Whether you sleep train or use some other method at bedtime, you’ll likely agree that any baby sleep product that has the potential to help your little one sleep is worth any cost. After many sleepless nights, sleep becomes a precious commodity. Our little girl is 8 months old and we’ve encountered our fair share of sleep struggles. As it’s been quite the journey on the road to sleeping through the night, we’ve put together a list of products that have helped us along the way. Sidenote: we’re told baby sleep difficulties can last into toddlerhood and beyond. These products can be useful for older kids in addition to young babies.
The Best Baby Bed:
DockATot
If you regularly follow Bottles & Banter, this one is no surprise. We use every opportunity to talk DockATot up. And it might just be our favorite baby sleep product on the list. It was literally the only thing that Olivia would sleep in for the first few weeks. And for that, we will be eternally grateful to Lisa Furuland, the founder of DockATot. For those of you new to the blog, or that haven’t read our DockATot review, in a nutshell it is a portable baby bed. We take it everywhere: hotels, planes, trips to the grandparents, outside, and of course we use it regularly in our home. Yes, it is spendy and comes with a bit of sticker shock to some. Given its portability and the success we had with it, our general theory is that if you’re going to go big on something, do it with DockATot. We swear by it and if your kiddo is anything like ours, it will make your life so much easier.
The Best Sound Machine:
HoMedics SoundSpa
The sounds on this sound machine are not annoying. I repeat, the sounds are NOT annoying. If you’ve tried multiple devices or heard the same rendition of Hush, Little Baby over and over again, you will love this sound spa. It’s full of sounds that both babies and adults can get behind – things like thunderstorms, campfire, flowing streams, and the ocean. We questioned whether these normal sounds would work or if we’d need to revert back to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. To our surprise, they work great. The added bonus on this machine is the changing colors. With many sound machines, there is some type of design projected on the ceiling or wall. With this one, you can actually choose the color displayed, which can be fun if you do any research into the best colors for sleep.
The Best Wearable Monitor: Owlet
For this one, forget what I said about escaping the same lullaby over and over again. As both a blessing and curse, Owlet plays the same song on repeat whenever the device senses something is up. This is both good and bad. It’s good because you won’t sleep through it. It ensures you get up to check on the baby so you don’t go mad hearing the same tune for the thousandth time. The downside is that if your baby strays too far from the base, it goes off because the sock gets disconnected. We think the good outweighs the bad and it’s still our top pick for safety, ease of use, smartphone application, and of course the much needed reassurance. One thing mamas and dadas often overlook when choosing baby sleep products is that it’s not all about your baby. It’s also about the reassurance you need that your baby is safe, so you can get a good night’s sleep. And this will help with that. Check out our full review for more info.
The Best Swaddle:
Nuroo Swaddler
The market for swaddles is vast. From Miracle Blanket to SwaddleMe and HALO to aden + anais, there are many options out there. And each claim to the best baby soother. We love a lot of the brands above and each has its own benefits. But the one we ended up using most often is a sleeper pick (pun intended). It’s the Nüroo Swaddler. And it’s our favorite for a few different reasons. One, the material is out of this world. It has an almost swimsuit-esque feel and is very breathable. Two, it’s super easy to use. The simple design means you don’t have to battle with your baby to get him/her snug in the swaddle. And three, it grows with your little one. There are three pocket sizes that can be achieved with very little effort. It’s got it all! And if you’re still working on your swaddle technique, we have your step-by-step guide here.
Honorable mention: when it’s time to transition from swaddle to blanket, we love the Zipadee-Zip. It’s cozy and lightweight at the same time!
The Best Humidifier:
Crane
I see this on almost every baby registry I encounter. It must be popular for a reason. We own the cutesy pink pig and love it. This is more than a checkmark on your list of baby sleep products to frantically buy before the baby is born. It’s useful in winter months when you are trying to keep dry air away so your baby can be comfortable in his/her room. It gets the job done and is very easy to clean. When we rock Olivia in her room at night, she loves to watch the water mist out of the Penelope’s ears. These humidifiers are adorable and are perfect to use year round. While we wouldn’t really classify this as a baby sleep type product, it’s certainly an important piece of the nursery.
The Best Night Light:
Molly the Kitten
We already love Puretech for their awesome video monitor, which features a user friendly mobile app. So naturally we were excited to try out their new night light. Here’s why it’s our favorite new sleep product (and one that will last as our daughter grows):
- It’s portable. As frequent travelers, having something we can use on-the-go automatically bumps it to the top of the list. And this is so compact that it fits easily into Olivia’s overnight bag.
- Touch control. No complex settings and knobs. You touch it and you’re done.
- Color settings. You can have a subtle white glow or a fancier rotation of colors. It’s completely your choice and having the flexibility to switch back and forth is a bonus.
- No batteries. If you’ve ever relied on battery operated devices to keep your baby asleep, do yourself a favor and make the switch now (this night light is rechargeable). Then use the money you save on batteries to send your child to college.
We hope you will have as much success with these baby sleep products as we did. Baby sleep strategies are a difficult maze to navigate. And something that works for one baby may not work for another. But when you have a baby that wakes up every 1.5 – 2 hours, it can’t hurt to try, right?