As a mom to two-under-two, sleep is a precious commodity around our house.  I remember when my oldest was a newborn I would spend countless hours in the middle of the night Googling things like “how do I get my baby to sleep?” and “how much caffeine is it safe to consume a day?”  

Safe sleep is something I was always very careful about as well. I remember the ABC’s of safe sleep being drilled into my head.  Baby must be Alone, on their Back, in the Crib (or bassinet).   But my baby seemed to only want to sleep on my chest, in our bed, with a bottle in their mouth while being constantly shushed and rocked.  It was EXHAUSTING!

Eventually, things did get better. After trying out just about every baby sleep item on the market, here are a few of my favorites. 

Weighted Sleep Sacks

The benefit of a sleep sack versus a blanket is simply this: sleep sacks are a safer alternative, as the baby can’t pull it over their nose/mouth and compromise their breathing.  A weighted sleep sack helps give the baby the feeling of being held.  I tried almost every sleep sack on the market and the weighted ones allowed my little ones to actually be laid down in their cribs! Win! Here are both of my babies around the same age wearing different versions of the Nested Bean weighted sleep sack.  

-There are many brands out there that all basically offer the same thing.  The two most popular are Dreamland Baby and Nested Bean.

White noise machine

If you’re anything like me- the worst possible thing to happen is your baby waking up prematurely because they were startled awake by some noise in the house.  This comes from a mama of 3 fur babies that bark at EVERYTHING!  White noise machines give your baby the sounds of being back in the womb, as well as drowning out unnecessary noises that might wake them up.  Our personal favorite was the Hatch Rest.  It’s programmable from your phone and serves double duty as a nightlight as well.  The Hatch is pricey but worth it.  

If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option, we have this Amazon dupe for our younger daughter and it works just as well!

Blackout curtains

During those early newborn days- I would try to nap at every possible opportunity.  My younger daughter was born in May and it seemed like the days were always the brightest when we were trying to take a nap!  Blackout curtains for the nursery AND our room were a total must-have.  

We got the curtains for all of our rooms from Target, but there are tons of different options out there.  

If you’re in the thick of the sleepless newborn days and nights, I hope that some of these suggestions can help.  I can’t promise anything- all babies are different and difficult in their own ways.  But one thing I can promise is this – IT GETS BETTER!  One day you will look back on those nights and remember how beautiful and special those times were.  The times when it’s just you and your little one while the rest of the world sleeps.  It seems hard to believe- but I promise it’s true.  Hang on.  It gets better.  

For BlueWaterParent.com – Alyssa Dock