Disclaimer: I am not a baby sleep expert. However, I’m a first-time mom who’s very proud of how she’s gotten her baby to sleep well regularly without any formal guidance. It really feels like quite the accomplishment! So, from one mom to another, I’m sharing what sets our family up for better newborn sleep.
Get the Right Sleepsack for Your Baby
Every baby is unique. Just like adults, they have different preferences and needs. Alexis hated having her arms swaddled since day one in the hospital. She liked having her tiny little arms out to do with them what she pleased (love that for her). So unfortunately, that meant the adorable velcro swaddles I registered for weren’t going over well at home.
I started looking into swaddling options, and if there was anything out there that allowed her arms to be out safely (I truly had no idea). Thankfully, there are several options. The one that worked out for us were the HALO SleepSack Swaddles. We’ve even moved to using the 3-6 month size (below) now as she’s growing and she still loves them!
I recommend this swaddle to everyone because there’s three different wearing options: arms swaddled, arms swaddled near face for soothing and arms out (Alexis’ fave). If you don’t know where to start swaddle-wise, this offers your three chances to find your new baby’s preferred sleeping situation without having to buy multiple swaddles. Definitely buy a couple of these though in case of middle-of-the-night throw ups! We had three for her in Newborn size (0-3 months) and two in Small (3-6 months).
Sound Machine for Better Newborn Sleep
We really like our Hatch Rest Sound Machine. It has 11 natural/white noise sounds, three lullabies and you can control it all from an app! Don’t be shy on cranking that sound up, either. We keep it at 40% but turned it up to 55% over Fourth of July to drown out fireworks (successfully!). It also has infinite number of custom colors with which you can set for the night light. Babies don’t need super bright night lights though, contrary to popular belief they’re not afraid of the dark. We keep our light at a dim 10% just to allow us to see around the nursery better.
Recently, I bought this Hatch Rest Mini, it’s the smaller, no-night-light version of the one we have in the nursery. This is great to use as a travel sound machine, or even your primary one if you have no need for a night light. This one has the same sounds as our Hatch Rest so she can sleep to familiar sounds when traveling. We tested this out last weekend when we helped Kevin’s sister move in and she took TWO normal naps at her apartment! Truly worth your sanity to have a travel-ready machine with the same sounds for vacations, nights at grandma’s house, etc.
Pro Tip: Initially, I set the nightlight to blue because I thought it was pretty and matched the Beach Waves sound we use every night. I felt like she wasn’t settling as nicely as she could and looked up the best colors for baby night lights. Turns out blue is one of the LEAST recommended colors. Apparently it reminds baby of daylight and can be confusing, who knew?
Amazon Egg Night Light
While our wipe warmer and sound machines each have one, our nursery is big and neither of those are mobile. This little egg light (commonly on coupon) is great for inspecting the crib, checking on baby or anything else, especially in the nursery, discreetly.
Its rechargeable and easily controlled by tapping/holding down the top for quick middle of the night operation. The battery life is great too, I feel like we go about a month between charges. Keep an eye out for coupons, too!
Bassinet Mattress Pad
This breathable, waterproof bassinet mattress pad comes in 30+ variations to fit the most popular bassinets. When we felt the bassinet’s really basic board on the bottom we felt awful. It wasn’t hard per say, but it wasn’t a surface either of us were trying to sleep on, either. We wanted something more comfortable for her to lay her little head on and this bassinet mattress pad is a 10/10!
The two pack is about $20 and trust me, you NEED two. Babies spit up often early on and you don’t want to be caught without a spare at 3 am. We found ourselves washing one of these nearly every time we did a load of wash.
Warm Wipes? Better New Born Sleep
Or at least this is our theory. One of the few things I read about newborn sleep is that keeping everything low key really helps get them back down. Wipe warmers seem to be a controversial topic (necessary vs. not), and I fully accept that they’re not ‘necessary’ but we’re REALLY glad we have ours.
Generally speaking, she doesn’t fuss at all during night changes. Maybe she wouldn’t without warmer wipes either, but I do believe they help keep things chill. Plus, this wipe warmer has a nightlight that I rely on in the middle of the night. Oftentimes I don’t turn on her end table lamp at all, so we’re really getting our money’s worth with this one.
Another thing I heard a lot was “if they have a wipe warmer they’ll be used to the warmth and fuss when they’re not”. But Alexis has never once fussed using a room temp/colder wipe.
The Owlet Dream Sock and Cam
One of my favorite brands we’ve come across is Owlet. I partnered with them on Instagram earlier this year and I’m SO thankful! The Dream Sock gives me serious peace of mind while she’s sleeping, especially when we moved her into the nursery.
They pair their Dream Sock with their Owlet Cam to create the Owlet Dream Duo which allows you to monitor baby visually and also see their basic vitals (O2, Heart Rate, movement, etc.) in-app.
Our Sleepy Time Process for Better Newborn Sleep
Products are great, but they’re nothing without proper execution. Here are a few things we do to encourage better newborn sleep.
- Do the same routine every. single. time. Whether its a nap or night sleep, we always go through her same pre-sleep routine in the same place.
- Get baby completely ready to doze off before starting the bottle. Alexis loves drinking her bottle until she slowly drifts off, so we make sure she’s crib-ready beforehand.
- Find the right sleep sack for your baby. If possible, see about borrowing different ones until you find what works. If not, I still recommend our HALO SleepSack for all the options it offers!
- Keep lighting dim. We have only a 25 watt warm white light bulb in our nursery lamp to keep things low key during feeds.
- Pro Tip: Use a smart outlet to turn on your lamp hands-free when carrying baby. It’s also great for turning the lamp on in the middle of the night. We have an Alexa in the loft and ask her to do it as we’re walking to the nursery.
- Crank up that white noise! We start the sound machine and air purifier before feeding so she has familiar, soothing noises in the background as she drifts off.
- Avoid your phone, if possible. The light is distracting and you’re probably moving baby around unknowingly, keeping baby from settling.
- Burp baby WELL. Get a few good burps before bed or they may be up later wiggling to get the gas out. Sometimes that even results in spit up and starting the whole routine over.
Which of these better newborn sleep tips resonates? The biggest life changer for us was doing the routine in her nursery every time. We used to watch TV in the loft during it and she commonly wouldn’t go down easily. Since moving to the nursery it’s been WAY smoother!
More Baby and Parenting
- Our First Two Months as Parents
- What I Actually Used in My Hospital Bag
- Pink & White Minimalist Nursery
- Introducing… Alexis Nicole Burk!
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