My baby only sleeps well in her own bed

[silverback1975]

Hi,
My 20 week old baby only sleeps well in her own bed, has anyone else had/got this problem? It doesn't worry me as i'm happy to do what's best for her, but I find that I can only do activities when it's her hour and a half awake time otherwise I end up with a very overtired baby on  my hands if I try and get her to sleep in the pram, if she does sleep in the pram it takes a long time for her to get to sleep and when she does sleep it's only for a short time. Alot of the girls in my mothers group are going out all afternoon and I always have to say no....

[Sylvia.]

dd was like this, it was not until dd was 11 months old that dd finally slept in the pram easily, hope your dd learns to sleep in the pram sooner

[KellyC]

My DS is the same, although slightly better now he's older.  He will sleep in the car and sometimes in the pushchair for his shorter naps but it has to be timed right.  He won't just lie down and go to sleep whilst we're out, we have to leave just before we'd usually put him down for a nap at home    It does get better as your LO gets older and stays up for increasingly longer periods of time and I always felt it was worthwhile for him to get decent sleep and that other activities should come after that.  Does your LO have a catnap?  I would suggest getting into the habit of doing the catnap in the pushchair (the catnap is a freebie so this is fine!) and then it won't seem strange if you're occassionally out and need her to nap on the go.

Kelly x

[Pigeon]

Hello,
Definitely been there and done that. Our DD (still) only has no more than 30 mins in her pushchair, and I, too, felt the "odd-one-out" with the other mums, I'm sure they thought it was weird that I was always rushing home to get DD to sleep in the cot (as she won't transition from pushchair to cot, or anywhere to cot, actually). But, like you, I was actually happy to do what's best for her and the added bonus was that I got a sit down too!!
If its any consolation, even though DD still won't sleep well other than in her cot, I find we can be more flexible with her naptime now, and organise it around the pm activities.
HTH! x

[andibig]

had this with my dd. even now she'll only very occasionaly fall asleep in her buggy (cos she's too busy being nosy!!!). never bothered me as as least she was getting a decent sleep in her cot. i used to go to mother and baby groups when she was younger and look at all the other babies sleeping and she'd be wide awake. mind you she was sleeping through much earlier than they were so there was some justice!!!!!!!!! also nows she's older she cn stay awake longer and we have more oppurtunities to go out.

[KellyC]

Also my baby is now the only one who doesn't have the occassional screaming fit at mother and baby groups because I only go to the ones which fit around his sleep    Most of the other mums let their babies go until they burn out and it makes my little man look like a complete angel because he's always content!

[*Nicola*]

Same here too.  From the time Ciara was sleeping independantly she only really slept in her bed.  Very rarely in buggy, never in our arms - unless she was ill.  I used to, and still do, find it a pain sometimes especially when she was young and was taking 4-5 naps a day.  Like the other mums have said, it is a choice you make, and it does get better as they get older. 

Ciara  will sleep in any bed anywhere, but not in buggys or on sofas (unless she is shattered).  Now that she is older it is easier to work around as she was up for longer.  When she was young we would go home to put her to bed/time outings around naps/use travel cot if at relatives.

Good luck x

[Lana]

Both of my boys are like this.  In some ways it is not great but when they get older and are only having one nap a day it is easy to schedule around.

I wouldn't change it for the world my nephew will sleep anywhere BUT he has never slept through the night and he is 4.5 years old.

[KellyC]

Toss baby in crib, say night night, baby goes to sleep! 

Here here - I think I take this for granted now but my mum's always pointing out how 'lucky' I am!

Kelly x

[silverback1975]

Thanks Guys,

It's so nice to hear from people with similar babies. I'm thinking when she gets a bit older and she has more awake time we can be more social but i'd rather have a happy easy baby who sleeps well than be the most sociable mum.

[Pigeon]

i'd rather have a happy easy baby who sleeps well than be the most sociable mum.

Good for you! Its very difficult trying to reconcile the two things (after all YOU need a social life as well) but at the end of the day, a happy baby will surely make for a happier you, which is a good trade-off! 

Toss baby in crib, say night night, baby goes to sleep!

Amen to that! I don't think we DO know how lucky we are!!