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November 2019 Moms
creamcheeseplease
member
Product Spotlight: Baby Sleep Solutions
creamcheeseplease
member
broad topic this week.. stuff to help your baby sleep! Discuss it all from cribs to swaddles to noise machines!
Re: Product Spotlight: Baby Sleep Solutions
The Hatch sound machine/nightlight is a game changer. We only got it recently, but I would have loved it when he was younger too.
I’m looking for new swaddles for this time around, I wasn’t a fan of the Halo ones we had as hand me downs with my son. Has anyone tried the Happy Baby or Ollie swaddles?
He was an awful sleeper in the beginning and hated every single thing we tried. I only survived because we ended up cosleeping.
I prefer the velcro swaddles because they can't break free from them. I also have a Kickee pants swaddling blanket that I love and it is super stretchy. So it stays put when they are a newborn. It is super soft too so another plus.
I have found that all my babies have liked being swaddled differently. One with arms up, another with arms down, one with her hands free so she could suck her fingers/thumb. So I have a variety of different swaddling blankets that I have used with each baby. You sorta have to see what works for them and what they like.
For me, bed sharing was a necessity for half the night. I know that gets a lot of side eye, but at the end of the day many people do it and if we’re being candid here, I think it should be a place to talk about experiences and what has worked and hasn’t worked with baby sleep. If it’s not for you, that’s fine, but know that it works for some families. If you do go that route, absolutely do thorough research on creating a safe sleep space. Don’t just randomly bring baby into bed one night out of desperation. In my opinion and experience, the dock a tot makes for safer bed sharing since it keeps baby in position and prevents rolling into anything. The manufacturer is based out of Europe, where they are allowed to advocate co-sleeping/bed sharing and created it for that reason.
I have coslept with all of my kids. Earlier with DS2 than any of my other mainly because he needed to be close to me because of his health issues. So I'm not opposed to cosleeping. For me personally, I usually wait until they are a few months old before doing that. I make sure there are no blankets above my waist and that the baby is away from all blankets and pillows. We have a king bed so there is plenty of room for the baby to have his own spot in the bed.
Also, I feel that the hand made dock a tots that are made from that stuffing you put in pillows are not safe at all. It seriously looks like a newborn death trap. So if I were to buy one, I would get the brand name one and not try to make one myself.
@rogro118 even with the moses baskets they have them full of all this fluffy bedding. I'm literally getting one that has no bedding up the sides and has an all natural mattress to prevent the baby from breathing in unhealthy chemicals.
**this is coming from a mom who was asked in the hospital if I had lost a baby to SIDS because I kept telling the nurse she wasn't swaddling my baby right. The swaddle kept coming up over his face and it blew my mind that she thought that was ok. 😳😳
I think we should share about what works but I also think it is important to share that some things come with a risk.
My son refused to sleep anywhere but on my chest for the first 5 weeks. We literally tried everything we were comfortable with (swing, bouncer, bassinet, in-bed cosleeper, ect). Nothing worked. Finally one night I tried rolling him off my chest onto the mattress next to me and for whatever reason it worked. I never wanted to cosleep, but I was desperate for sleep at that point. We have a king bed and my H and I have used separate blankets even before Z came along. So it wasnt hard to keep him in a place free of blankets or anything that could potentially smother him. Something about him being able to feel my body heat was comforting and it was the only way he wouldnt wake up as soon as I put him down. I was so nervous about cosleeping that I slept very light and was always aware of where he was even in my sleep. We ended up cosleeping for about 7 months and then transitioned him to his crib.
I dont plan to cosleep with this baby, unless shes like her brother and refuses to let me lay her down. But after doing it with Z, I would feel comfortable making the decision to do it again if it came to it.
That swaddle sounds terrible and the flannel hospital blankets are not conducive to good swaddling, I’ll be bringing one from home this time for sure! I had one of the nurses tell me to sleep with him on me the second night since “it’s always the worst night.” I questioned her to make sure I heard her right, and didn’t follow her advice. I ended up telling my mother in law the next day (she was in charge of nurse education in l&d and maternity at the time), she was not too pleased. A bit scary if she was giving that advice to all newly sleep deprived moms to do in a hospital bed nonetheless! It was my fourth night in the hospital and there was no way I would have been awake enough to even lay there with him safely.
I tend to have high anxiety PP and it usually surrounds my kid's safety. Last time I should probably been medicated but I managed to get through it without anything. I literally couldn't walk past my banister upstairs because it looked down to the first floor and I was so scared I was going to trip and fall and she would go over the rails. I also freaked out anytime ny kids touched the banisters. 🙈 It was almost to the point I wouldn't take the baby upstairs.
*TW I fear that after my recent loss my anxiety will be ever more difficult to handle. I may need to seek some help for PPA if it does because I don't think I could manage anything more than last time.
Random, related to banisters, I hate them. My friends just put horizontal ladder-like ones in their house, going up the stairs and for a 15 ft span on a landing looking down to the first floor. I already have anxiety for when they have babies and they aren’t even pregnant yet! The first thing my son did was start to climb them.
Swaddling, LOUD white noise (like louder than you think it should be), and a routine were and still are our best bets. We travel with the white noise machines and have them on our phones. If she is getting sleepy in the car she asks us to turn on her sleep sounds. Once she transitioned to her crib (about 4 months or so) we bought black out curtains for her room (took this kid forever to learn night versus day). We have a HATCH machine now that she is older and it is starting to help her stay in bed. We plan to sleep with this new one in the PNP bassinet by our bed for the first 4-6 months then transition to their own room with a pull out couch if I need to sleep with it. We do bedsharing but only if it is me and the baby (with our dog sharing the bed even a king sized bed felt too crowded for a small infant). I also sleep super lightly especially next to a baby, so even though it isnt restful sleep, it beats pacing the halls and crying.
Sorry if this is alarming to any new moms. I seriously wish someone had prepared me better for a poor sleeper. I had a good friend/colleague who is experiencing the same thing and even though hers is a year and a half now, she looks fried nonstop because she hasnt slept in forever. Dont be afraid to take turns with a partner if you have one and ask a friend or family member to come sit on your couch and watch the baby so you can get an hour long nap. It truly can be life saving.
The baby sleep site was also pretty helpful with tips depending on their age and sleep regressions.
@purplefan1 I have found that I tend to cope better with the sleep deprivation when I have no expectation of getting much sleep at all. Most of the time, if someone could wake up with the other kids for me to sleep in the morning when the baby finally fell asleep and stayed asleep, I would be good all day. I usually have someone stay with me, other than my husband, to help with the other kids. DH doesn't get a paternity leave so I have to do most of it myself unless I ask someone to some stay for a week.
Those of you going from 1 to 2 babies, be prepared, the transition is very difficult until you get through the newborn fog. Once you develop your routines and get the hang of juggling 2, you won't even be able to think of what life was like before you had 2 because it all just works somehow.
I have have an arms reach cosleeper. It was not great the first few weeks after my csection, but once I was recovering I loved it. Still keeping my eye out for a good deal on a used Halo though.
@Kurtni the Halo is a game changer. My sister had the arms reach too and loved that it was portable, but disliked how low it was compared to her bed. Love that the Halo can swing over my bed a few inches and that the side pushes down easily.
I will chime in with the other co-sleepers. Once the dreaded rolling stage started I switched to co-sleeping until 6-9 months when I was ready to do Cry-it-out in the crib. I'll echo all the other moms, if you co-sleep, know yourself. We had the King sized bed. Limited pillows/blankets and I would not do it if I had any medicine or alcohol on a given night.
eta: I just realized that I have an older version. The height isn't adjustable on the newer models.
Together since 2007 | Married June 2013
TTC #1: June 2015
TTC #2: December 2018
BFP: 2/26/19 | EDD: 11/7/19
TTC #3
Mirena out 1/23/24
In addition to the white noise/whale sounds machine, we got this https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Shusher-Sleep-Miracle-Soother/dp/B00D2JN87I/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=baby+shher&qid=1560275870&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A2IF792618QMT5
It is literally a human voice saying Shhhh.. haha. DS really liked it though, I think it is recommended for 3mo-18 mo or something like that but honestly we still use it with DS, haha.