Why do people say "babies are so portable?!"

[Chooleyo]

I'm on my second baby and I haven't found either of them remotely portable. Both have been extremely susceptible to overtiredness and would scream the place down if you missed their sleep cues. My eldest would only nap in his cot in a dark room so he wasn't portable at all - wouldn't sleep in the carrier, pram or car seat. My youngest (12 weeks) will ONLY contact nap so you'd think he would be more portable as he sleeps in the sling but he will not entertain being in the sling between naps - tries to fling himself out and screams his head off. And hates the pram. And hates the car seat. If we do go out I have to put up with him screaming between naps and then lug my gigantic boobs out to try to feed him while he flails about and refuses to latch on.

Who are these unicorn portable babies? I was under the impression from impassioned babywearers that newborns just sit contentedly in the sling all day between peacefully dropping off for naps. Nope.

Mine is pretty portable. He’s pretty settled in the pram and naps well in it. Is an angel when we’re out and about. At home is another story. It’s much easier to be out all day with him.

Babies themselves may be portable but all the stuff you need to go anywhere with them at all isn't. I remember the first holiday with DD1, it felt like army manoeuvres.

This depends so much on the baby.

My DC1 was a crier, barely napped, and I had a lot of difficulty breastfeeding. Definitely didn't feel portable at all.

DC2 was a pretty chilled newborn. Contact napped pretty well, breastfed pretty easily, was mostly just happy either breastfeeding or sleeping on someone for the first three months, didn't cry much. Very portable tbh until he was around 4 months and sorta 'woke up', lost interest in the breastfeeding all the time, and the crying started.

11?! Mine have had them since birth pretty much😂

I did not have portable babies and Dts needed routine or it all went to shot. They were not sleep in the pram while we ate dinner types. At all.

They're fairly civilised now at 13.

By the third I just popped the baby in the sling and headed out anywhere.

They are portable in that you take them places, not that they’ll necessarily like it. But if they’re taken everywhere from
the start, they accept it as their normal.

And of course teenagers are much heavier to carry. 😉

Because people have that experience, and then assume everyone else will have the exact same experience 😏

Mine were really portable. Slept happily in sling, pram or buggy. Was breastfeeding so didn't need to remember to take anything for food for first 6 months.

Some people say it because for some of us it really is true.

They’re all different. Mine both refused to nap in their cot and were really difficult to get to sleep at bed time. Wheeling them in the pram was the failsafe way to get them to nap so I’d end up walking round in circles when I didn’t have anywhere to go, then go back in and park them up in the hall.

Mine was very portable, very chill baby, would nap/feed anywhere, i was the issue, trying to get her home for nap/bottle time just in case she got distracted or something else (can't remember my other reasons!), wish i'd relaxed more :-(

Yes this, literally the meaning of portable!

We didn't travel but I remember visiting family when they were 6 weeks old and going out for dinner - they slept through the whole evening in a loud restaurant.

I was so jealous of people with babies like this! I was always the person stood up jiggling an angry goblin while my NCT chums could drink their coffees sitting down while their babies were asleep in their prams.

My son is sort of a medium.

Will contact nap (latched for me, just bloody goes to sleep for daddy), pram nap (must keep walking), car nap, sling nap, rucksack nap (keep moving again...).

What he is is a nosy and hyperactive bugger who will scale the literal walls since he was absolutely tiny. Whilst all the other antenatal babies were sitting on their mum's lap, he wanted to be held standing on the table at 10 weeks.

So you CAN take him anywhere, but whether you want to is quite another matter.

Apparently I was one, and I can still sleep on a washing line. I slept stood up on a train once.

Ds was categorically not one. He's almost 11 and still needs structure, darkness and quiet to sleep, much like his father. He's got a bit better as he's got older but it took until well into primary school age.

My dm didn't believe me until she had him for more than one night. It was quite vindicating to see her realise I wasn't exaggerating.

It depends on the child - some are easier than others. I took mine everywhere and never had a schedule, so never felt the need to be at home for lunch, naps etc. If he was tired while we were out, he slept in his pram; it didn't matter whether it was sunny or noisy. I went to places I wanted to go as an adult (cafes, art galleries etc), as well as places I thought would be good for him (museums, soft play) and he's grown up accepting that visiting both types is normal and is unfazed using public transport. He was quite happy to sit in his pram/on my lap/in a high chair while eating out and has always been relatively easy to keep amused (drawing, books etc), so there's never a need to keep him amused with technology while out. On the other hand, there are a few friends with very needy children and it really doesn't seem to have much at all to do with parenting.

Some of my babies were so portable, I reckon you could sell them in the airport WH Smiths, next to the travel adaptors and neck pillows. Some of my babies made sitting in my own garden arduous. I don't know what the secret to only popping out portable babies is. Conceiving them on a train?

Also, I couldn't breastfeed one of mine after a c section. That baby was about as portable as a washing machine.

Mine were very portable, napping was far more reliable in the pushchair anyway. It's down to how you bring them up - I was youngish and they just went with me everywhere

Agreed. Both slept in dark room in cot only, which was a blessing most of the time. Older one was fine in the pram. Younger one strains at it and tries to escape (despite being unable to walk). Not a hope in hell that they would just sit peacefully in the sling looking at the view 😂. The pushchair thing really gets me - makes days out feel very difficult, thinking they will be doing a lot more walking, a lot earlier.

It’s down to their personality

I should point out was the flip side that they didn't respond to he putting in a separate room ever (dd2 was 6, years not months!)

Mine was really portable, to be fair. Would sleep anywhere, would fall asleep at bedtime regardless of where we were, very easy to settle. Loves to people watch, so he's always thrilled to be at a coffee shop or in a pub, etc. Loved the sling. Flies like a dream, very sociable overall, doesn't really tantrum.

He had his first ever 9-hour overnight sleep a week or so ago, though; is very stubborn and independent, stopped napping at 2.5....

It's horses and courses, I think! They're all different but nobody wins on all fronts.

My first never slept, so in a sense you could say portable…except she would only have her bottle at a certain temperature & she was a sickly baby so needed many many changes of clothes.

The second breast feed and slept at night whether in a travel cot or home ….you could say portable but she never napped in the day (which meant I was on entertainment duty and if she pooed - and oh dear that was an event …so again needed multiple changes of clothes.

Nor me trying to do a routine helped so it was easy just to get on with it & going out. Just taking enough clothes and nappies !

Mine would sleep anywhere. Baby
bjorn, pushchair, travel cot (rarely took him up to his bedroom for a nap), car. My DD less so but still we were out most days and they just fell asleep when they needed too.
I had a strict bedtime routine though, and woke them up if napping too long.

Mine were portable in the first year. They were BFed which on the plus side did not require equipment. The snag was that they were both bottle refusers, so just as well that they were portable as I couldn't go far without them!

They also needed burning out to nap. I think half my milage in that car was driving them off to sleep. They rarely napped in their cot. They liked being out and about in busy places watching what was going on.
Most problems could be fixed with milk.
Baby carriers/ wraps opened options up.

I've paid for it since!
I now have a grouchy hermit teenager whose favourite way to spend time is in a darkened room. He generally has to be bribed out with food.