Unless you have the means to hire a night nurse and full time nanny, it’s inevitable that as a new parent with a newborn baby, you will be sleep deprived! In this post I will share our first year of sleep tips and tricks, and the products we used to maximize our sleep and our baby’s sleep.

One decision I made before our baby was born, was to exclusively bottle feed. A benefit to this is that I could share the feeding responsibilities with my husband and get more sleep! Read all about why I chose to exclusively bottle-feed here.

Newborn babies wake up and need to eat every 2 hours. Eeeekkk! My husband and I took turns, or “shifts” and would split up the night. I would sleep the first half of the night, then we would switch and my husband would sleep. If I had to do it over again, I would have 1 person sleep and get a full night’s sleep, and the other get up with the baby during the night, then switch the next night. That way at least one person is fully rested, instead of 2 parents half rested and still sleep deprived. If you’re ok with doing this method and have a guest bedroom, I would recommend the spouse that is sleeping through the night, sleep in a guest bedroom so they don’t wake up every 2 hours with the baby. It also depends on your job situation…at the time it was during Covid so both my husband and I were working from home. 

Swaddles

Below are the swaddles we tried/used. From newborn to 3-6 months we used the Ollie, velcro swaddles, Happiest Baby & Halo (we had the 3-6 month size). Then we transitioned to the Magic Sleep Suit which we loved, until he started rolling. Then we used the Kyte Baby sleep sack and I wish we had bought more!
If I were to do it over again, I would get 1 Ollie (they’re a bit pricey, but worth it) and I also liked the Happiest Baby swaddle because it kept their arms in. Jett was strong and liked to bust out his arms, and they can scratch their face and startle themselves, but the Happiest Baby one kept them secured. The 3 pack of the Velcro swaddles were great for using at the hospital and in a pinch. They are inexpensive and a good back-up to have if your baby spits up on the others.

I would go without the Halo swaddle next time, but for sure get 1 Magic Sleep Suit. And when they’re older (Jett is 2 now and still uses the Kyte Baby) I wish I had bought at least 2 Kyte Baby sleep sacks and put them on my registry! They are so soft, and like a blanket for them. And it keeps them from climbing out of the crib once they’re that age!

We transitioned Jett to his nursery around 3-4 months.

See his cute nursery here! This was a bit of a challenge, as any transition is, mostly because we have a 2 story house. Sometimes when Jett would wake up in the night, it wasn’t that he was truly awake, but it woke us up, so we would wait and watch the monitor and sometimes he would stop crying and go back to sleep. If he kept crying, obviously we would go upstairs and get him.

Jett sleeps in his crib on the Newton mattress. It is a bit pricey, but I like this mattress because it is completely washable and breathe-able. You don’t even need a crib sheet or waterproof mattress cover, but I put a sheet on because it’s cute. It is very comfortable (I’ve gotten in there myself to try it!)