Why will my 5 month old sleep for hours in a pram/pushchair, but not in a sling or bed?

[IlanaK]

I am very flexible with where he sleeps. We used slings from the early days (he is my third baby). He always fought sleep, even in a sling. Now, he is much easier. We co-sleep and during the day he sleeps either on my bed (I feed him to sleep and then leave), in a sling on me or dh, or in a pram or pushchair. In bed, he is variable during the day. Some naps (usually early morning) will be up to 2 hours on a good day. In the sling, he is very unsettled and will only sleep for half an hour usually. In the pram, he will sleep upwards of 3 hours! We take him for a walk to get him to sleep and then bring him home and wheel him into our bedroom.

Evenings are really difficult usually. He only sleeps for 30 minutes or so whatever we try. So last night we tried the pram (not sure why we had never tried it in the evening before) and he slept so well!

Even at night in bed with me, he will only do 2 hours max, but often less than that.

So, what is it about a non-moving pram that helps him to sleep longer??? Can I abandon all other methods and just put him in the pram all night? (not actually serious!

[CarGirl]

Perhaps he likes that it is flat yet cosy? What pram is it?

[CarGirl]

One of mine def preferred to sleep on her own from being tiny rather than being held IYWIM

[IlanaK]

He is flat in our bed too. Though usually he prefers being on his side or front in bed. He will sleep either in our Emmaljunga pram or our Mamas and Papas Pop pushchair. Neither lie all the way flat.

I did wonder if he prefers to be on his own.

[Coldtits]

Maybe you're disturbing him?

At 5 months old he will have some sleep associations, and clearly he associates the pushchairs/prams with sleep.

Have you tried putting him in a moses basket in his cot in his own room? He might not want to co sleep any more. Obviously it might not work but it miight. Pity you can't ask them

[NattyPlus2andAHalf]

this sounds so much like my son, would only sleep in the non flat maclaren. babies eh!
what we actually did and ur gonna think im mad, but we put the cot ont he lowest setting, turned the matress over and put the WHOLE pram in the cot (maclaren is roughly same size as pop) did this for two nights then took the seat cover of the pram, and laid him on that, two nights again.
then took that away and he was sleeping in the cot!
Drastic measures i know, bt i was so tired by this point (also pregnant with 2nd baby) i just wanted him to sleep.
u could also try putting books under one end of the cot? maybe he dont like sleeping flat and prefers a slant?

moses basket in cot could work as well, like coldtits said. maybe he needs the walls around him iuswim?

babies are funny little things, my DD wouldnt sleep ANYWHERE but her mechanical swing thing.

[CarGirl]

I reckon her prefers to be propped up a bit, perhaps he has a tiny bit of acid reflux or he does just like being on his own to sleep!

[IlanaK]

He does have reflux so you may be right about being slightly propped up. He doesn't have a cot as we co-sleep. He also doesn't have his own room However, we do have an Amby hammock that we used with ds1 and 2, but ds3 would not sleep in it. I haven't tried it for months to be honest. Maybe it is time to try again and have it beside our bed. I have no doubt that his being next to me in bed is partly why he wakes so often, but there is no way I am getting up to feed him in the night! I could feed him in my bed and then put him back in the Amby though. I think I may try that.