baby hates cuddles?

OK so some replies in the Toddler vs. Newborn thread have got me thinking on this - wee babies = cuddles, right?  I've never met a baby who didn't love them.  Except my Ella - for those first couple of nights after she arrived she struggled with being put in the bassinet next to my hospital bed, and I ended up holding her in order for her to doze off at all.  Seems normal enough.  But then pretty quickly she got it through to us that she did NOT want cuddles!  Even as a little tiny newborn, she wriggled, squirmed and grizzled away until we'd hold her up 'standing', or lay her on the floor for a play.  It took her till over a year old to be carried on my hip, because she refused to sit on it at all while I held her - in fact, until then, the only way I could carry her was with 2 hands, Ella in s sitting position on one arm facing away from me and the other arm across her chest. 

She's a generally happy kid, very happy and always has been, she just hates cuddles!  Loves being tickled, so it's not about disliking touch.  Now that she's so much more independent she'll rush up to me and give me quick hugs and kisses and they're so precious to me.  But she won't even sit on my knee long enough for the shortest of her books - are there other content little non-cuddlers out there? 

ella wasnt a cuddly bubba - sure she would lie in your arms but she would rather lie across your chest that "cuddle". She fell asleep on shoulders etc not by being "cuddled" off to sleep

now - she doesnt sit still often, will sit and read though and will have quick cuddles when she wakes, before bed etc...but mostly her security is just knowing we are around...and if she wants a cuddle she will get it from us - guess she knows that.

Olivia would push away too, we couldn't hold her close at all and it cosleeping seems almost a laughable concept when you have a child like that because it just doesn't happen. When Olivia turned 8 months old though I was sick and tired of her pushing me away so I held on to her and hugged her and hugged her till she stopped pushing me away and started clinging back She is still a kid that is reluctant to sit on people and is very wormy and ants-in-your-pants but she is also demonstrative of her emotions which is so touching.
I completely blame Olivia being a refluxer for not wanting to be held, as people = pain. But thankfully that is all over!

Both my girls werent into cuddles either but my wee man will always come for a cuddle and I heart it

my mum said I didn't like cuddle especially when it was bed time - didn't want to be cuddled to sleep happier to go in my cot or on the floor to go to sleep. I am still like that when I want to sleep - Like cuddles/hugs but when i want to sleep thats it I want my space... maybe thats just what ella is like. I don;t remember Brooke being overly cuddly unless she was sick always too busy to sit and cuddle - alhtough loved being read to. Both my boys have been cuddlers especially Rhyley.

both my kidlets are cuddlers....but i must ask my mum what my sis was like as a kid, she very rarely will cuddle and i wonder if she was always like that

Hiya, I've just found this and was a great relief to see I'm not alone. I have been very concerned about my six month old baby who has never been a cuddly baby. He will look as though he wants to be picked up and as soon as I do he pushes with both hands off my chest or face and wants put down again. He never sits still on me ever, is always wriggly, grizzly and never ever seems content. It's just started to make me quite sad and upset and envious of mothers who all seem to have babies that love lying on mums shoulders for cuddles and soothing. It makes me feel as though I've done something wrong as a mum that he doesn't look for that from me. He has also had reflux from birth although that seems to have gone now?

My first boy was exactly the same. He hated being held close - I couldn't even burp him on my shoulder. He was very independent and would rather be playing on the floor than sitting on me. He has always preferred his own bed - in fact he has only slept in my bed one night of his entire life, when he was very sick.

Like tictakjunkie's boy, my son has sensory issues, which we learned about when he was in Starship for other issues at age 1. He fits so many of the 'symptoms' - hates loud noises, hates sand/dirt, water on his face, messy play etc.

As time has gone on (he is almost 4 now) he has got a lot better. These days he will cuddle but we normally have to count to a pre-determined number as he would rather be off doing other things. I am still not allowed to cuddle up in bed with him. However, he is super affectionate... I get a lot of kisses and brief hugs and plenty of "I love you, mum" comments. In fact many people have commented on how affectionate he is now.

I am a super cuddly person and took this pretty hard. My second boy was better, but still not a big cuddler. I am tempted to try again for a cuddly baby!!

My DD hated cuddles as a baby, now she's 18 months she will give quick cuddles - as in, she'll zoom in for a cuddle, then just as quickly zoom out again - but it seems to be more of social thing, a desire to please us, win us over, than a desire by her to have a cuddle. She will occasionally cuddle a bit when she is sick, but that also seems more of a tiredness thing than an emotional need.

Her unwillingness to cuddle as a baby came up in an appointment with our paediatrician, he said it was her reflux - it makes them overheat and so they don't like the warmth of cuddles. I don't think that's the whole reason though as my first child had reflux (not as bad though) and she was a real cuddler. Just a different personality - very busy, almost hyperactive, and not an emotionally needy child. Hates to be confined too - dislikes the front pack, the carseat, etc.