11 weeks old - giving up on the carry cot in favour of the pram seat?

[AchillesInHeels]

Just that really - I have an 11 week old baby who hates the carry cot, will not settle really unless he can see me. I am quite social and feel confident going out and about with him but I don't want to keep going out shopping, visiting, etc if it's causing him distress. Is it safe to start using the pram seat from this age? I spent a bit of time this afternoon changing it over from a carry cot to a pram seat and popped him in it - first of all he looked very small when I thought I had quite a robust looking baby! Second of all, the manual for my pram system says use from 6mo upwards. Any advice/ personal experience please?

I think they need to be a bit more stable before they go in the pram seat as their neck will wobble all over the place.

Is it definitely because the baby can't see you? Could baby be a bit reflux and not like lying totally flat?

Could also use a carrier for now.

I'm just guessing really about him being able to see me; we went for a walk one day and he was crying the whole time until I walked side-by-side pushing the pram using one forearm 😅

I don't think he is refluxy, he's very rarely sick and only occasionally spits up, burps very well after a feed.

Absolutely adores being on his back flat when at home, I think he'd lie for hours if I'd let him!

I do think you're probably right that his head/ neck aren't stable enough unless the pram seat was fully reclined - in which case the carry cot would be basically the same thing but more comfortable!

I think it depends on how good his head control is and how flat the seat goes. Mine is a 98th centile baby and had grow out of the basinet by 11 weeks so he had to go to the seat, but it does lie pretty flat and his head control is good. He much prefers it.

As long as the seat reclines well back, then he might be able to see more of what’s going on around him. I can’t remember what age I transferred mine to the pram seat, but it was definitely before 6 months as they weren’t content being in the bassinet.

My babies were big and didn't stay in the carrycot long. The pram seat was suitable from birth as it went completely flat. I would check with the manufacturer that its safe.

I had my daughter in the pram from 12 weeks. I never used the carrycot though. She was in the car seat when we were out and about and I had no problems with either tbh

Most prams suggest they should be older but my son was too long for the carrycot at this age and went into the pram bit. He was fine but had good control of himself and we had a footmuff in to pad it out a bit.

I used both from about 4.5mo to 7mo - depended on what we were doing and if I wanted DS to sleep. He had great head control (could lift for a couple of seconds the day he was born) and the seat was suitable from birth anyway (went flat) but I always felt he was a bit better protected from the elements and more able to stretch out in the bassinet if he was having a nap. He's 98th centile but still fit in his bassinet (just) until he was 9mo/77cm (we used as a travel cot until very recently) - the people whose babies were too big at 12wks must've bought miniature prams or had extraordinarily large babies!

Once I'd swapped bassinet/seat a couple of times it wasn't that tricky. Bassinet is more of a faff in the car though.

Does your pram have an insert that you can buy to transfer them to the seat earlier? For example the uppababy has a newborn insert that you can use with the seat flat so they are safe in the seat

Can you put a rolled up towel under the head end of the mattress? Baby stays flat but is tilted up a bit so easier to see you?
My younger one hated the pram til I realised that he couldn't see me and that he was too hot. Lots of people used to tut that he didn't have a hat in December.