asleep in his own bed with nobody in there within five minutes.  Argh.  They will do all sorts of things for people who aren't the parents.

tinaraye

Our DD has slept with us from pretty early on because it was the only way she would sleep. Now she's 19 months old and I can't imagine having done it any other way!

Naps were wonderful as long as she was in the swing, but once it was time to ditch the swing, our attempts to get her to nap in her crib failed miserably. We gave up and started letting her nap in the bed where she sleeps--our bed.

We got bed rails and a video monitor, and she has been napping in our bed since she was about 8 months old. We just keep an eye on her with the monitor. It's been a great solution for us. It's also nice when we put her to bed around 8:00 at night, and we can keep an eye on her until we're ready to go to sleep.