OK I promise that this isn’t going to turn into a pregnancy / baby blog but I have had a few mamas who are either expecting or just had their babies that have asked me for some of my tried and true baby product recommendations. So here we are! This is the first of five blog posts in the series:
Sleep | (Breast)Feeding + Pumping | Travel | Play | Clothing / Miscellany
Sleep
Pretty much every new parent will do anything for better sleep, my solution was to buy all the courses, tools, sleep aids, etc. Not recommended, but you do what you gotta do to survive those early days. No judgement. While we were blessed with a great sleeper (don’t hate me!); yet we still need(ed) a number of tools to ensure successful sleep and easy middle of the night routines. Here is what worked best for us, and good luck! Click the number below for direct links (some may be affiliates but all opinions are 100% my own and everything was purchased myself at no discount).
ONE
This little device has brought us so much peace of mind, if you are a deep sleeper, I highly recommend this. It measures heart rate and blood oxygen levels. If either of these drop below or soar above the recommended levels, a fire alarm type sound will go off on the base and on your phone via an app. Some of you know I am deaf in one of my ears and so this just brought me a lot of calm that I feel like I wouldn’t have gotten had I skipped some thing that would alert me.
TWO
Our girl was a huge fan of being swaddled. We actually didn’t give up the swaddle entirely until around the 12-week mark. We went through a number of swaddles (this one, this one, and these ones) but the one that actually hit the money for us was this one. It has a velcro closure, it’s nice and stretchy, room for hip movement, breathable fabric, and basically fool proof. I also like that when you are done swaddling arms in that you can continue using with arms out meaning that it grows with your baby.
THREE
This is the holy grail of sleep sacks. We tried no less than five different types of sleep sacks and this is the one that we landed with. While a little bit spendy they are sized to last until your babe is two years old. We loved them so much that we bought two of them because we didn’t want to wait while one was washing and we also wanted to send one to daycare with our sweet girl. The quality is next to none and they are so easy to put on and off the baby with snaps under each arm and shoulder with a full zip around. This is especially important for those nighttime diaper changes. They also have handy holes for buckling your babe into the carseat if you happen to be out during naps or bedtime.
FOUR
We opted for this sheet system because our girl is a profuse pooper as my husband would say. We are often changing blow out diapers (even though we have sized up multiple times) and it makes changing sheets SO much easier. That nighttime sheet change can be especially brutal when you’re sleep deprived and this takes the work out of it. The top portion zips onto a fitted base sheet. To change, zip off the top flat portion then zip on another one. Bam! Crib sheet change in less than a minute. Taking parenting hacks where I can!
FIVE
To ensure that our family didn’t have to walk on egg shells whenever babe went down to sleep, which is all the time in those early days. We opted for this sound machine. I’m really looking forward to being able to using the programmable schedules as Bea grows older so she knows when she can get out of bed with the change of a sound and light. It offers twelve sound settings and customizable light colors that you can program. It is adjustable with a light tap of your finger on the ring or you can also use the app to adjust it which is really handy when maybe you aren’t in room with baby.
SIX
In those early days while trying to get the hang of feeding baby multiple times a night, this night light is beyond perfect. The brightness is adjustable with a tap and hold of your finger, offering a gentle glow for feedings or something a bit brighter for nighttime diaper changes without waking your babe all the way up (can I get an ‘amen’?). Just flip it over with one hand to turn on then flip it right back over to turn off. It truly is as easy and simple as it looks. The great thing about this night light is that you actually get an amazing battery life as well, we’ve only charged it once in the five months that we’ve had them (we bought two!). Now when we visit grandparents, we toss one into the diaper bag for overnights there too!
Mama’s, what are some of your favorite baby sleep products?
With deep love,
Paige