Baby Sleep – A Novel (jk)

I’ve always needed my sleep. Even when I was younger, I don’t remember ever fighting a bedtime. Friends would pull an all nighter in college, to study for a test and I would still be getting my full 7-8 hours. Bedtime is around 9 p.m. and I’m ok with that – honestly. Before I had Archie, the only thing I knew about newborn sleep is that they seemed to sleep a lot. Which, they do, but sometimes, when you want them to sleep, they’ll fight it. In fact, my baby fought sleep the most between the hours of 2 a.m. – 5 a.m. (yay for me). So, I dove head first into baby sleep. I learned the science behind it and most importantly, I learned that I’m not the only one who struggled.

When starting my baby sleep search, one name continued to pop up – Taking Cara Babies. Cara seemed to be everywhere. On Instagram, in newborn forums and chat groups, and also suggested by a few friends. I decided to pay for the class. I was a bit hesitant at first. My pride was telling me “Jackie, you’re a nurse. You really need to pay for a course to help your baby sleep?!” But booyyy did I ever. And she was so helpful to me!! I recommend her to anyone with newborns or soon to be Moms. She breaks everything down for you. What you need to do and why you need to do it. I wish I took the course before Archie was born. She’s a neonatal nurse and her husband is a pediatrician, which is reassuring because she has the credentials to back up what she says.

Babies like schedules. Babies like knowing what’s coming next. When you take them out of their routine they get thrown off and if you think about it, aren’t you the same way sometimes?! I created a schedule for Archie, but I really tried to “loosely” follow it. Meaning, if he was to nap from 12:00 – 2:00, but woke at 1:30, I would not get stressed about it, we would just try again with the next nap. I will say some days were easier than others. Some days I would measure my parenting skills on how well the naps went because when the naps went well, the eating went well, the tummy time went well, and the overall mood of the day was a happy one. And you know what, as a new Mom, you may do that too, but I’m here to tell you not to do that!! Every day will be different and tomorrow will always be a new day <3. Bottom line, create a day time schedule and follow it, but don’t be rigid about it. Just let it flow throughout your day and your baby will follow your lead.

The more research I did, the more I learned baby sleep was about the ACCESSORIES that came with the sleep. Just like when you’re completing an outfit. The accessories complete the look. Here are the items I used to help set us up for sleep success.

1. SNOO Smart Sleeper – This one single product is probably the bougiest item I own, but I will say, it is worth every penny. This is a bassinet that mimics the environment in the womb. It rocks softly back and fourth (you can increase or decrease the motion) and plays consistent white noise. You download the SNOO app onto your phone and you can control the motion and white noise right from the app. The best part?! Your little one is safe and secure with a swaddle made for the SNOO that clips to the sides of the bassinet. No worries about baby rolling over in the middle of the night.
2. Tommee Tippee Blackout Curtains – We do have light blocking shades in our bedrooms, but even with the shades, we still have light come through a bit on each side of the shade. These suction right to the window and the best part? They’re portable! These are great for travel. You can just fold them right up in your suitcase.
3. MAM Glow in the Dark Pacifier – When Archie first moved to the crib, he took advantage of the new space and rolled around allll night. While rolling, his pacifier would fall right out of his mouth and I would be running into his room about 52 times a night to replace it. These help when you’re half asleep and trying not to wake the baby.
4. Portable Sound Machine – I brought this portable sound machine everywhere with me when Archie was still on 3-4 naps per day. Our walks in the park, in the car, at my parents, or even just sitting in the living room. This product helped make naps possible when we weren’t able to be home (or didn’t want to be home).
5. Owlet Baby Monitor – We still use this product today. This monitor gets placed right on the foot. And although this product does not necessarily help Archie sleep, it helps me sleep. The Owlet monitors a baby’s heart and respiratory rate in real time and connects through an app on your phone. You’re also able to see the quality of sleep along with night wakings. If there’s a problem, you immediately get an alert through the app on your phone.
6. Newton Mattress – Another item that helps me sleep probably more than Archie. This mattress has excellent reviews across the board and for good reason. It’s known for having breathable material which increases air circulation. Remember the days of babies waking up with a sweaty back? Yea, not with this mattress! Air flows freely through this mattress allowing temperature regulation. Also, a big plus – when the mattress gets dirty (and it will lol), you just remove the mattress pad and throw it in the shower or hose it off…PLUS PLUS.
7. Hatch Sound Machine – This is our nursery sound machine, also controlled from an app through your phone (genius). It has several different types of white noise: waves, rain, television, birds chirping, washing machine, etc. You can increase or decrease the volume of white noise. This feature is great. Construction outside this afternoon? No problem! Crank up that volume for the afternoon nap and your baby will not be disturbed. The sound machine also has a special light feature. You can chose many different colors. I have also heard of parents using this feature for their toddlers to know when to get out of bed. Sort of like a “ok when the light turns green, it’s time to wake up and get out of bed.” We’re obviously not there yet, but I can let you know how that one goes!
8. Love to Dream Sleep Swaddle – When transitioning out of the traditional swaddle, we had a real issue with Archie’s startle reflex. He would be slowly drifting off to sleep, on his back with his arms up and as he let his arms down to the mattress, BAM he would startle himself enough to wake himself up. Keeping him in this swaddle for a bit helped and also gave him an extra layer to keep him warm during the night.

One last takeaway – when babies hit 3-4 months, they go through a terrible sleep regression. Not all babies, but Archie’s hit him hard – about 6 weeks of rough sleep and naps. This is when we decided to move him from the SNOO to the crib, unswaddle, and sleep train him. We used the Ferber Method of sleep training. It’s a gentle method of sleep training where you go into the nursery every 5,10,15 minutes to comfort your baby, but you do not take the baby out of the crib. Night one was hard, like really hard on me, but by night three, Archie understood that the crib was where he went to go to sleep and he got it! In turn, this made for a happy Mama and a happy baby. We’re so glad we stuck to it.

I hope this post and the items I’ve listed help with your baby sleep! If you have any questions – you know where to find me <3.