Best Baby Sleep Products and Tips From a Mom of 5
Looking for something to help you and your baby get some sleep?? I am a mom of 5 kids, 6 and under and they are ALL sleeping through the night. These are my favorite products, that I actually used, and my best tips to help you both start getting more sleep!
There are SO many products thrown at new moms guaranteeing mom and new baby amazing sleep. Let’s be honest, there is no miracle product that will make your baby sleep 12 hours straight, but there are great products and resources that I found that helped me and my babies get more sleep.
Believe me when I tell you I have had many sleepless nights. I have spent hours rocking my babies at night searching through Pinterest for something, anything to help me get this wonderful baby to just sleep!
So if that is you right now rocking back and forth, holding your baby with dark circles under your eyes, take a deep breath, you are going to be OK, you will survive these hard nights and exhausting days!
My Favorite Sleep Products
Here are my favorite products to help your baby and you get the best sleep during the first year of your little one’s life:
Baby Delight Beside Me Dreamer Bassinet
Having my baby close to me at night was so important! After carrying my baby right with me for 9 months the thought of putting her into a different room terrified me! I loved using a bassinet right next to my bed. The Baby Delight Beside Me Dreamer Bassinet is an Amazon Best Seller and with good reason. It is the right height to be level and anchor with your bed. My favorite part is the side of the bassinet comes down. Your baby has her own safe sleep space, yet is right next to you making it easy to pick her up to feed her during the night and place her back into her bed right beside to you.
Swaddle Blankets
Swaddle blankets were a must for me with ALL 5 of my children! Swaddle blankets help your baby feel secure and help minimize their startle reflex from waking them up frequently. These Halo swaddle blankets are better for your baby’s hips because they allow your baby’s legs to go in the frog position easily instead of hugging their legs and hips tightly. When I started swaddling my baby this was a game-changer for me! She immediately began extending her sleep time.
We used the swaddle blankets until my babies were 2 months old and then we transitioned to a Swaddle Up blanket. I am so glad we used the Swaddle Up because it helped us make an easy transition. This blanket allows your baby to have her hands by her face and she is able to comfort herself but it limits how much she can move her arms. When she is ready you are able to take one arm out of the swaddle at a time. I was worried when I moved to the Swaddle Up blanket that she might regress in her sleep, but thankfully she didn’t! She ended up sleeping even better! She went from 8 hours straight at 2 months to 10 hours straight. This is one of my TOP picks for baby sleep.
Sleep Sacks
Once my baby outgrew the Swaddle up or began to roll over we moved to just a Sleep Sack which is a wearable blanket. Depending on the weather you are able to get thin muslin sleep sacks or a warm microfiber sleep sack. Sleep sacks are recommended for a safe sleep environment for your baby. It is suggested that you have nothing else in the crib with your baby due to the risk of suffocation; blankets included. These sleep sacks keep them warm and safe but allow the baby the freedom to wiggle, roll, and move around the crib.
Soybean Foam Crib Mattress
After my baby turns 3 months old I usually transition them to a crib in their own room. For my first baby, I did a lot of research on crib mattresses and decided to buy the Sealy Baby Soybean Foam Crib Mattress. I wanted a safe mattress but I wasn’t able to afford a mattress with organic in the title. I have used this mattress for all my babies and have been SO happy with it.
Graco Brand 4-in-1 Convertible Crib
I made the mistake of trying to buy a crib off of Facebook a year ago. It was a beautiful crib but pieces were missing and then to top it off we found out the crib was recalled for infant deaths! Thankfully, after this fiasco we were gifted the Graco Benton 4- in- 1 Convertible Crib and I LOVE this crib. There are multiple colors to chose from, but the white was perfect for our daughter in her little yellow room. I am excited that it is a crib that will grow with her. It is able to change from a crib to a toddler bed, and even from a day bed to a full-size bed. This is a crib you definitely want to check out.
Video Monitors
When I move my baby into a separate room for peace of mind I always have a video monitor in the baby’s room. This is not something that you have to have but I can’t imagine going back to not having it. I love being able to see her without going into the room during naptime. I can click the screen on, make sure she is still asleep and in a safe position and then click the screen back off. Or when I wake up in the night I can quick check her on the monitor, watch the rise and fall of her chest, and then go back to sleep. This Infant Optics is a best seller on Amazon and I have used and loved mine for the last 2 1/2 years. This is also the monitor my brother chose and he has been very pleased with his as well.
Sound Machines
I have used a sound machine with all of my children. It helps block out extra sounds allowing them to get a better night’s sleep. Another advantage, my babies and toddlers know when they hear that sound it is time to go to sleep. It has become part of our sleep routine. This sound machine also has a small low warm light that you can turn on and off. This is perfect when you go into the baby during the night but you don’t want to use a big light and totally wake your baby up. See my sleep tips below!
Don’t forget mattress sheets or a waterproof mattress pad.
Mom hack: make the crib with a sheet, put the waterproof mattress pad on top and then put another sheet on top of the pad. This way when your baby goes through the diaper in the night you just take off the sheet and waterproof pad! You already have a clean sheet on the bed and you can get back to sleep faster!
My Best Sleep Tips
Reversal of Day and Night Help
Newborns can very easily get their sleep patterns reversed and be awake more during the night than the day.
- Do not blackout the curtains for baby’s nap. You want your baby to see the light and know that it is day time.
- Do wake your baby after a 3-hour nap. You want longer spans of sleep during the night than for their naps and you have to teach them when the night is. Shouldn’t a baby be born just automatically knowing when the night is? Believe me, ALL of my kids have had it reversed.
- Do not turn on big lights, talk, or make night time an active time. Try to feed and burp your baby in the dark, and only turn on a soft low light if you have to change a diaper. I limited changing only dirty diapers during the night.
Babies Need a Routine
Typically, mom can start trying to implement a routine when your baby is around 4-6 weeks old. Do not be surprised though if you get settled into a routine finally and your baby just totally changes it up on you.
- Do get your baby up around the same time every day. I set the wake-up time for my babies between 7 am and 7:30 am.
- Do put your baby to bed around the same time every night. I set a bedtime for my babies between 7 pm and 7:30 pm. I know this sounds early, however, research shows that a bedtime between 7 and 8 pm helps babies have longer stretches of sleep at night.
- Do cluster feed your baby in the evening. Cluster feeding is when your baby eats multiple times close together and then waits longer to eat during the night. This could look like: baby eats at 4 pm, 5:30 pm, and 7 pm and then is put to bed for the night.
- It’s up to you whether or not you want to dream feed your baby. Dream feeding is when you go into your baby between 9:30 and 11 pm and without waking the baby and feed her one more time before mom goes to sleep. In theory, this will help your baby sleep longer in the night without getting up the eat. I have heard amazing things about this, however, this never worked out for me.
- Do the same things when putting your baby to bed every night. This will help train your baby that it is time for bed. Pick three or four things to do every night that signals to her it is time to lay down in bed and go to sleep.
There are definitely hard and exhausting times as a mom, but those times are so worth it! Don’t give up, you do NOT have to rock your baby ALL night to get them to sleep. You can get great sleep as a mom, but it does take work, consistency, and a little time. Good luck!
