Hello!
We have a 13 month old little boy who like 13 month olds is into to everything and now that he is walking a bit he stumbles around the whole house....so we had a hectic weekend..I was up cooking late for some company and the next day after we are all said and done around 3 pm I ask my husband if he can watch the baby while I sleep and he says to me "you go and sleep inside and
I will just sleep here on the couch while the little one plays" long story short I ended not napping because I wasn't comfortable just letting the baby be on his own - our living room is pretty baby proof and so is the kitchen but the formal areas are not and I worry him getting into the glass cabinet or pulling cables in the study........my husband said it was my fault for being so over worried about him that I didn;t get to nap...........I on the other hand think it only takes a second for something bad to happen when you are not watching the baby....what are your thoughts? would you be comfortable with the scenario above????
Thank you Moms!! as always your input is greatly appreciated. I always try to follow my mom instinct in situations like these but it is good to get everyone's point of view if my husband keeps repeating that I may be worrying too much just to make sure that this is not the case.....I am not the one to hold the baby all the time and I can relax on the couch and watch him while he plays and then he will come up to me several times for interaction or I will actually sit down on the floor with him and play with him as much as you can play with a 13 month old.........I just can't be as laid back as my husband! and oh my baby will not sit and just play in the pack n play by himself he will start crying like we have in in jail or something.... I wish he would do that but since he was very little he would not!
I always wonder how these dads don't end up accidentally killing their kids by not paying enough attention to them. LOL I am pretty darn laid back but would never nap while leaving my 13 month old on their own. Even in a room that is 100% childproofed. I only start napping on the couch while they watch a movie in the same childproofed room at age 3.
NO. Your husband should have stayed AWAKE if you were planning on a nap. So, technically, it's HIS fault that you didn't get a nap--not yours, not your son's fault.
13 mos. is too young for a 13 month old to be freely roaming around the house while everyone else is sleeping. Your husband needs a reality check. Sorry--you & he sleeping (nap wise) at the same time is NOT an option right now.
NO!!! And I am not overly cautious. My 4 and 5 yo daughters, if they are in bed with me watching a tv show, I will nap. I wouldn't even let them be "playing around the house" while I nap! Most absolutely definitely not a 13 month old. Nope sorry. Hubby 0 wife 1 on this one.
Um, no. The baby needs at least one awake parent watching him. I always think "what if there is a penny on the floor. Baby gets it, tries to swallow it, and chokes bc mom/dad fell asleep on the couch." I, personally, would never, ever let my 13month old play alone while I napped on the couch. Weird.
I completely agree with you, but my husband had your husband's philosophy when our boys were young. I have no idea how our boys survived the toddler years, as my husband was with them (without me) pretty often.
Okay the nap thing is one thing, but really there has to be realistic expectations. yes small children need to be supervised. But we also need to shower, use the restroom, cook and clean and take care of other children. I leave my 12 month old in the living room and cook in the kitchen. I can hear him, I check on him, but I'm not about to live my entire life with him in my arms because I'm afraid he might get into something. I've managed to get my 3 older children past the toddler years without any great injury, and honestly I've seen worse happen when adults had their children in their arms than when they were left alone, what happens the first time you're cooking or pouring a hot drink with baby in your arms and they grab for something and get a burn?
A baby cannot be left unsupervised. If he needs to be somewhere he can't hurt himself, consider a pack n play or a crib. I don't get how he thinks allowing a 13 month old to toddle around without someone actively watching him is a Good Idea. I think it's a very Bad Idea. I think your DH is upset because it was a selfish plan on his part. "Go nap...but I'm not going to watch the baby, either." Grow up and be a parent.
When my DD was 18 months old, in the kitchen WITH me, she quietly got up on something, got tacks off our board and put them in her mouth. I spent 3 hours in the ER waiting for the xrays to see if she ate one since a perforated stomach is a bad thing. She was OK in the end. Had I been sleeping? I doubt it would have gone so well.
Such a man thing to do my husnand will do the same - I "watch: the baby by playing and he "watches" the baby by sitting on his butt resting his eyes or playing on his phone. We have got to start teaching men how to be nurturing. So yes, that stinks.
No, he needs to be watched at all times. Just last week I was holding my 14 month old and making my husband coffee in the morning while he was getting ready for work. He comes up and takes her from me so I'm thinking oh how nice he's going to hold her for me while I make coffee, I see him go and put her down on the floor in the living room and walk away so there was no point in him taking her from me, I was doing just fine holding her.
Anyways, I finish up and it probably takes a minute. I find my 14 month old sitting on the floor looking down and I just had a bad feeling. I had her diaper bag on the floor and in one of the side pockets was one of those very small bottles of antibacterial hand soap that my mom had given to me and I had NO clue it was even in there. She had it in her hand with the cap open I scooped her up and smelled her mouth and sure enough it smelled like the hand sanitizer!! I had never even used this stuff before and there was about a half an inch of it gone! I called poision control immediately and thankfully she was absolutely fine. Sorry for the long story, but IT ONLY TAKES A SECOND...he's still so young he definitely needs tons of supervision.
I used the pack and play for times like this. A few toys in the pack and play while I napped on the couch and everyone was happy. When my daughter was around 2 I felt comfortable napping in the same child-proof room with her. She's always been really good about not getting into things but we've also always been very good at making sure a child-proof room is actually child-proof.
On the other hand, maybe your husband naps like I do. My ears are listening to everything and I'm barely doing more than resting my eyes. I don't miss a thing when there's a kid in the house.
A 13 month old could play in his crib, in his room with a gate up and safety proofed, or anywhere safe and confined while your husband rested on the couch and could keep an ear out for him. I wouldn't just let him run free if it was me doing it because I learned the hard way!!! They're quick and crafty little guys. I had my 1 1/2 yr. old and 2 1/2 yr. old empty a refrigerator while I napped with them supposedly. Unfortunately only I napped that day.
Kids need constant supervision, no doubt about it. This is a fine scenario to talk with your hubby about, like have a serious conversation. Maybe when he looks around the room he doesn't see all the dangers that you see? Maybe he was exhausted too and felt he deserved a nap more? There's usually more to the story once you dig deeper. You'll spend the next 17 years not napping if you two aren't on the same page.
