naps on the go

[chloejoy]

how can i get my baby to sleep on the go? he won’t nap in his pram (12 weeks old) or in the car really unless he’s really tired and it just feels so limiting because his awake windows aren’t very long so feel like i can’t go out and do anything cos i need to be home to rock him to sleep every 1.5-2 hours, any tips appreciated

Make sure baby is fed and clean, plonk in pram then off you go. If baby is tired they'll sleep. If baby isn't tired they won't sleep but still carry on so what you're going out to do anyway.

i took baby out in his pram the other day when he had been yawning completely ready for a nap if i rocked him he would’ve been asleep in 10 mins and i walked with the pram for 45 minutes and nothing! he just then started getting upset because he was overtired and wanted to be asleep but won’t just shut his eyes with the movement of the pram

Some babies don't, he might simply need to be somewhere quiet and dark and on you. It's a nuisance, but not for ever and maybe only a phase .

I spent way too long trying to get my baby to nap. I gave up eventually. Don't live your life around nap times. Just get on with ur day and hopefully baby will get used to that and start to sleep in the pram etc.

i want so badly to just do this but i feel like he will just cry and get overtired if i don’t actively put him down for a nap he just doesn’t seem to want to nap on the go he will fall asleep if i’m in a coffee shop but only if i stand up and rock him

Yep same with my first, I gave up living life around nap times around 4.5m as it took me that long to work out it was making me stressed which didn't help anyone! The second baby just naps wherever because they have to, I can't take forever actively rocking or just sitting holding though because I have a toddler that needs airing daily! Baby still manages 4 or 5 good solid naps a day, even if at least one is zonked out on the playmat...

You may well have already tried this but its always worth a mention. I play white noise on my phone(fairly loudly) and stick it by her ear. Eventually the moving shadows and the nosie helped her sleep.

You could always try a snoozeshade for the pram/pushchair if you think it's an overstimulation thing

Will he sleep on you in a sling?

he will but it’s inconsistent sometimes i think he doesn’t like the restriction so he will just scream, if i could go back and do anything differently i would’ve baby worn him sooo much as a newborn so that he liked it now because i think it’s just because i didn’t do it enough

yeah not sure i do have a little cover type thing that goes over to block the sun and he can’t really see anything but it doesn’t help with the not sleeping he just lays there and then eventually gets annoyed🤣

so tricky because i always think ‘oh he will fall asleep eventually’ but he just doesn’t he will just scream and scream in the pram gets himself in a right state until i pick him up and then rock him and he will doze right off it does my head in! can only take him out in the pram if he has just woken from a nap or still has a fair bit of awake time left otherwise he just gets overtired from refusing to nap in the pram and becomes inconsolable

I used my dad’s trick. Face into the sun (they have to close their eyes) and rock over a bump. Usually works in less than 3 minutes.

DD liked a song that was in the charts while I was pregnant. Used to stick that on my phone on repeat if there was any distracting outside noise.