Sleep, sleep, sleep
In the daytime, baby usually sleeps on me, or on my husband. He sometimes sleeps in the baby wrap (Solly Baby, I love you), or while we take our evening walk with him. Other times of the day he sleeps on my chest or while one of us holds him. He sleeps in his bed at night, but during daylight hours he is usually attached to another body while he sleeps.
I think I am meant to be concerned about this and anxious about my child developing bad habits. But I am not! I am not one tiny bit concerned. I love cuddling my baby while he sleeps.
There are downsides, of course. He is getting big (5.6 kilos at his last pediatrician’s appointment) and carrying him all day makes my arms hurt a little. And, while I am grateful for baby carriers in all their variety, they don’t free up my hands as much as NOT carrying a small person would. It’s a handicap in the getting-stuff-done race to carry a baby.
I don’t care, though. I feel happy that my son is spending a lot of his first weeks on the planet being cuddled within kissing distance of his parents. Coming out of the womb into the cold harsh world where he will spend the rest of his life is difficult enough. I can offer him a few short weeks of warmth and affection before he starts cultivating the skills of self-sufficiency. I don’t mind being less productive during that time, don’t mind spending a lot of my time looking for a place to sit down or being stuck in place with a baby immobilizing one or both of my arms. The new-baby smell alone makes me forget about other stuff.