Leaving him to chat??

[Sheer Bliss]

DS (8months) is now in the habit of waking at 5:30am every morning, (after waking at 11pm & 3am for feeds) and if i sneak into his room, and put the dummy near his hand and sneak out unoticed he goes back to sleep. He'll also often wake then at 6:30am, and i am still nto ready to start the day yet. With a 2yo that is fighting sleep at night, and not having a day sleep & being up to him twice in the night, i really need some extra time IYKWIM. I feel a bit selfish, but at 6:30 i have also been sneaking in & putting the dummy back in his reach. Most of the time he'll chat to himself, turn his light show thing on and roll about in the cot happily for half an hour before going back to sleep for another half an hour or hour. This gives me time to wake up properly, bubhub or have a coffee, so i feel more human.

I feel a bit guilty for leaving him. He isn't crying at all in that time, if he cries i go in & get him up. But i still feel like i am neglecting him a little just leaving him to his own devices for so long.

So In your opinion - is it OK to leave him happy in his cot for so long, or am i being a mean mummy?

[Chickadee]

If you're a mean mummy then so am I. At that age my DD was doing something similar and I used to put a few books in her cot after she'd fallen asleep. She'd wake up early, chat & babble, and play with the books for awhile before either going back to sleep or letting me know that she was hungry.

[punkbaby]

I always learnt todo similar with my kids (not newborn though) mine would often lay in their cot and play i remember wih my first i would jump lol even if i just heard her gooing and gaaing. The middle two i learnt it was ok for them to play, they would play for half hour and i would get them up. Remember babies are allowed to play on their own, they need time to themselves too......plus if i can i like laying in for 20 mins to wake up, they do too :)

[BreakfastatTiffanys]

My dd2 is 8 mths old and if you are a mean mummy then so am I, she will chat from 5am so in goes the dummy and she will happily chat and play til 6 (sometimes sleep)
5am is just not a time to get up imo.

[SorenLorensen]

i would also be a mean mummy.

DD i did this with untill just a few months ago, now she knows how to open her door and comes to get me , so my sleep ins are gone :hissy:

she is 2 and a half, and it worked well for us.
when she was in her cot she would just lay there and talk to herself, when she was a little older she would play in there. then when she went into her big bed last Christmas she just started getting out and playing in her room.

she was always safe and i knew where she was.
if she cried i would be right in there and getting her. but what is the harm in letting her stay there, she was happy, i was happy and for us it worked :thumbsup:

[Mrs Potts]

Sounds like there's lots of mean mummies in here! ;) I'm one too. My DD loves that time to play/chat and often does it before she settles down to sleep at night too.

IMO, if bub is doing that then they are happy and content. There's absolutely nothing wrong with leaving them be. And as you said, if they decide they want something, they will soon let you know and that's when you need to go to them.

Otherwise, enjoy the fact that your bub is obviously content and secure (and get that few extra precious minutes of sleep!).

[Seekrit]

Cobey's room is safe for him, so if he wakes before 6 chatting (well yelling out "MUMMY!!! MUMMY!!!!!") I leave him to it until 6... most of the time I'm awake the whole time anyway, but sometimes he manages to either be quiet or doze :p

[Areca]

I do it too. If DD1 wakes up and is happy then I leave her be...if she's not happy I go see what's wrong.

I recently had someone tell me that if your child is happy to stay in their bed and play on their own then you're not a bad parent for leaving them there for a little bit, it actually shows how good a parent you are because your baby/toddler feels that safe and secure that they are happy to do that!


I used to do it with E too (leave her for a bit longer) she never went back to sleep but she was waking for the day at 4.45am at 9 months old and so I just left her for an extra 15 minutes and we eventually slowly pushed her wake time to 7am!

[Sheer Bliss]

Excellent - thanks guys!

I feel like I am much saner for the day by having this time to myself. It's good to know I am not the only one, and that it is actually good for him. :hugs: