Sleep Essentials for My 3-Month-Old
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Sleep feels like such a precious commodity when you have a newborn… and even more so when you also have a toddler! Now that we are working through sleep training again with a 3-month-old and longing for nights where we get a full 8 hours of sleep (or even 6 - I would be happy with 6!), I wanted to share some of my all-time favorite sleep essentials for our 3-month-old baby.
Sleep Essential Favorites for Our 3-Month Old
Huckleberry App
The Huckleberry app has been an absolute LIFESAVER for this schedule and routine-loving mama! I’ve used other apps for tracking all-things-baby, but this one has been the best for us to navigate appropriate wake-windows and naptime “sweet spots” with our 3 month old! I remembered using this with my son when he was a bit older and fighting some nap transitions, and decided to subscribe again so that I could use the SweetSpot feature and it has been so life-giving for us! I still make sure to follow my baby’s sleep cues for when she needs to go down for a nap or for bedtime sleep, but having this in my back pocket to help me to know when to extend her wake windows a bit or get her to go down for a nap before she is overtired has helped us to achieve some longer pockets of sleep at night, which makes this mama feel like a brand new woman!
In addition to the SweetSpot feature, if you are really struggling with some sleeping patterns, you can be really intentional to track your child’s sleep and include as many notes as possible for a few days (their mood, what happened before/after sleep, etc.) and then request a custom sleep plan for your child. We did that with my son and it was so helpful to us!
I also love all of the other things that I am able to track that I just KNOW the pediatrician will be asking about at our next well visit - and this app gives you great averages and summaries to be able to share after a brief glance. Love that I don’t have to do any mental math in the doctor’s office now!
Zipadee Zip Sleeper
This swaddle transition sleeper is another product that I used for my son once he kept breaking out of the swaddle and it has been so helpful for us to get longer stretches of sleep! It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of these Zipadee-Zip sleepers.
This time around with my second baby, I added a different swaddle transition sleeper for a few weeks in-between normal swaddles (that she kept breaking out of) and the Zipadee Zip swaddle (that was still just a little big for her). For that middle transition, we tried out the Love to Dream Swaddle Up that I was able to grab from Target while waiting for a new Zipadee Zip to arrive. It worked well for that younger stage because she seemed to really love her arms being up, but now that she is a little bit older, she often wants to try and put her hands in her mouth and she wasn’t able to do that with the Love to Dream swaddle, but that is something that she can do with the Zipadee Zip!
Itzy Ritzy Pacifiers
I know that not all babies love pacifiers and even when they do, their preference of pacifier can really vary! With my son, the only style of pacifier that he would take was the MAM style - he did not like any of the cute pacifiers, no matter how much I wanted him to! But so far, my daughter has been completely opposite and seems to prefer this longer silicone style of a pacifier, which I really like for when she falls asleep and rolls around - while it might be a bit uncomfortable for her, I don’t have to worry about any hard plastic hurting her or leaving a mark if she rolls onto it!
Hatch Sound Machine
The Hatch Sound Machine has been another absolute essential for us with both babies! I love how easy it is to setup and use to program our favorite settings and change them at the touch of a finger, or switch out on the app on my phone. With my baby, I love to repeat our favorites from light to dark with the white noise running so that it’s easy to change out during nighttime nursing sessions. With my toddler, we are now at the stage that we are utilizing programming for naps, bedtime prep and nighttime sleep, and are also using the colors to help my son understand when he needs to stay in his room and when he can leave his room after a nap or in the morning (we love that red light, green light function!).
We now have a Hatch sound machine for each of our kids, a travel case for each of their sound machines, and even have a Hatch Restore that we use in our bedroom for winding down at the end of the day or white noise during the night (which is super helpful when you live in the city!).
High Quality Diapers
This is one crucial step that has seriously helped us extend some of our nighttime sleep! Having high quality diapers that we just use for nighttime sleep allows our little ones to stay dryer and sleep longer, which is a huge win. When my son was younger, we used Pampers for him at night and now that he is a toddler, it seems the only thing that works well for him is The Honest Co brand of overnight diapers + a Sposie insert (it’s like a giant pad - but for a diaper!). With our little one (who is currently 3-months-old) we use the Pampers Pure diapers (I hate the overnight or baby dry ones that smell like baby powder) and they keep our baby dry overnight much longer than the Target brand diapers that we use during the day.
