Sleep is the most critical component of development, health and growth for babies. Babies who sleep better, longer and restoratively are happier, eat better and develop a stronger immune system. Parents and children who suffer from sleep deprivation can be a dark, lonely place, but no one should have to suffer alone! Lack of sleep can be frustrating and trying to navigate how to get your baby to sleep can feel like an honors algebra equation (without a clear answer!) While a lot of baby sleep is predisposed and driven biologically, there are products that can help support healthy and safe sleep. I’m sharing a roundup of the best sleep products that can make a positive difference in helping your baby to sleep better and longer! WIN, WIN.
Best Baby Sleep Products
Swaddles & Sleepsacks
For newborns, using a swaddle helps to minimize the moro/startle reflex which can wake newborns up in their sleep. I recommend using a swaddle until 8 weeks of age or when your baby starts showing signs of rolling.
Once your baby is 8 weeks old or showing signs of rolling, it’s time to transition them from the swaddle to a swaddle transitional product or sleeping sack. Anticipate a few days of transition, and potentially some off sleep, but your baby will transition with time! Here are my favorite swaddles, swaddle transitions and sleepsacks. In any of these products, you’ll want to look for breathable material, like organic cotton, and avoid any weighted products. Weighted products are not safe for sleep.
- aden + anais Essentials Easy Wrap Swaddle
- Love To Dream Swaddle UP
- Baby Brezza 2-in-1 Swaddle Transition Sleepsuit
- Halo 100% Cotton Sleep Sack
- Burt’s Bees 100% Cotton Sleep Sack
- KYTE Baby Bamboo Sleep Sack
White Noise Machines
White noise is critical to help your child fall asleep and stay asleep. The beauty of sound machines is that they help mask outside noise. When your child comes out of a deep sleep and is connecting sleep cycles (after 30-45 minutes), any small noise could disrupt that sleep cycle, making it harder for them to stay asleep. White noise is a continuous noise with a consistent pitch, this sound helps promote optimal and restorative sleep. White noise machines are a key element to your child’s sleep environment. Keep white noise at 60 decibels and put the machine approximately 5 feet from your child’s crib. My go-to white noise sound machines are:
- Yogasleep Whish White Noise Sound Machine
- Yogasleep Hushh Portable White Noise Machine – this sound machine takes batteries which is amazing when you don’t have an accessible outlet or if you lose power!
Night lights and Ok to Wake Clocks
When your child enters toddler age (yippee!) and transitions from the infant sleep phase, they may start to express the need for a night light. A night light is acceptable if your child is of the age that they can comprehend why they need it and if it helps ease their nerves of being in the dark. This is not like when you were sleep training, toddlers can endure a bit of light, I always recommend an orange or red bulb, the warmer colors will not disrupt circadian rhythms.
After toddlers transition to a toddler bed, a common struggle is their freedom to get out of their beds during the night and early morning. One way to address this is to use a time to rise clock, also known as an ok to wake clock. The concept here is that you and your child set the clock to one color, that color will signal when it’s time to go to sleep. You then set the clock to a different color, that color will signal that it’s ok to wake up.
My FAVE night light and ok to wake clock is the hatch baby rest. It has an app on your phone where you can adjust the time to signal that it’s time to start the bedtime routine and adjust the clock to signal that it’s time to wake up in the morning! These clocks can give parents peace of mind knowing that their child not only has a night light to provide comfort but should help encourage them to stay in their bed all night long!
Must Haves for Twins
Twins require double the stuff but there are great products that make it so much more manageable to get twins on a consistent feeding and sleep routine.
- The Baby Brezza Pro Formula Advanced is an amazing product that helps create bottles at the touch of a button. This keurig for formula allows you to put formula and water in advance, press a button, and make a warm bottle for your baby so you have your hands free. It will alert you when you need to clean the filter so you don’t have to remember, who has time or energy to remember that anyway??
- The Table for Two feeding system is an adorable double chair to put your twins in to feed, if bottle feeding, or to just sit in once they are big enough. It has safety harnesses hold the infants securely in place. The position of these seats provides perfect feeding posture to aid in digestion and help relieve the symptoms of reflux, colic, colds & breathing difficulties.
- A split screen baby monitor, like this BabySense one, that allows you to see both of your babies on the same monitor. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend the use of a monitor if your baby isn’t sleeping in your room. This will give you the peace of mind to get some shut eye when they’re sleeping because you’ll be able to see both of them on one screen!