3 month old seems to suddenly hate pram...

[curlyLJ]

DD is 14w and has recently taken a dislike to being pushed in her pram. She will happily take her naps in it, so she isn't scared of it, but if we go out she is whinging within 5 mins and it develops into full-blown crying.

I have tried stopping to talk to her, but this doesn't have an effect, but if I pick her up she is instantly quiet! Obviously carrying her isn't practical as I then can't push the pram. It's getting to me now as it means we can't go out and enjoy the lovely weather as I can't bear to hear her cry. Today she was screaming so loud a group of three women turned around to look
I know I caould use the baby carrier, but that means I have to carry everything else too, like her changing bag and anything else we need to take...so that's not really practical either.

The only thing that is different is that I have changed her position from the backwards-facing pram (which was getting to small for her) to the forward facing stroller. it lays flat (so OK for her size) and means she can look about. She was OK when I first made the switch, and like I say she naps in it, and has also previously fallen asleep in it on more than one occasion while we've been out and about.

Has anyone else had this problem and is it just a phase she will grow out of??

She's learned that 'cry in the pram = cuddles' so I think you have to resist the temptation to pick her up if you don't want to end up carrying her about all the time. She sounds like she needs reassurance that you're still there so keep talking as you push her along, sing songs etc. Some dangly things to look at might help divert her attention. And no-one likes hearing their baby yelling but I think you're going to have to ignore it in a controlled fashion to get past this particular phase. Good luck

she's still very little though and although I obviously check if there's something she needs (food, clean nappy etc), I wouldn't leave her to cry indoors, so why should the pram be different..? I don't want to make her scared of it, or have bad associations with it IYSWIM?

Is she crying or just making a noise? There's a difference between crying because you're distressed/wet/hungry and making a big old noise because you want some more attention. She's not scared of the pram & it has no bad associations because she'll fall asleep in it, no problem. You've checked she's not wet, hungry, uncomfortable or anything else bad. She just can't see you like she used to and that takes time to get used to.

The choice is either persevering and not keep picking her up or buy the sling and abandon the pram...

Hi curly - I had this with DS when he was about that age. I took the sling everywhere with me as I couldn't bear to let him cry and would often end up pushing an empty buggy around.

In the end I bought a parent-facing buggy and he would tolerate that, although I still took the sling with me everywhere just in case for ages.

Maybe think about trading in your current buggy for a parent-facing one?

DS is now 14 months old and has been fine facing forward for the past 3 or 4 months, so it does pass.

I bought a bugaboo bee secondhand from a fellow mumsnetter from the for sale/wanted section of chat and i can't recommend it enough.

I did same as Bicnod and got a rear facing pushchair. It's called a Loola and is expensive brand new but I picked mine up from a shop on ebay for £60 brand new. Made all the difference. DS still would love to go in it now if I let him and he's 3!

I didn't think it was to do with her not being able to see me to be honest, as she was Ok at first. I think she's just taken a dislike to the pram/being pushed about in general

My pram has got a travel system function which will face me with the car seat on - maybe I'll try before selling/changing the pram to see how she goes in that first.

Thanks for all the replies.