Nothing is more valuable to a new mom than a good night's sleep. We were blessed with having a phenomenal sleeper very early on ::knock on wood:: and I thought I would include a few items that worked really well for us!
*Swaddles!
For the first few days that Niamh was home, I attempted swaddling with my beautifully soft
Aden and Anais bamboo swaddling blankets. I would wrap her into a tight little baby burrito, but she still managed to squirm around enough to get out every few hours; that means, she was waking up every few hours. I immediately switched to the
Summer Infant Swaddle Me wraps that have velcro tabs to keep them securely fastened and...HALLELUJAH! Niamh immediately slept for MUCH longer chunks of time - we're talking about going from 2-3 hours at a time during the first couple nights to a whopping 5 hours straight simply by using a more secure swaddle. That made for one very happy mommy.
After a few months, when she was starting to really outgrow her Swaddle Me wraps, I switched to
Halo Sleep Sack Swaddles which allow you to swaddle with arms in or arms out. These worked like a charm as well; by 7 weeks old Niamh would sleep from 7pm to 7am. (I know, I know, most of you are wishing terrible things to happen to me right now.) I think these served as a great transition because she was still securely swaddled in the upper body, but had some freedom of movement in the lower body. These also allow you to wean off of swaddling by gradually swaddling one arm in, one arm out.
*Sound Machine!
I thought about going for some of the typical registry sound machine items, but ended up opting for an inexpensive
Homedics option. I couldn't be happier with this noise maker! This thing stays on all night and during all naps (at full volume - after all, it's pretty noisy in the womb). We have two dogs who are terrible barkers anytime the mailman comes or someone walks their dog down the street and this thing will drown out their noise enough to keep Niamh happily in dreamland. Love love love!
I even grabbed a
travel version of this noise maker for traveling and it worked pretty well. I could put it in her stroller to give her an extra little nudge toward napping and it was fine for a few days away. It does go through batteries pretty quickly and it's not as loud as our home version is, so I usually opt to pack the regular noise maker if we're going to be gone for several days.
Ok, those are my must-have products for getting a good night's sleep. However, getting a baby to sleep through the night is just as much about teaching them good sleep habits. I tell all my mommy-to-be friends about the book
Happiest Baby on the Block. Every friend of mine that has a good sleeper utilized the tools in this book to set their little ones up for nighttime success.
I also made a few blunders along the way that really ended up helping Niamh in the long run. After the first few weeks, I realized that my husband and I weren't really ever getting good sleep because this little baby was making so much noise in her pack n play next to our bed. In an attempt to improve our quality of life, I started moving Niamh to her crib after she would wake up to nurse in the middle of the night (usually around 4-5am). I would let her sleep for a few hours in her own room until she woke up again (usually by 8-9am). After about a week or so of that, I took the leap and put her in her crib for the full night. I readily admit that this move was driven by my own selfish desire, I mean I LOVE sleep. But now we have a kiddo who never had a messy transition to a crib since it's all she's ever known. She also loves her crib and will sit in there for an hour before falling asleep (or even an hour after waking up in the morning, which I'm a huge fan of) just speaking gibberish to herself and her lovies.
Hope this helps! If you have any must-have sleep items, let me know! xoxo
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