We’ve officially almost hit the 10 month mark. What?! I feel like just yesterday I was feeding and rocking Kennedy to sleep through all hours of the night. As much as I love having some sleep back, I do kind of miss those quiet moments with my sweet girl rocking her in the dark as she slept on my chest.
Now that she is consistently sleeping through the night (7pm-7am, yay!), I thought I’d share some of the products that helped us get there. I hope this will help some other new parents since we all know how precious sleep can be☺
The book:
We followed the sleep and feed schedules of the Moms on Call books, and they were a life saver for new parents like us who admittedly were clueless about most things. This series of books is written by pediatric nurses, and addresses all of the commons questions/concerns of new parents in an easy to follow format for different age ranges/milestones. We stuck with it and had Kennedy sleeping through the night (7pm-7am) at just 3.5 months. Can’t recommend these books enough!
The bed/”bedding”: (0-4 months)
Those who followed me through Kenny’s early days know we used the SNOO as our bassinet and were obsessed. The SNOO is an automatic sleep trainer because it gently rocks and soothes your baby to sleep, giving mom and dad a few extra hours of shut eye when baby is young. It also has a built-in/ attachable swaddle which is the main reason I chose it over other bassinets. I was so worried about Kennedy rolling over in the middle of the night and this gave me the peace of mind that she wasn’t going anywhere.
We rented ours which was the cheaper option, but had I known it was going to work so well I would have chose to purchase. That way, we could have it for future kids because it is on the pricier end of bassinets.
So do babies get used to the continuous motion and won’t sleep without it? I had the same question. There is a weaning mode that helps transition from the SNOO to crib, which limits the motion and only plays white noise . We used this for a few weeks around 4 months before moving her to crib , in addition to keeping her arms out of the swaddle so she could get used to being both stationary and un-swaddled. See below for weaning progression!
The bed/“bedding”: 4 months – current (10 months)
We have this crib and this mattress which we love. We were told in our infant CPR class to have nothing in the crib but a sheet, because crib bumpers and blankets can be a suffocation hazard.
I was worried about Kennedy getting her limbs stuck in slats with no bumper, so opted to get a mesh breathable crib liner , which I feel comfortable is a safe option.
It only took Kennedy two nights to get back to sleeping through the night once we moved to the crib. Thank you SNOO and Moms on Call!
Travel crib:
We purchased this pack and play which we used for our first family beach trip when Kennedy was 4 months, and have no complaints. It is compact to travel with, easy to set up, and seems pretty comfortable.
The camera/monitor:
We use this camera and our iPad as the monitor. We like the all-in-one detection feature and the bendable leg, which makes it easy to mount anywhere.
Wearable Blanket/Sleep Bag:
It is not recommended to use loose blankets in the crib while baby is young, so we opted for wearable blankets and sleep bags to keep her warm. We used the wearable blanket in the summer, and have since moved on to a weighted (1 lb) sleep bag which provides a little more warmth.
Pacis:
Kenny only liked one type of paci, which I believe was the brand they also gave us in the hospital. The same paci is also attached to the Wubbanub, which we really liked because we could prop on side of the Snoo so it didn’t fall out of her mouth every few seconds. She is no longer interested in pacis, though we still keep one in her crib just in case.
The noise:
We use both a white noise maker and a susher. The susher turns off after a while, but white noise plays through the night. We brought the susher to the hospital to use the first few nights, and it is great for travel too!
The comfies:
One of the best pieces of advice I got from other mamas was to stick to zippers, magnets, and nightgowns and avoid buttons/snaps at all costs. Trying to button or snap pjs in the middle of the night during diaper changes will really test your patience (lol), so I recommend something that will be easy to get on and off. There will be a lot of accidents/spit ups and clothes changes in the early days.
Here are some of our favorite brands of baby pjs :
- Lou Lou and Company (K lived in their knotted nightgowns until she was about 4 months)
- Little Sleepies (so soft & they have adult matching pjs too!)
- Free Birdees (so soft & they have adult matching pjs too!)
- Target Cloud Island (zip from bottom up, genius!)
- Touched by Nature (on Amazon)
- Angel Dear (so soft and the cutest prints!)
- Nordstrom (they carry some of recommended brands above too)
- H&M Kids
I’m not an expert by any means, but this is what worked for us so I hope this helps some other parents planning for or currently going through those long sleepless nights. Happy good night sleep! (hopefully)☺
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