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Same here. Nights were always pretty good but I held mine from 8 weeks-5 months for every single nap. (or someone did, but me mostly). I watched a lot of shows on my ipad and read a lot on my kindle.
It's completely fair to ask a nanny to do the same thing but obviously a daycare won't be able to provide that type of attention. Then again, maybe your LO will learn to nap on his own faster if he's in daycare!!

I held him whenever he needed it. My feelings were that he's only this little for a brief blip of his life and most of the time, I wanted to hold him as much as he wanted to be held, so it wasn't an issue. It was tough at daycare though, but I think that's because we never used a crib and they wanted him to nap in a crib.

@FliegepilzHut: This is going to sound strange, but it depends on the nanny situation. I just went back to work at 8 weeks and LO is with a nanny. She is a SAHM and one of my best friends. I absolutely don't expect her to hold baby for all of her naps. She has a 3 year old of her own and school pickup, etc. I also don't pay her as much as I do daycare. Now, if we paid a nanny a ton of money to come to our house and her sole responsibility is baby, then absolutely she better hold baby.

J was exactly like this around 3 months. I typically tried putting him down for one nap, knowing it would be crappy, so i could get exactly 1 thing done (typically shower). I would hold him for 2 naps everyday (or walk him in the stroller, which was another nap "crutch" for him).

Our nanny started with him at 12 weeks. The first day I told her what I did (held for naps, went for long walks) but I guess she still thought we expected her to get things cleaned up etc and put him down for all naps which ended with him napping like 40 min total. I straight up told her to hold him for all naps and she did with no issues. he still didn't nap well (he'd rather sleep on Mommy, which is cute but annoying). Luckily, J's naps do not affect his nighttime sleep at all and he still slept well at night.

He started napping on his own, in his crib just after 4 months (when he started sucking his thumb). Still not a great napper (usual naps are 40 min, he rarely naps 1-2 hours). But the nanny still sometimes holds him for his naps because I think she likes it (what's not to like, a sweet baby sleeping on you when you have no other things to get done).

So, my advice, hold him for whatever naps you can/want to, but try putting him down to nap every once in awhile to see if he's "growing out of it" and if you hire a nanny for sure ask him or her to hold him for naps. I did mention to all the nannies I interviewed that he was a crap napper so they knew what they were getting into

With DS we would put him down in his crib to sleep and when he would inevitably wake after 30-45 minutes we would rock him back to sleep and hold him another hour or so to extend his nap. We'd do this for most or all naps. We only had a nanny from months 3-6, but we had him do it too.

FWIW now at 17 months DS takes one 1.5-2.5 hour nap a day in his crib on his own. No holding necessary.

It really depended on his global sleep situation. He usually went down for his morning nap with no issues so that wasn't a problem. (And I always totally prioritized the first nap). If he had a crap second nap, then I would do whatever to facilitate the third nap. I didn't really hold him for naps per se but I definitely had days where I laid next to him in bed holding his paci in while my arm went numb (he could never keep it in and would get angry as eff if it fell out) or side lie nurse so he could get a decent nap in. If he was fighting sleep completely a stroller nap or Ergo nap happened but they were never as long or restorative as a crib nap so those were more desperation things.

I held him for all his naps. His dad could put him in the swing or on the bed for naps, but I nursed him to sleep in my arms. No regrets! I mean I'm jealous of those whose babies could be put down, but I cherished those early months where he was my little babe in arms.

I was lucky, I could usually get DS down in the crib. The only reason I would ever hold him was if we had a rough day and I needed some baby cuddles, or as I called it "working on my milk supply".

When I was a nanny I held for naps when I could. The baby was the youngest of three, but on days when the older two were at preschool I would hold baby for at least one nap when she was little and not crib trained yet. Or if the older ones were playing peacefully. I also wore the baby a lot so she could nap while we played at the park or while I did laundry or whatever.

ETA: I'm typing this while nursing my youngest who is sound asleep...

I didn't hold LO for all her naps through the whole nap... but there was a good while when I would rock/hold her for like 15 minutes, put her down for about 30 minutes, and then have to rock her back to sleep and usually hold her for the rest of her nap, though occasionally I could get her to transfer. So I was basically holding her for her nap with a break in there.

I wish I had found a baby carrier/wrap that LO liked enough to sleep in. That would have been a better set up than spending my life in the glider. I would ask a nanny to baby wear but I wouldn't ask her to do the whole complicated deal I did. But to be honest I don't know that she could have been with a nanny at that time. Her sleep routine was taxing (mainly because LO was a sleep fighter and cried a lot even when being rocked to sleep). My mom would do it but that's because she loved her

And I was just complaining about having a 8.5 month old who only stroller naps... a least I am not holding him.

Our nanny has had MUCH better luck then me in putting him to sleep in his bed for naps, but it's still not easy.

I think that each relationship that a baby has with a caregiver (mommy, daddy, nanny, grandma) has the potential to be different. The way that I put LO to sleep is different then those others. I try to keep myself open to change and not let past failure and expectations get in the way of LOs ability to change and grow. WAY easier said than done.

Both my girls needed to be held for naps for a very long time. I tried CIO and all that and it never really worked. When they would cry themselves to sleep it was a crappy 20 minute nap. They have no issues whatsoever napping in their crib at daycare. *smackshead*
I think it's a total mommy clingy thing...

though i held my son for many many many naps, and would ask a nanny to as well, i would expect the nanny to.

@FliegepilzHut: I don't think we really had any tricks - just started from day 1 when they're kind of constantly sleepy anyway, I guess. Sorry, no good tips because we could never do it with DD1!