Embracing Contact Napping

Parents are tired. They know that and crave sleep and rest. But they also feel overwhelmed by responsibilities and obligations. They have so much to do. They need to be doing. If they are not doing, they are thinking about what they could/should/would be doing.

Adults fall asleep thinking about what they have to do the next day. What they did today. What they should have done today. They wake up with that same list churning.

Those of us who choose a child-led approach to parenting have a lot of time to think about what we should be doing. #naptrapped adults make exhaustive to do lists as they count down the time until their little one wakes and they can "do something" because productivity is everything to the modern human.

But, here's the thing: sitting, laying or walking around with a sleeping child against your body is an opportunity. It is a time when you can rest, sleep or exercise. It can be a time to look forward to in your day if you change your mindset.

Resenting your child's contact naps because you are wasting time that could be better spent does you no good at all. You might have intentionally chosen this pathway or stumbled across it on your journey. Here you are, practicing the gentle attachment style of parenting which appealed so much ... and wishing your child would just lie down in the cot and fall asleep by themselves like all the other babies.

This season of contact parenting is demanding but you have the choice to surrender and accept or resent and despair. Consider which has the better outcome for your mental health.

Choose to embrace the opportunities contact napping offers. Have that mid-morning rest while you catch up on your shows. Take that afternoon nap alongside your #breastsleeping toddler. Walk your steps each afternoon while your baby sleeps in the carrier. Build your daily self-care into the rhythm of your child's sleep pattern.

Let your productivity be measured by how well you balance both your needs by multitasking around their contact napping.