Sleep Products
As a new parent you are constantly being bombarded on the internet and social media by new sleep products that promise you and your baby a good night’s rest. We really hate to break it to you but… there is no magic product that will help your baby get a good night's sleep.
Will there be products that can help create good sleep environments and promote positive sleep? Yes. However, there is no one product that will essentially sleep train your baby for you. In this blog, we are going to take a look at some of these “miracle products” we see being used all the time and give you our honest review of them based on our professional sleep experience.
The Snoo: While neither of us used the Snoo with our own kids, this product does work well…until it doesn’t. The Snoo is super popular and definitely helps promote good sleep in the newborn phase which as we know is an exhausting, emotional rollercoaster for parents. However, the Snoo is a short lived sleep product. Babies have to transition out of the Snoo by around 4-6 months as it has a weight limit and isn’t considered safe once a baby can roll and get up on all 4s. So while it does help with sleep for the first few months, it also creates some pretty strong sleep associations that can be incredibly hard to break down the road.
Breathable Mattresses: We see this all the time on social media and from new moms wanting to know what the best breathable mattress is for their baby. And while obviously safety is our top priority when it comes to sleep, every mattress that is created specifically for a crib and is marketed for babies, is considered breathable. Every sleep product that is marketed specifically for being used in the crib all have to go through a series of safety tests and meet certain criteria to even be placed on the market. The mattresses that are specifically marketed as “breathable” are often significantly more expensive than the other mattresses on the market. Don’t feel like you need to break the bank in order to keep your baby safe. Any mattress that is specifically designed to go into a crib will do just fine!
Sleep Sacks: We are huge proponents of sleep sacks and swaddles. Swaddles are wonderful for the first few months (12 weeks or rolling, whatever comes first) and then you can transition to a sleep sack. Sleep sacks can help keep babies warm and help make them feel secure and comfortable in their crib. There are so many different sleep sacks out on the market and we truly believe it doesn’t matter which one you use. Sleep sacks can run you anywhere from $10 a piece to even $90 a piece and truly, there is no difference. The sleep sack is not going to be the miracle product that helps your baby sleep through the night. We also feel compelled to mention that we do not recommend weighted sleep sacks. They are strongly discouraged by the American Academy of Pediatrics as not a safe sleep accessory, therefore we cannot support the use of them.
White Noise: We love the use of white notice to help promote good sleep for both children and even adults. There are a plethora of different sound machines on the market that will do the job. We personally both love the Hatch, simply because you can control it from your phone. There are also several different travel sound machines that work great for when your baby is sleeping or napping on the go. We do recommend having the sound machine 5-7 feet away from the crib when possible, however, this is a sleep prop that can definitely help with sleep.
Baby Loungers-Dock-aTot-Snuggle Me: These products can be pretty controversial because we’ve seen them used in some pretty unsafe ways. We’ve seen people put them in the crib or the parents bed to help their baby to sleep. And while we know that sometimes parents are desperate, however, your baby is much safer screaming in their crib than they are sleeping in one of these products. These products are not designed for unsupervised sleep. They are great in the first few months if you need to put your baby down while you fold laundry, or cook dinner but the biggest caveat with these is that a baby should always be in the presence of an adult while in one.
All in all, sleep props can definitely help aid in good sleep, however, there is not one “miracle” product that will guarantee that you get a good night's rest. What will help your little one most in the long run is safe, consistent sleep and teaching your baby to sleep independently when they (and you!) are ready. And when you are ready, Teaching Sweet Sleep will be there to help you every step of the way if you feel like you need support!
