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.

What were the blood tests and scans for?
Sounds like a tough time, sorry to hear it

FWIW my two hated lying on their backs and slept badly, and they both had reflux caused by CMPA. All fine once I cut out dairy.

[quote MintGreenLife]@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[/quote]

It's a similar pram to the one my MIL has for our Son and he sleeps great in it.

The only thing I would be worried about with the legs would be pins and needles/circulation but then my Son has taken to sleeping on his knees with his bum up in the air and face pressed in to the mattress so they do sleep in weird positions anyway 😂
I personally wouldn't be overly worried about the legs as long as the top half was flat.

If you did want to try reclining him in the cot as mentioned above, please don't buy a reflux wedge - they're also not recommended for the same reason of not being flat and possibly obstructing the airways. It would have the same risk as sleeping semi reclined in the pram so you would be aswell doing that.
The safest way would be to put books or similar (making sure they're the same thickness) under the legs of the cot to incline the full cot rather than just incline the baby iyswim

@NameChange30 I cut out dairy for around 3 months but it made no difference, and since we started weaning he’s had green yoghurt a few times and seems fine with it. Sorry to hear you had a tough time with CMPA and reflux, that’s awful 😭

He had bad jaundice when born (born early, forceps delivery), and was having light therapy within 12 hours of arriving. Jaundice within 24 hours of birth indicates an underlying problem, and he rebounded 3 times and was having to have light therapy until he was 9 days old. Then had prolonged jaundice until almost 2 months, and was also found to have raised liver enzymes. He had so many tests to try and find the underlying cause. In the end turned out he has essentially one copy of a faulty gene that effects the liver, but as he only has one copy instead of two, it shouldn’t really impact him long term ☺️

It will be the incline or the feeling of being enclosed that helps. I’d try the books under the head end legs of the cot and ensuring he’s got his feet right at the foot end so he can’t slip down. He’s too big to swaddle but tucking him in with a thin blanket or sheet may help. Does he roll himself over yet? My DD slept so much better once she could roll over and sleep on her front (I never placed her front down but she got there on her own)

My second slept in the carrycot of an old silver cross pram. I put in on boxes and propped the head end up.
My first would sleep in it all the time if he could but on the pram chassis.
I think it was more to do with the nice new mattress I bought.
Sometimes they like a travel cot.

You have my sympathy. It will improve naturally as he gets older. I’m the meantime strap him in. My DC fell out of a buggy she wasn’t strapped into. I put her in it for a minute while pouring tea and she came out face first. I still haven’t forgiven myself.

@Cbtb interestingly he’s just started rolling onto his side in his sleep this week. He’s been doing it near enough as soon as I put him down. I’d be surprised if he would sleep more comfortably on his tummy, as he doesn’t like tummy time. He can’t roll properly yet any how.

@Youcansaythatagainandagain thanks, I will make sure I do that ☺️

He’s napping in his pram now and I’ve put him flat. Will be interesting to see if he naps as long flat as he would when on an incline x

Instead of temporarily fixing the problem maybe try and figure out why he hates the cot. Have you elevated it slightly with books underneath? Or a pillow under Mattress? At 7m he should be happy in a cot. He will overheat if he's in a gro bag and a foot muff

@itsfreeeeeeezing1234 we’re trying the cot elevated at one end tonight. Am dealing with the first wake up for after 2hrs, which is pretty good for us. If I do use the pram tonight I plan to take his sleep bag off x

Well something about those conditions (flat, strapped in, no sleep bag) failed. He only slept 40 mins in the pram, during which time I hadn’t managed to fall asleep. Also means I’ve had to faff around taking his sleep bag on and off while he screamed at me. No idea what I’m meant to do now. I suppose he can’t really sleep in the pram unless it’s completely safe, but I’m at my wits end with how little sleep I’m getting, and all the waking up and messing around in the night means I have a grumpy baby to deal with too 😭

Elevating the cot seems to have made no difference either

I would definitely check out foxandthemooninfantsleep on Instagram. They may be able to help x

Hello! I know this is a while old but just wondered how your son is getting on now?

My youngest (born October 2022) has always preferred sleeping in her pushchair too. She's just had her first night away from me (we normally co-sleep) and has slept through in her pushchair with one wake up at 1am. Normally we're on 5-6 wake ups overnight.

Like you I'm worried about resorting to the pushchair overnight. She has all her naps in it and has done for a while. She's 15 months now so I just wondered how your son is getting on sleep wise now? Thank you!