Our journey with naps has been very similar to our night sleep journey. In the very early days, we could occasionally lay our baby down swaddled in a bassinet, and she might nap for a little while (not long). She always slept best on me right after breastfeeding, or in someone else's arms after being rocked or swayed to sleep.
I read a post early on that said how they're only little once, and to just soak up all the snuggles if they like to contact sleep.
This really hit home for me, because I would always miss my baby if she was away from me for too long, and I love the snuggles so much.
I also read another post that said never do anything while the baby is sleeping that you can do while they're awake, which is great advice.
Early on, she wouldn't let us put her down anywhere for more than a few minutes, which made it very difficult to get anything done, unless we could get her to nap on her own. My Mom got us a baby swing which she would sometimes nap in, but it didn't always work either.
Once I was finally healed enough to physically be able to do things, I started feeling bad for not being able to do the dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. because I was always trapped under my feeding and/or sleeping baby.
My husband was doing an amazing job keeping up with everything, especially after going back to work (working from home), and our Moms would help when they visited as well, which was very nice! The one thing I absolutely needed to do everyday was have a shower, so my husband would take the baby when he was done work for the day, and I would go shower, then come back and feed her again. She would often cry for most of the time I showered, and I felt so bad for my husband having to deal with that after a long day of work. I really wanted to be able to put her down for the occasional nap to lessen the burden on him. It would be nice if she could nap alone while I showered too. We got so desperate at one point that we bought the "Taking Cara Babies" online course. It did have some useful advice, and actually gave us the tools to get our baby to have a few independent naps, which was very nice. In the long run, however, we didn't end up using what we had learned, as it wasn't working that well, and we were still bedsharing at night anyway.
What did work for a long time when our baby was only a few months old was me putting her in a wrap or carrier on me, putting a pacifier in her mouth, and bouncing on an exercise ball until she would fall asleep. This worked for quite a while. We would do it whenever she seemed cranky or tired, as we were still learning about sleepy cues and wake windows. This worked so well for the longest time - she would always fall asleep pretty quickly and stay asleep for a while. One day we tried it, and it just didn't work anymore. She was suddenly done with this method, and with pacifiers in general (which she was never really crazy about). From that point on, she'd mostly just sleep on me after nursing.
What ended up being the most useful for us was the eventual change in our baby's temperament and routines.
She started spending less of her days asleep, and as we tuned into her wake windows and tiredness, we were more able to keep her happy and in a good mood. This meant that I could still enjoy all the contact naps, without struggling to get her to sleep by herself, and as long as she napped recently, she was plenty happy to hang out with my husband and play while I shower, or while I get things done around the house.
I nurse our baby to sleep for every nap (except when she naps on me in the Baby Bjorn on walks multiple times a week, or in her car seat on the rare occasion), and she basically only has contact naps now, because that is what works for us.
She is happiest that way, and I can't get enough of the snuggles, so I love it. I get things done while she's awake by propping her up near me in the playpen, on the bed, or on her playmat, and while she naps on me, I read, listen to podcasts, watch TV, do Duolingo, write my blog, etc. I've managed to pass the time quite easily.
When my husband is done work, he takes her, as long as she napped recently enough, and they play, bond, and have fun, and I go shower, then I take her when I'm ready (as she usually needs to feed and/or sleep), and he usually makes supper for us (he is the best!). We are in quite a routine by now, as she is currently eight months old. On the weekends, the only change is that I get to shower in the mornings while she sleeps in or hangs out with her Dad.
Contact naps have been such a source of joy for my baby and I. We love being so close to each other all the time.
If we have another baby in the future, I know it will be much trickier to have so many contact naps, because there would be two little ones to look after, so that is just more motivation to enjoy them now while I still can. Being nap-trapped is a gift, not a curse.
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