5 month old only naps in pram

[KittyKat73]

Hey everyone!

first time mum so no idea if im making a big deal over nothing.

for the first 2 months my baby boy would nap so easy then suddenly it changed and it was a wrestling match every time which resulted in a very over tired angry baby. Eventually we got him in a good routine of being awake for an hour then id look for signs of being tired like a yawn or eye rub etc then settle him for a nap. The only way he would sleep is in his pram with the pram moving.

Now hes coming up for 5 months I have been trying to extend the awake time up to 2 hours, sometimes he does this no problem aslong as theres stimulation other times bang on an hour of being awake he starts getting grumpy and wants a nap so i dont force him to stay awake. But i cant seem to get him to nap anywhere else than in the pram aslong as its moving ( or carseat if out a drive)

I know every baby is different but how does everyone elses baby nap?
does your baby stay awake longer or shorter? did they grow out of only napping with movement?

nighttime he goes to sleep no problem in my husbands arms in the rocking chair so still needing movement. Im probably looking too much into it but constantly have family members and friends tell me how their babies would just fall asleep and only needed to lay them down in their bed or give them a cuddle and they would go to sleep no problem. They always comment how they have never seen a baby fight sleep so much as my baby

No advice, I'm in a similar situation. Have you tried a sling/carrier? Occasionally I can get a nap in my caboo or baby Bjorn but it takes a lot of moving (for example a big supermarket shop or 30 minute walk).

How very helpful of them! That's so insensitive as if you need to feel judged right now. My mum has form for making comments like that and they feel like such digs at my parenting that it gets my back up. Every child is different. My youngest used to only fall asleep in a pram. Regardless if it's moving or not. She d fight when I tried rocking her but wouldn't settle in her sleepyhead or anywhere other than her pram. Even at bedtimes I had to let her fall asleep in the pram then transfer her to her cot.

We had this at a similar age! And I got so fed up of sitting in a running car just to get him to sleep in the afternoon.
We decided to be strict about cot napping, and for two weeks we made sure every nap was in his cot and at bedtime he went in awake/drowsy rather than falling asleep feeding/in arms. Worked for us (it was hard at times with an overtired baby don’t get me wrong!!) and now at 6 months he chats to himself for 5 mins before each nap in his cot and goes off to sleep easily 9/10 times (we do let him nap in the car/pram now too.)
He isn’t a great napper length of time wise (45 mins) which still drives me crazy but at least I don’t have to walk him up and down the road and drive around in circles constantly

Needing something soothing like movement is totally normal. Far from everybody's baby 'grows out of it'. Neither of mine would ever go for the being put down drowsy thing without becoming very distressed and that was unacceptable for me, I didn't want naps or bedtime to become a frightening or unpleasant thing.

I would advise looking into learning how to use slings or wraps, as they will give a similar cuddly movement but allow you to get more things done. You can also put them down quite easily once they've dropped off. Check out WrapYouInLove tutorials on youtube, and buy/sell groups for pre-loved wraps on facebook (Babywearing FSOT and others).

aw thanks for the tips good to know im not the only one ill try a sling and see if that has the same effect

Will he sleep in the pram if you stop moving it? We went through a phase where we had to put DS in the pram, walk for a bit and then he would stay sleeping once we returned home as he was in a deep enough sleep not to notice he wasn’t moving. Sometimes it took longer to get ready than we were out.

yeah as soon as he is asleep we can stop moving the pram. it varies sometimes he will nap for 30min others 2 hours. but need to move the pram to get him over to sleep first

Im in the exact same boat and I dont understand how other parents get their babies to sleep "putting them in their cot sleepy but awake". My boy gets worked up into such a state when i put him in his cot during the day he ends up silent crying, going red and puking up. Its not worth it. Unfortunately he will only sleep in the pram if its moving and moving around the house doesnt have him fooled. Its tough but we just have to do what we can to get our babies to sleep and deal with it and cross those bridges when we get there!