Baby in pram

[JL642]

I’ve accepted that my baby likes being held (at all times…). She is three months.

She will sometimes sleep in the pram, but she ALWAYS wakes up immediately when I stop moving the pram (ie if I return home, if I go in a coffee shop, if I’m at the check outs in Sainsbury’s waiting to pay…).

So I am always the mum in the coffee shop with my baby on my lap (every single time). I completely understand why (baby wants to see, baby wants to be held, baby wants to be close to mum). Totally normal.

However, there are some nct mums who I meet for coffee whos babies I haven’t even met yet!! They’re asleep in the pram every single time. Can anyone shed any light on why?! Is it baby personality, luck? Just curious really. And maybe a little jealous! ;)

Ah I’ve been this mum with one of mine OP! I know what it’s like, it can feel a bit deflating at times when you could just really do with not being touched! Have you tried one of those vibrating giraffe things? You attach to the pram and they keep it moving for you to keep baby asleep. I’ve probably not explained that very well 😬

I was the mum who went to baby massage every week for six weeks and never once massaged my baby because she was asleep the whole time. Ditto breast feeding support, meeting friends for coffee, etc etc. I can only put it down to the fact that she was my fifth and she did all the sleeping the others didn't!

You can buy a gadget which rocks your pram. I couldn’t get my second into a pram for 7 months.

It's luck op. Mine is the opposite, he won't sleep soundly unless he's out and about so I make a point of trying to get out a bit each day so he gets a decent nap in. He is similar with the car but only while it's moving. We got a bouncer that lies flat and vibrates and he settles very well in it, might be worth a try?

It's because babies think it's really good fun to ruin any moment of peace you even consider having OP! Definitely luck.

@GoodChat 😂😂😂😂

Thanks everyone - sounds like it is just luck. I’ve tried a sling, not tried a pram vibrator! Will have a think.

Sympathies! Even outside of naps, once they're a little older, there'll be some kids who can be wheeled into cafes and stay content sat in their buggies with a toy/snack while Mum has a coffee and a chat. Not mine 🤦🏻‍♀️. I've finally come round (now we're at 18months) to accepting that some kids are just wired differently, whereas in the early months I was always looking for that 'reason' so I could change it

P.s. We had a rockit, keeps them asleep when the pram stops for short periods (grat to keep the sleep going when paying in a shop), but didn't help my daughter join up sleep cycles so there was never enough time for a coffee....

I used to nap our DD in the pram but would have to keep it constantly moving or she'd wake up. I'd sit there for hours just pushing it back and forward with my foot. Eventually got to the point where I could rock her to sleep and then she'd stay asleep in the pram. She's 17 months now and she still needs to be rocked to sleep. Rocking chair was my best purchase!

My first I'm fairly sure I left the house with her in the pram. My second is currently three months and won't tolerate it at all. Sling or she is wailing the place down, so we sling. I'm hoping when she can sit up in the pram she might tolerate it more.... There's a mum at the postnatal pilates class i go to who pops her baby into the pram at the start of the class, turns on the vibrating pram thing and the baby sleeps without a peep for the entire hour. I'm lucky if I do 20% of the class...

Like you at our first NCT lunch, I was the only one holding on to my tiny baby and eating one handed. He always wanted to be out, seeing everything. We did do a lot though, because he just loved being out and about so much..

He is 17 months now and….a total live wire. Never still. Wants to do all the things, touch everything, see everything, squeal at pigeons, say hello to everyone, clamber about on the train seats and run up and down wherever we go. He won’t even be still to watch bastard CocoMelon. He’s tiring, but so, so much fun. Clearly it’s his personality and always has been.

Every baby is different. They have different temperaments and personalities which are set from conception. You just have to learn to work with the one you’ve got. They will change a lot in the first year though, my son unlocked staying asleep in a stationary buggy at some point I can’t quite remember when!

I've been both mums - my eldest would not stay in her pram, screamed bloody murder. My DS is almost 6 months and a friend said today she's only seen him with his eyes open once! It's luck, pure and simple.

One of mine was like your baby and the other one slept many hours in prams, moses baskets cribs, the floor etc. I did nothing differently. I wasn't smug as the sleeping one was my second. The sleeping one is now a very clingy toddler whilst the one that needed constant holding is very independent.

You've described my baby!! As a small baby, my son would happily go in the pram and then promptly fall asleep. He'd stay asleep as long as I didn't stop moving, but then as soon as he'd been asleep 40 minutes, like clockwork, he would wake up and begin screaming when he realised he was in the pram and not being held.

I spent a lot of time doing carefully timed walks to make sure I'd get home bang on for when he'd wake up after 40 minutes.

We didn't try any of the things PP have suggested, but hopefully they will help you.

What I will say is that at some point, maybe when he was 5 or 6 months old, I had to stop the pram to answer an important phone call. I was anticipating him waking up, but he didn't! So I went and sat on a park bench with a hot drink, and he slept for two hours. It was bliss!!! Ever since that day, he had no problems staying asleep in the pram. It was a total game changer 🤣 hopefully the same will happen for you at some point!

Get yourself a rockit

My 3mo baby only does 30min naps in the pram when moving on footpaths/roads. She wakes up in the supermarket. Is too smooth I guess 🙈
I have a rockit pram vibrator and it doesn't work on her.

I have parented my 2 girls pretty much the same. Yet my second likes to be glued to me and screams bloody murder if I put her down or leave her sight. She's been like this for months and months now (she's 10 months) and I can only hope and pray she grows out of it soon.
My eldest just waved to me when I left her 🤷‍♀️

First baby: hated lying down. Screamed in pram, slept in there maybe twice. Swiftly changed over to pushchair seat early. Also had silent reflux (possibly).
Second baby: lay happily in pram, cooed at trees, occasionally napped, woke up as soon as motion stopped unless white noise on.

I think it's just luck!

All our 4 fall asleep in car soon as it starts to move put them in a cot and it takes a couple of hours to get to sleep lol

You can buy a gadget called a rockit - it save our life. We could eat lunch in restaurants and everything with that bloody amazing thing.

My daughter was exactly like this, would only ever nap in the pram if it was moving. Naps were a challenge until she was 7 months old then it clicked and she's been fab napping in her cot ever since. Still needed a snoozeshade, white noise and a moving pram to nap out and about though! I think it is just luck, but totally understand how frustrating it is.

This is like mine!

She's 2 next month and it's been hard, but this is the way some babies are.

OP, DD2 hated the pram until about 4 months. She loooooves the baby carrier. She'll fall asleep within minutes in it, but can take up to 20/25 minutes in the buggy no matter how tired she is.

Don't give up with the pram. She's still very little. Or get yourself a baby carrier. I have the baby bjorn mini which I bought second hand and it's the best baby purchase I made. All I have to do now is bounce on the spot if I'm in a queue and she'll fall asleep.

My DS was very similar. Only happy in sling until he was older. He's now nearly 2 and still loves to be carried (he's extremely affectionate and cuddly). We've had several patches where he's objected to the pram but it comes and goes. We have a trike as a back up and various carriers. He's now really good at napping in his pram but that only started at about 1yr.