Baby won't sleep in pram

We use the cover over the car seat and a dummy and either jig the pram (with car seat) a bit or rock the car seat on the floor back and forth. I am also finding though DS will only nap a short while - 20 mins. But usually is enough of a power nap to keep him going again for an hour awake in time for me to get home and put him to bed. I find he is very easily over stimulated, generally have to do feeds in a quite space too. <em>edited by AussiePup on 29/07/2012</em>

Best thing you can do is try to create some sleep cues (swaddling, soft toy, white noise etc) and try and use them where ever you are. DS fell asleep quickly with his dummy but never napped well in his pram (would wake after 20 min or so) and once he started having decent long naps at home I pretty much gave up and stayed in for his naps. With baby number two on the way my solution will probably be to get a full time maid, so I can take DS out without mucking up the baby's sleep, sorry not much help ;) For play dates maybe take a moses basket and ask to use a dark quiet spare room to put her down, or host at your house.

Some babies just don't. Not once did my DS sleep in a pram, carseat, in public or basically anywhere except at home since the age of a few weeks. For the first 2 years I just had to plan my day to only go out when he was awake or to have someone home with him if I needed to go somewhere while he slept. If we went out during his sleep times he would end up so overtired and overstimulated it was miserable for both of us and just wasnt worth it. Some children are more reactive to their surrounding environment. Its something thats innate within them and just one of those things you learn to work around. <em>edited by Plain-Jane on 23/07/2012</em>

Hi Nutty, My LO is super easy to over stimulate, she feeds a lot less outside of the home and also goes longer between sleeps (making for a tired and hungry bubba when I get home!). She is currently 20 weeks but this has been the same situation since around 2 months. The malls are a big issue for me when she is in the pram as there is so much lighting and music as you pass each shop. She will sleep eventually but usually gets quite overtired. I find the longer I am out the better it gets for her but the first 2 hours is the toughest, as she takes time to adapt. To help her nod off in the pram I use a breastfeeding blanket (the one from babyshop that drapes around each shoulder and clips at the front) and I cover the top of the pram, the back where the light pours in onto bubs' head, and also the sides of the pram so all she can see is me pushing her. This works a treat and is now a bit of a cue to her that it is time to sleep. She has made a massive turnaround with the car seat but usually she needs the dummy to nod off. I think sitting alone and facing backward must be so scary for them! In the end I decided to time car trips for when she was tired so she would sleep for the journey, until she grew out of the unsettledness. The only other things that work IMHO, is to have someone with you so one of you can sit next to her and hold her hands while she nods off, or time. Now she is 20 weeks she sits quite calmly in the car seat even when alone and sleeps whenever she needs. I feel a lot less retricted now. I would say she became easier to put in the car seat alone around 15 weeks and before that I needed someone with me, or a dummy. I bought her lots of toys for the car seat for when she is awake and I take them all down if it's a sleepy journey. I also have nursery rhymes on CD for when she is awake and a lullaby for when she needs to sleep. I used that since 8 weeks so it's also another sleep association. Hope that helps you a little ;)