Sleeping in the pram at night

[MintGreenLife]

My DS is 7 months, and his sleep is very poor. 8 weeks ago it kicked off with hourly wakeups, and it’s now progressed to hardly being able to be put down in his cot and waking every 20-40mins. This last week he’s spent no more than 1-2 hours a night in his cot, apart from one random night where he was easy to put down and spent most of the night in his cot.

To ensure he gets plenty of sleep, I give in to sitting awake and letting him sleep on me. I try a bit of cosleeping too, but he only seems to tolerate a few hours of that.

He will however sleep really well in his pram, undisturbed for several hours. Last night he slept 3 hours in his pram, and he may have slept much longer, but I got him out as felt uneasy about him sleeping much longer in there. I set a silent alarm on my phone for every 30 mins to check he’s not too hot, hasn’t slumped down etc, and lay next to him on the sofa.

I know prams aren’t advised for overnight sleeping, but if I’m checking him regularly and he sleeps say 2-4 hours in his pram, is that ok?! Has anyone else had to do this. It seems stupid to not let him sleep in there when he sleeps so well, and at least I’m resting even if I am waking myself up every 30 mins to check him.

Is it a flat pram? I think it's the buggies that aren't advised for long periods of time but stand to be corrected. Ds used to sleep on his pram for exactly the same reasons.

OP, babies slept perfectly well in prams since the invention of prams. The only thing I'm wondering, though, is whether he's lying flat or half sitting (as you mention "slumping")? I'd have thought lying in a pram was absolutely fine (mine all slept in prams at some point, but lying flat), but I wouldn't be happy with them being semi-upright as I'd have thought it was bad for their necks/spines. I may be talking rubbish, though, and my DC were babies 20 years ago.

Pram aside, I would try to avoid having a baby who will only sleep on you, if you can.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor @TotallyWipedout
I can put it flat, but I’ve been letting him sleep in it semi reclined. This is the current situation - I put him in it in his sleep bag, as that’s what he wears overnight, which means I can’t put the harness on as clips in between his legs, so feel like I can’t recline the pram fully in case he were to fall out backwards, although highly unlikely I’m sure. I also have the foot muff on, which makes me worry about overheating. When your LO’s slept in the pram, did you keep waking up to check them? Or felt happy they were ok so you could sleep too?

@totallywipedout I do try and put him down as much as possible, but it gets to a point where I’m waking him over and over in the night trying to get him in his cot and so he’s getting so disrupted I feel it’s unfair to keep going and then nobody is getting any sleep. It was even worse when he was little, from 2-4 months he would only sleep on us, and then we had a short period where he slept well in his cot x

I did this but used travel sleeping bag so I could do the straps up. Or just undid a regular sleeping bag enough to do it up. And an extra blanket rather than footmuff to avoid over heating.

Some prams (the bassinets) are suitable for over night sleeping - vista and a couple of others but I’m guessing he is not in them anymore.

What sort of pram is it? It would be helpful to know. I can't imagine the danger of falling backwards you mention.

I think they need to be flat, it's the lungs being compressed iirc being upright.

Has he got reflux maybe? It could be why he's happy in the pram as he's slightly inclined. Laying flat in a cot or co-sleeping could be causing him to be uncomfortable which is why he's waking up.
Might be worth getting him checked over to rule out reflux or a potential allergy to food

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor this is the pram: www.icklebubba.com/travel-systems/stomp-v3-travel-system-with-isofix-base

@Wnikat haven’t seen a travel sleep bag before, will look these up! Why didn’t I think of just unzipping the sleep bag at the bottom 🤦🏻‍♀️

@Duracellbunnywannabe he’s not in a bassinet anymore no, his pram can recline flat though x

I'd be concerned about him falling out but otherwise I'd let him sleep where he's comfy, especially at 7-8 months as he's old enough to shuffle about or yell if he wants to move.

It might be worth taking the sleeping bag away so you can strap him in, the footmuff will keep him warm anyway.

You have my sympathies though, my youngest was an awful sleeper until 3 so we did what we could to survive! Sometimes that meant bending the rules e.g. propping her up in a soft v-cushion in the cot, sleeping on us, in the pram or in an electronic baby swing set to full speed (best £10 I ever spent!)

@lilroo87 we thought silent reflex when he was smaller, and spoke to his paediatrician about it (when he was being seen for other things). He was prescribed infant Gaviscon, but it made no difference and all the little things that made me think he had reflex seemed to get better anyway. I sometimes wonder if he has some discomfort in his neck after a fairly brutal forceps delivery. He’s recently started sleeping on his side when he is in his cot, and when he was very little he didn’t even like playing on his back and would only turn his head the right, but now turns his head both ways.

@DoucheCanoe so you’d feel comfortable with your LO sleeping in the pram if they were strapped in? Good point about the foot muff, I feel uneasy about adding loose blankets in case he pulled them up over his face. It’s so tough isn’t it. Every night is basically trial and error to find a way that he will get some sleep, and that I might get a little too! Sometimes that’s letting him sleep on me most of the night and I stay awake, but sometimes I’m too exhausted and resort to the pram. The thing is he does actually sleep well in the pram, and I can rest too, so it seems a shame not to utilise this, but I got it into my head that it wasn’t ok for him to be sleeping in there without constant supervision x

I'd find a way to strap him in unless you have him in the carrycot part of the pram and then it's just like a cot.

Use other covers if his sleeping bag doesn't allow you to strap him in.

I think if he is sleeping safely then it shouldn't be a problem and let's you both get a few hours at a time. But like other posters I would also be looking at why he sleeps better in the pram - is it reflux and he likes the incline? Is he cosier in the pram with the footmuff/sleeping bag combo and maybe just needs to be warmer in his bed (more clothes layers or warmer tog)?

Perhaps a visit to an infant chiropractic specialist might help too.

Mine all slept better in their prams, it meant I could catch up a bit on sleep (they're were all hit and miss with sleeping!) and then I moved to co-sleeping which also worked well. I'd asked my mum what she thought and she said I'd slept in my pram every night until
I was too big for it because she didn't have a cot for me, and then she'd co-slept. So I did that.

If it works for you then as long as he can't fall out I can't see the harm - as far as blankets are concerned, mine used blankets from birth, they hadn't invented a way to guilt parents into spending money on several sizes of sleeping bag! I recommend a warm sleep suit assuming they still make them, fleece one, and a light blanket, the cellular kind which are breathable through.

All that said mine wouldn't settle beyond 6 months either, we co slept successfully

It isn't recommended unless the pram is lying flat. Having them semi reclined poses the same risk as sleeping in a car seat I'm sure (although may be wrong) it's to do with them needing to lie flat so their airways are fully open.

If you're going to though, I would strap him in. I would worry about him falling out otherwise. Unless your room is really cold I wouldn't think they need a sleeping bag and foot muff. You can get sleeping bags with legs so you could still strap him in. I then wouldn't put the foot muff on personally just in case he gets too hot

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor as far as I’m aware, he doesn’t sleep in the carrycot, at least he didn’t last time I tried.

I’ve just had a look at what the pram looks like completely flat and as it’s got like a ‘seat’ his knees would be bent, think that’s ok? I guess it would just be the same as him laying on his side with his knees bent up closer to his chest in a way.

Thing is we had about 2 months where he did sleep well in his cot. I thought the hourly wakeups was a developmental/regression thing. He’s breastfed and put down asleep, and the HV said she thinks the issue is that he falls asleep on me, and then wakes up somewhere else. Whereas in the pram, he’s sitting between sleep cycles and in the same place he went to sleep, so feels safe and drifts back off to sleep.

Thing is occasionally he will sleep 3-4 hours in his cot, maybe once every week or so, and the other night I saw him cry out twice and settle himself back to sleep, so he can sleep in his cot, and he can resettle himself, he just chooses not to 99% of time time 😂😭

With respect OP you are making some slightly strange decisions. By all means let him sleep in the pushchair but make sure he is safely strapped in and ensure he is dressed/covered properly so he doesn't get too hot or cold... and then just sleep, for goodness sake don't set an alarm every 30 minutes!

If he likes the incline of the pushchair, you could try raising his crib/cot slightly, eg use the wedgehog (reflux wedge) under the mattress.

@gogohm thank you, I think maybe I would choose to still wake myself up every hour or so to check on him.

@Lou98 can you see an issue with the fact that his legs will be bent as pram means he’s sort of in a seated position, but lay flat? This is the pram we have: www.icklebubba.com/travel-systems/stomp-v3-travel-system-with-isofix-base

Oh and I meant to add that if you can afford it I would advise taking him to an osteopath that specialises in babies, just because you mention forceps delivery and suspected some stiffness/ restricted movement because of it.

If he is sleeping better when he isn't fully reclined then you could try putting something under the legs of his cot at the head end.

We were recommended this with DS and it did seem to help him sleep better in the cot.

It doesn't need to be much. We used wooden placemats so they were about half a centimetre thick.

@NameChange30 😂 what we’ve done the last few nights has just been out of desperation - I.e I’ve just put him in the pram on the off-chance he might sleep in there, exactly how it’s set up for day time with the foot muff on, and as he is with his sleep bag on. So then as it’s something I’ve done without the time to make sure the ideal conditions are in place, I’ve then not felt able to just go to sleep and leave him in there!

@NameChange30 he had four sessions with an osteopath who said he had a very stiff spine 🤷🏻‍♀️ It didn’t make any difference though and DS was in a lot of distress during the appointments, so I stopped taking him. After five months of regular blood tests and several ultra sound scans, I couldn’t keep putting him or myself through the distress of it all when it wasn’t making any difference.

@notdiggin we had his next 2 me on an incline, but he started waking every hour while still in his next 2 me. Will give it a go raising the head of the cot a little, only thing is as he’s breast fed to sleep he’s put down which ever way he is from the side he’s fed on 😂 but I will try turning him so I can always put him down the same way.