Pram Superstitions: What Parents Were Warned Never to Do

Pram superstitions mainly concern bringing a pram home before the baby is born, pushing an empty pram, and protecting a newborn from bad luck or the evil eye. The best-known belief says that keeping a pram in the house before birth can tempt fate. Other folklore warns against rocking or pushing an empty pram and uses red ribbons or protective charms once the baby begins going outside.

Many of these customs come from older fears surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. Even today, parents who usually ignore superstition may hesitate before bringing an empty pram into the house.

Bringing a Pram Home Before the Birth

The most familiar pram superstition says that a pram should not be kept in the home before the baby is born. Preparing it too early is believed to bring bad luck or tempt fate.

The rule usually concerns bringing the pram into the house rather than buying it. Parents may purchase one months before the due date and leave it with grandparents, friends, or another relative until the baby arrives. Some retailers may also hold larger baby items for later collection or delivery.

This custom is closely connected with older attitudes toward preparing for a birth. When pregnancy and childbirth carried greater risks, families sometimes avoided completing preparations too early. An empty pram waiting for a baby could represent an outcome that had yet to happen.

Is Buying a Pram Before Birth Bad Luck?

Buying a pram before the baby is born is generally considered fine. The superstition is mainly about bringing it into your home before the birth.

Many parents buy the pram in advance and store it with grandparents, relatives, or friends until the baby arrives. Others arrange to collect it from the shop after the birth. Families that follow a stricter version of the superstition may wait until the baby is born before buying one at all.

Never Push an Empty Pram

Pushing an empty pram is another old superstition associated with bad luck. Similar warnings exist around rocking an empty cradle.

A pram is made to carry a baby, so moving it around empty gained an ominous meaning in folklore. In darker versions of the belief, pushing an empty pram could invite loss or misfortune connected with children.

This also explains why children were sometimes discouraged from playing with empty baby carriages. Pushing a doll’s pram was harmless, but playing with a real empty pram could attract a warning from superstitious parents or grandparents.

Rocking an Empty Pram

Rocking an empty pram back and forth carries much the same warning. The movement imitates soothing a baby who is absent, which gave the action an eerie reputation in older household folklore.

The same superstition is better known with cradles and rocking chairs used for babies. Rocking an empty cradle was traditionally avoided because it was believed to invite bad luck into the family.

Red Ribbons and Protection From the Evil Eye

Some pram customs are protective rather than unlucky. A red ribbon or red thread tied to a pram is used as protection against the evil eye, particularly when taking a newborn outside.

Babies have a strong connection with evil-eye folklore because they attract attention, compliments, and admiration. A red ribbon serves as a protective charm against jealousy or harmful attention directed toward the child.

Small religious medals, amulets, and other charms may serve a similar purpose. They can be attached discreetly to the pram before the baby’s first outings.

Leaving an Empty Pram Outside

An unattended empty pram can also carry negative associations. In older folklore, leaving baby equipment empty and exposed could make it vulnerable to bad luck or unwanted spiritual influence.

Covering the pram or bringing it inside after use may have practical reasons, yet these habits can overlap with older protective customs. The pram becomes closely associated with the child, so protecting it symbolically also means protecting the baby.

Why Prams Became a Symbol of Tempting Fate

Most pram superstitions come back to the same fear: preparing for a baby too early could tempt fate. In the past, pregnancy and childbirth were far more dangerous, so families had good reason to be cautious about celebrating a safe arrival before it happened.

A new pram made that fear very visible. It was bought specifically for the expected baby, yet it remained empty until after the birth. Keeping it out of the house became a way of avoiding premature preparation, and pushing or rocking it empty carried an even darker association with a child who was missing.

The practical reasons behind these customs faded as childbirth became safer, but the warnings stayed in families. Even today, someone may happily buy clothes, bottles, and nursery furniture during pregnancy, then draw the line at bringing the pram home because their mother or grandmother always said it was bad luck.