Kip's Bedtime Picks
Well, Kippy is a pretty good night sleeper. Has been from the beginning. I remember the week that Dan and I discovered he wanted his bed time to be around 7 pm. We had both assumed he would wake up in 3-4 hours ready to feed but he went until 1 or 2 am those first nights. As we adjusted to that I would get up and pump at 1 am and leave out a bottle of fresh milk for the early morning feed (which Dan did quite frequently). Before we knew it, 5 am was rolling around and the bottle was untouched (we ended up tossing a lot of liquid gold those first weeks, sigh). Kip just transitioned himself into sleeping through the night with no effort on our part. We counted our lucky stars but didn't think it would last. But here we are, 4 months old and he will go all the way till morning, sometimes only needing some help to put the pacifier in his mouth. Edit to add, we've had repeated nights this week of 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30 wake ups. He isn't crying or hungry, just awake and chatting in his bed. I attribute this to the dreaded 4 month sleep regression. Oh Joy.
But, don't be too jealous, the kid won't sleep longer than 30 minutes consistently for a daytime nap unless he is in a stroller, car, or carrier. By the end of the day we have a very fussy and overtired baby.
I believe that each kid is different and what one family does for their "routine" just simply doesn't work for some other kid or family. There is no way of knowing if you'll get a good sleeper or one that struggles. And, I don't expect any of our future children to respond the same way Kip did/does. But, I'm hoping the next one takes longer naps...
Anyways, some of the products we've used with Kippy have seemed to prove helpful with bedtime. I think they create somewhat of a sleep association for him. So when he senses them his brain knows it's bedtime. All the books says things like bath time and books can help cue a child for sleep, for Kip, it's the sound machine and his Love to Dream swaddle, and pacifier that do the trick.
The AVANTEK white noise machine is amazing. Even Dan and I love it for our own sleep. Mandy got this sound machine for her birthday this year. Three days later, Kippy was born and by the end of the month I had ordered one for us too. The thing about this machine is the volume and the timer. The white noise needs to be LOUD. Most of the baby nightlight or sound machines marketed for babies just aren't loud enough. We got a cute little owl nightlight with a white noise feature and that thing is worthless since you can barely hear the rushing waves at its highest volume setting. The AVANTEK machine, on the other hand, has lots of volume levels and lots of white noise sound options (waves, running water, whooshing, even sirens (what???). It also has a timer. You can turn it on and have it run unlimited or you can set it for 2, 4, 5 hours. If you set a limited timer when the clock starts running out, the sound slowly fades away so you aren't startled awake by a sudden lack of noise. It's amazing. For Kip, whenever we turn it on you can visibly see him settle down a bit, ready for sleep.
The Love to Dream Swaddle Up find was a total accident. We actually saw these at the Baby Show we went to back in May. I thought they were ugly and passed on buying them. Then when Kip was born, Dan and I struggled to wrap Kip in tight enough blanket swaddles and he managed to kick out of every other swaddle we tried. I was also really paranoid about the extra fabric near his face with a lot of the swaddles and I would constantly check him in the night to make sure the fabric wasn't covering his nose. Then a friend asked if we wanted to try the Swaddle Up that her baby outgrew, I said sure. The first night Kip hated it. My mom thought it was too tight so we took him out of it. The next time we tried it he fell asleep and the night after that and the night after that. It came to the point where I would feed him and he would seem fussy and then I would put him in his swaddle and he would immediately calm down. Soon, just the act of zipping him up would nearly put him to sleep. And I have to say, he looked pretty cute in it...like a little starfish.
The great thing about this swaddle is it keeps the baby's hands up by their face which is apparently very soothing for them. Second, it is tight through the body which is also comforting. NO extra fabric to worry about, no kicking out, no wrapping or velcro. Just a simple zipper that can be opened from top or bottom (for easy diaper changes). We love it. They also make a transitional size for bigger babies which allow you to unzip the arms to have their hands free when they begin to wiggle and roll. It basically becomes a sleep sack but still fits snugly around the body for that added swaddle comfort. We transitioned Kip about a month and a half ago into the arms free option and he didn't seem to notice the difference.
And, no sleep aid suggestion is complete without an ode to the pacifier. Ugh. I didn't want Kip attached to a Paci but in it went on the first night home from the hospital and he has been hooked since. He was a STRONG sucker from day one. In the hospital he sucked on my finger and I was shocked at how tight his grip was. The pacifier was inevitable and while I don't love having to put it back in his mouth constantly, it does help soothe him. If he happens to wake in the night, or wake up too early for the day, we can typically just put the Paci back in his mouth and he will go back to sleep.
Hope these recommendations are helpful! Sweet dreams!
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