Has anyone had a baby that wouldn't sleep in the pram?

[ShazzaF]

Going slightly insane here

Until my daughter was about two weeks old, she was fine in the pram. Then ever since, she just cannot fall asleep in the pram. She's okay lying there until she wants to sleep or just gets bored of being in the pram, then she screams until I get her out. She just doesn't seem to be soothed by the pram!

She's three months old now and no sign of improvement. I don't think it's reflux as she will lie down perfectly happy for a while until she gets tired or just wants a snuggle. She has no problem lying in her playgym etc or sleeping in her cot at night, so I really don't think it's the angle of being lay down.

The car seat is even worse, don't get me started... 😩

My first baby was totally different, he'd be totally content and chill or sleep no matter what if he was in a moving pram or car 🤷‍♀️

Did anyone else have a baby like this that wouldn't be soothed by the pram, and if so what made it better? Did they just grow out of it and if so, when? It's really getting me down as it's making life tricky in terms of getting my older toddler out and about :(

I've wondered if she'd be happier in the proper pram seat rather than the bassinet, but it's a bugaboo donkey bucket seat so the manual says 6 months plus.

Yes me!

Dc1 wouldn't sleep in his pram or car seat.

It was hell.

I got a sling and when he turned 5 month he went into the sitting up buggy rather than lying flat which he much preferred.

He ended up with undiagnosed allergies so I wonder if the positions hurt his tummy.

Ds would be sleep on the car or pram ever, I'm still getting over it 23 years later 😉 We were totally governed by naps as he'd only sleep in his cot.

Yes, I did. Sling was the only solution here. At 5mo I could move him onto my back which made things a lot easier.

Yep! First child DD was a screamer but she would sleep if in the pram and moving. I lost shedloads of weight walking for hours with her.

DS a totally different kettle of fish. He basically lived in the sling until he was 6m…

Both of mine hated the bassinet and were in the sitting up type seat from 8 and 10 weeks. The only reason it was 10 for the second is that it took me a couple of weeks to remember how early we'd had to switch for my son. We have an uppababy vista and it had a newborn insert for the seat though, so was a bit more comfortable and padded - do buggaboo do a similar insert you could get? Six months is very old to be still lying flat (most babies are sitting up by then and I can't imagine they'd be happy not being able to have a nose around!)

Yes! DD was a catnapper at the best of times but at least she'd sleep at home. After about 6mo she point blank refused to sleep in the buggy or the car. We tried everything.

DS had less choice because we were out and about with DD, but whenever he did have a nap in the buggy it involved a Snooze Shade and a lot of walking, and he'd only do 30mins max. He'd have 2hrs at home so it was quite the reduction...

It's SHIT, I massively sympathise. Mine are 9 and 5 now and it feels like a distant memory, but that doesn't help much when you're in it. I'm nearly a decade on and I still remember the trauma. for you, OP.

Yep. Cars and prams were a complete no go. Slings, whilst walking at a very specific pace was all that works.
hilariously now at 16 months we have the opposite problem and will only nap in a pram or car. So there we go 😂

Yep, my DS is 16 months and since he was about 3 months old has refused to sleep in his pram/ buggy. He gets major FOMO and wants to see what's going on.

When he was younger I had partial success with him napping in a sling but i had to walk him for 20/ 30 mins before he'd drop off and had to use my coat to block his view. Luckily this was in winter so the days were short & dark when he still needed a late afternoon nap.
We're governed by his naps schedule but it's got easier now he's down to 1 x 2hour lunch nap. On the plus side, he is a really good sleeper, but only in his cot.
I did try a week of intense pram napping practice when he was around 6 months but it was absolute hell - he screamed his head off and was so upset and didn't sleep at all so I just accepted that pram napping isn't his thing.

Yep. I appear to be on baby number 2 who has no idea about sleeping on the go despite me trying to force the issue. Similar to yours, DC2 is happy enough awake but then start’s squawking —> screaming as soon as tired. DC1 went through a phase of occasionally falling asleep in the stroller from about 6-9 months. But it was still pretty useless as he’d only stay asleep if I continuously walked at speed. He napped slightly better in the sling as does DC2 although DC1 would scream for a good 10 mins before going to sleep. Both of my DC seem to like napping on me or in a dark room. I wish it wasn’t that way!

Thanks everyone, it's nice to know I'm not alone - though I'm sorry you all had this issue too!

I forgot to put in my OP that she also hates the sling! I have tried her in the stretchy sling a few times and every time has been a total failure. Though actually, I do have an ergobaby carrier knocking around that I could try.

@LeftTheWashingOut oh I've seen people talking about the inserts you can get for bucket seats, but bugaboo don't do one and I'm nervous to spend money on a third party one in case I get the wrong thing. I've spent enough money on the double pram already - it's a fab pram, but I've barely sodding used it!! I agree that six months seems very late for a baby to lie in a bassinet, but then my first baby had one of those where they're strapped in but totally flat, and you can adjust the back so it tilts up. Whereas the bucket type seats that the bugaboo has are apparently less suitable according to google...

I will have a look for that uppababy insert to see if it would be any good in the bugaboo, so thanks for that!

My son is 15 months and has hardly ever napped in his pram. My partner calls it "pointless pram".

He also hated the stretchy type sling but I was handed down an ergobaby carrier and he lived in that. Even then, I often had to walk up and down stairs (while wearing him in the carrier) or rock him, as if I was repeatedly bowing deeply, to get him to sleep. And I could never sit down once he was asleep! He also HAD to have his legs tucked up and in (in a sort of froggy position) to get to sleep in the carrier.

Similar to @24HoursFromTulseHill , he basically has major FOMO while in the pram and won't zone out and sleep. I even bought an expensive "snoozeshade" for the pram but that didn't help/made things worse! People would tell me I needed to train him to sleep in the pram - as in, leave him
in there while crying until he fell asleep - but when I did try a few times, he just screamed so so much that he couldn't calm himself down and it was never going to work.

He also used to HATE the carseat but at a certain age (maybe ~6 months?) he started getting more used to it. I've always had to use the car but knew he wouldn't nap and would likely cry for a good chunk of the journey. I put on music or podcasts and tried not to get distracted by the wailing. Now he's older he will nap in the car if it's a long journey or if we've been out and he's overdue a sleep.

It's tough not being able to put your baby down to sleep in a pram so that you can sit down with friends or take a rest yourself. I went slightly insane from it too. But hang in there, you will get through it. 💪Try the ergobaby - it might be the answer.

Is it too tight? That was my child's issue with the sling. Once we figured that out she was fine.

Yep, mine. She wouldn't nap anywhere other than on me (and not in a sling) and OCCASIONALLY in the car seat, but only if the drive was over an hour. I'm afraid she didn't get any better!

My first son would never go in the pram, he could be fast asleep and as soon as you lowered him in he would scream, he went into the cot at 3 weeks and the pushchair at the same time. I had a silvercross and it came with a wedge thing suitable for new borns.

he’s now 29 and still is very claustrophobic! Would never go in a lift even as a baby !

Just want to add, he didn’t like a sling either or to be swaddled, the midwife would wrap him up and he screamed until I released him. My mum is to laugh and say I must have a very large womb, 😂

I think my DC1 fell asleep in a pushchair once for Granny and Grandad aged about 2, but that’s the only time I can ever remember any of my 3DC sleeping in a pram or pushchair.

I have 3 months old twins and one of them has recently started to sleep well in our buggy. What has helped is putting in a headrest type thing to make it more snug, putting on white noise and starting walks by busy roads which makes him sleepy, and putting up a SnoozeShade so they can't look out. If they can see out they get overstimulated...
Not sure any of these will help, and funnily enough his brother now refuses to sleep in the buggy so I have one in the buggy and one in the sling atm!!

@ShazzaF when are you trying her in the sling? I also thought my DC hated them. I’ve realised that putting them in when you are desperate to get them to sleep means they are likely already overtired. The act of going in the sling is pretty stimulating and, was quite often the final straw for my DC leading to much screamies. If I knew I needed to go out I’d try and put DC in the sling way before he needed to sleep and walk about outside - he seemed to much prefer it outside to inside and settle quite nicely. DC1 nearly always screamed himself to sleep in the sling but I’ve had more success with DC2 going off to sleep relatively peacefully like this.

Yes. My baby never slept in the pram. Not once. Just screamed until purple in the faces. At around 6 months old she would sleep in pram if had snooze shade and shushing noise from machine and I was walking at a moderate pace over a smooth surface but she'd only do 20/30 minutes maximum

Dd was a brilliant sleeper.... as long as she was in her own crib, in her own dark and quiet room.

As a result, she did a fraction of the groups and activities we did with ds as she needed to be home for nap time, and as a sleeper fan, her naps were ridiculously long. At one stage, she would go down for her nap around 10/1030 and would have to be woken at 1430 in order to fetch ds from school. She ate a lot of meals in her pram.....

Yes my second child was like that. She hated the pram. We had to have her sat up facing out otherwise she hated it. She very rarely fell asleep in there. Funny as she only slept properly in the cot and she was like that until she was 4.

try using a pram shade to make it dark? and portable white noise machine? it might be that she’s too excited by the outdoors/ the light and sounds?

Yep my son! Wouldn’t sleep in carrycot, just whinged or screamed, not much better in car seat! I moved him to the pushchair seat at 3mths (uppababy vista so similar seat to bugaboo) padded tour with seat liner and cosy toes and he was much happier- turned him forward facing at 5mths and it was a game changer he was so happy from
then on and I would let him fall asleep sat totally upright then lie him down, if tried to lie him back when tired he’d scream so just left him to it!

My second didn’t like it much at all. After hours of marching sometimes she would sleep but wake up after 15 mins or so. Now she’s 2.5 and today when we were out climbed in to her buggy and asked to lie flat so she could have a nap. Hang in there. It won’t be like this forever!

Yes me too. I've had two that didn't like the buggy. I put the seat on at 8 weeks for my eldest. Bugaboos tilt quite far back so their head is supported a bit more, or you could buy a generic newborn head support.

Second born still isn't keen on the buggy or the car at 15 months so I have no other tips 🤷🏼‍♀️