The best sleep products for babies: A parent's guide

It's no secret that good sleep is crucial for parents and children alike. With so many sleep gadgets and solutions on the market promising the world, it's tempting to think that there's a magic solution that will work for everyone. Unfortunately, like most things in life, there's no one-size-fits-all approach to sleep.

While it's natural to want a quick fix, relying on a single product or method is not the answer. In fact, it may lead to more frustration and wasted time and money.

So, what can you do to improve your family's sleep quality?

In my experience, there are only three key products that you should invest in to help get better sleep:

sleep schedules and nap guides by age click here

1. Blackout Blinds: A dark environment is essential for sound sleep, and blackout blinds can help create one. However, not all blackout blinds are created equal. Make sure to choose a product that effectively blocks out all light.

   I tell my clients to make the room dim before bed and then completely dark once you put your baby in their crib. Any light that sneaks its way through is going to hit the skin and wake up your baby.

   Also try darkening the room for at least one nap a day!

   Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about blackout curtains. Here are my favourites: 

   Sleepout Portable Blackout blinds (discount code: lilbabysleep)

   Gro Anywhere Black out blinds

   Black out window film

   Slumberpod discount code: LILBABYSLEEP$20 for $20 off (#1 for travel)

2. White Noise Machine: White noise can be beneficial for all ages, especially infants. It helps soothe and calm the mind by masking background noise, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.

   You want one that plugs into your wall and one that you can take on the go. The plug in one is key for overnight sleeping. It needs to last the whole night long because your baby WILL wake up when it turns off.

   So how loud should it be? About as noisy as a vacuum cleaner in the room, or 55-60 dbl. 

   Here are a few options I like:

   Portable white noise machine

   Plug in white noise machine

3. Sleep Sack/Swaddles: So first, let’s outline the difference between the two. 

   Swaddles are for newborns and mimic a womb environment. It prevents newborns from startling themselves awake.  

   After eight weeks, we need to transition to a sleep sack with the arms out. This is because babies could potentially roll over. In a swaddle, that is so dangerous, since babies will need their arms to hold their heads up. 

   Sleep sacks are also warm and cozy and snug. They can even become a positive sleep association. Putting on their sleepsack at bedtime can signal that it's almost time for sleep and make them drowsy. 

   Find the right swaddle or sleep sack here

These products if used properly can help your baby sleep better however, they won’t work unless you have a solid game plan for sleep. They are just tools. This is where an expert can help.

A sleep consultant can help you develop a customised sleep plan that takes into account your baby's age, temperament, and your comfort level. With their guidance, you can navigate the complex world of sleep and receive ongoing support and motivation.

What are the benefits of getting a personalized sleep plan:

• You don’t know what you don’t know. Knowing what to expect is critical.

• Coming up with a step-by-step response that you feel comfortable implementing is important.

• Knowing exactly what to do and feeling confident with your plan is key.

• Having support to ask questions, get guidance and have someone always there holding your hand- priceless.

If you don’t have a sleep plan it’s not possible to stay consistent and see lasting results.

By prioritizing your family's sleep, you're investing in your physical and emotional well-being and your child's development and quality of life.

Skip the expensive bassinets and gadgets and invest in a proper plan, knowledge and confidence in sleep. You won’t regret making it a priority.

Reach out and I can help get you started xx

Your Pediatric Sleep Consultant,

Lily

Multiple wake-ups- Meet Michelle and Della

At 13 months old, Della was still not sleeping for long stretches of time. She would wake up 1-5 times every single night and was not able to fall back asleep on her own. 

Michelle, tired from long (often nap-less) days, needed to breastfeed her back to sleep after each and every wake-up. This exhausted mama was worried about how this lack of rest would harm her daughter, while also being concerned with how sleep training could have a negative effect.

At Lil Baby Sleep, we know how confusing and overwhelming all of the advice about sleep training can be. We also know that you always want what is best for your little ones. We hear from so many parents who, like Michelle, are scared of causing any discomfort to their kids through the process. Lily and Jen sort through the unnecessary noise and ease your mind by finding what works specifically for YOU and YOUR family.

We began with a one-on-one call to really get to know this family’s unique needs. From there, we were able to create a personalized game plan on how to best start the journey! 

We provided them with all of the tools and strategies they needed, while coaching them the whole time.

“It was validating to know that we weren’t going to cause any damage to my daughter by doing this and that it was the right thing to do for all of us.”

Your Dream Plan Mama

Michelle

The determined parents immediately applied the suggestions they were given and saw quick results! Right away, Della was down to only one wake-up a night.  Within 2-3 weeks of diving into Your Dream Plan, she was sleeping through the night and napping so much better. 

This mama’s only regret?

Not starting sooner!

“Super thankful for you both!  Don’t wait until your baby is over a year old (to join the program)!”

A Well Rested Mama, Michelle

Big Feelings at Bedtime -Guest Post: Tara Gratto - Raising Resilient Children

Our emotions are such an important part of who we are, but let’s be real, they also make our parenting journey SUPER HARD! If I were to pick a time of the day that parents consistently tell me their child’s feelings are most difficult to handle…. It’s at bedtime.

Do you ever feel like this?

Let’s dig in a little into what’s happening so that we can make your life easier. 

As the world shifts away from things like “suck it up” and “cry it out” and moves into a space where feelings matter and we want to help children feel validated in their hard moments, there’s a missing piece. Without understanding feelings and building effective tools and strategies, the feelings tend to take over. 

They take over the moment, they take over our thinking, they take over everything.

Here’s the tricky layer, most of us didn’t grow up with tools for our feelings. In fact, historically we have supported the idea that suppressing our feelings is a sign of strength and we are learning this isn’t the best path.

This layer might be what is making your parenting extra hard because it can leave you second guessing a lot things, especially at bedtime. It’s the time of the day when many caring adults struggle. 

You are trying to comfort your child while also thinking about how they need to go to sleep because they are over-tired.

All this while also thinking about how you need to do some things before you can sleep and so on… We’ve all been there wishing our child would just go to sleep! 

There’s an important connection to make here. This situation is creating a big feelings moment for you which makes getting your child to sleep harder because you’re caught in a stress storm. One of those moments you never learned tools for.

https://www.taragratto.ca/TeamBrain

A key part of building your tools and skills for handling big feelings moments is understanding how emotional regulation works. There is a module on this topic in my parenting support package because it’s a key component of understanding tricky moments, like bedtime. One of the things I highlight in that module is the picture book I wrote called The Adventures of Team Brain. This book makes learning about this stuff accessible, relatable and fun. 

In the book you are introduced to the Brain Control Centre Team: Thinking Brain, Body Brain and Emotions Brain. Now, everything is pretty good when those three work together and that’s when we can do a great job of regulating our feelings, but there are times when Emotions Brain has a really hard time with this. This is the key to what is happening in really BIG FEELINGS moments (emotional dysregulation). When Emotions Brain takes control, this is what triggers a stress response. In the story I call it DINO Brain and the 3 F’s: Flight, Fight, and Freeze. 

We all have DINO Brain moments and what they look like is different for different people. Understanding the difference between expressing your feelings and a full on DINO brain moment is key to validating feelings in a way that doesn’t allow them to control situations. A really important part of this process is working on tools and skills in moments of calm and connection to support keeping the team working together to prevent that full DINO Brain takeover. 

When we are thinking about bedtime, this helps us to understand the difference between feelings that are being expressed to show disappointment, frustration, boundary testing, annoyance, sadness… as different from a DINO Brain moment.

This will help you navigate your parent feelings of overwhelm, stress, annoyance, guilt, frustration etcetera while implementing effective tools, limits and boundaries that will reinforce the goal of rested sleep for everyone.

Tara Gratto M.S.Ed, MA, OCT is the Founder of Raising Resilient Children. 

Tara has been working with children and families for 20+ years as an educator, former preschool owner, picture book author and social emotional expert. She is also the parent of two middle school children. In her role at RRC, she helps parents and caring adults learn the tools and skills they need for the hard and messy parts of parenting, and everything in-between. 

Children don’t come with manuals, parenting isn’t a cookie cutter and trying to navigate information in the digital age is nearly impossible. Her proven frameworks and systems will provide you with clear paths to support you and your unique family’s needs.

Website: https://www.taragratto.ca/

Book: The Adventures of Team Brain

Where to purchase: https://www.taragratto.ca/TeamBrain  or on Amazon Worldwide

Do you change a dirty diaper at night?

A question that all parent’s face at some point:

Should I change a poopy diaper at night or worse, early in the morning?!

This is a very scary predicament. Do you change a diaper knowing that it could possibly wake up your baby for hours or dare I say…for good.

Do you take that chance?

Here are some guidelines to follow for those doubt filled moments:

If they are sleeping. Do not wake a sleeping baby for a diaper change.

Now this has exceptions. Generally however, if your baby is sleeping and not uncomfortable then let them wake up on their own.

But this differs for newborns. Newborns will likely need more diaper changes at night. They will also be up for a feed or two at night so at this time, it’s okay to change diapers. They can endure a little more handling than older babies and as we know, they still need some assistance to sleep.

For newborns: Yes change a diaper if it’s poop, but it should be done in the dark (don’t turn on the lights), a little night light or better yet, red light with little stimulation and interaction and back to bed.

For babies over 4 months: This is where it gets tricky. As much as your child is a great sleeper and can fall asleep independently, it’s hard to change your baby’s bowel movements.

The good news is that it’s temporary. It lasts a few weeks and it will eventually shift.

Some toddlers also like to have privacy. to poop so offering that during the day or before bedtime may help.

Adjust your diet: If your little one is on solids we may need to adjust their diet and try not to offer natural diuretic food at dinner or before bed. We want to encourage your baby to have a bowel movement during the day. Avoid fibrous foods before bedtime and stick to foods that will “bind” them up like bananas, apples, oatmeal.

While it’s still important to offer a wide selection of different foods, having foods that will encourage their bodies to have a bowel movement early on will eliminate the need to go at night.

In the meantime what do you do if they wake and need a diaper change?

If it’s poop, change it.

Change poop in the dark and back to bed.

If you are having to assist back to sleep (hold, rock, feed, bounce, bedshare, ect), then that is something you will need to fix first. If your baby is not able to put themselves to sleep these interruptions can cause long periods of awake time and exhaustion for both of you. Here is the next step to fixing that: Your Dream Plan.

What if it’s early morning and you know they will be up for the day?

You have two options:

1. Change it in the dark with little stimulation and hope they put themselves back to sleep - it may not happen since any interaction in the morning hours can cause them to be up for good.

2. Wait, if it’s close to wake up time. Waiting until it’s as close to wake up time as possible and then changing their diaper and getting them up for the day. We don’t want them to get a rash but typically they can go a few hours with a poop before it starts to give them a rash.

This is totally up to you and your judgement.

If your baby is really good at putting themselves to sleep, they are more adaptable and can handle a diaper change. If they are not, then wait and get them up for the day a little earlier.

What about Pee?

You don’t have to change pee overnight. Poop yes but not pee. Diapers are designed to hold all night long.

*make sure you have a diaper that fits well, if it’s leaking go up a size or double diaper.

Lather on the cream

When I say lather on that white diaper cream, I mean like icing on a cake. Give a few good layers of protection, that will help avoid any rashes.

Waking a baby fully to change their diaper for pee especially over 4 months will disturb sleep and it not really necessary. If you feel like you NEED to. do it, then in the dark and back to bed awake.

Sleep Issues CAN be resolved

Babies will pee or poo while awake so it may also be that your little one is having issues with sleep and are staying awake for long periods of time so the poop is a result of sleep issues instead of sleep issue coming from poop.

Is there something else that can be waking them up in the early mornings? Check your environment, schedule and how they fall asleep.

That is something that we definitely need to get resolved.

In the end, if you are offering assistance to sleep, then after you change their diaper you will have to continue to assist to sleep. It’s not fair for them to expect that not to happen.

If you want to change this, then you can! You can get your baby sleeping independently and that will in itself solve your problems at night, including diaper worries.

I’m excited to be able to help you resolve this and feel rested and happy, because that’s what you all deserve!

Learn more about how to get a plan and support with me:

5 Sleep Gifts that You Want on Your Christmas List

I’ve been there...you’re tired, grouchy and ready to throw money at anything that says that it will help you and your baby sleep. 

However, not all baby products are worth it. Trust me. When I work with a family, we look at everything. Their house, their schedule, their baby’s sleep environment. Some things do help set your baby up for great sleep, but others are actually working against you. The reality is that your baby’s sleep environment matters. 

So are you ready for my list of favourite sleep products? Ready to learn more about the things that are actually going to encourage sleep? 

Let’s go! Here are the five things that you absolutely need this year. 

#1 Blackout Curtains or Blinds

If there’s one thing that you get, make it this.

Darkness is the number one factor that is going to help your baby fall asleep and stay asleep. 

I tell my clients to make the room dim before bed and then completely dark once you put your baby to bed. Any light that sneaks its way through is going to hit the skin and wake up your baby. Blackout curtains are also a game-changer for making naps easier. 

Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about blackout curtains. Here are my favourites: 

Sleepout Portable Blackout blinds (discount code: lilbabysleep)

Gro Anywhere Black out blinds

Black out window film

Slumberpod discount code: Lilbabysleep for $20 off (#1 for travel)

#2 Sound Machine

Oh white noise...where would we be without you? It’s great for newborns, babies that share a room with siblings and you can take it with you if you’re traveling for the holidays. 

You want one that plugs into your wall and one that you can take on the go. The plug in one is key for overnight sleeping. It needs to last the whole night long because your baby WILL wake up when it turns off. 100% guaranteed and this is horrible, especially in the morning hours when they need a consistent sleep environment. 

So how loud should it be? About as noisy as a vacuum cleaner in the room, or 55-60 dbl. 

Here are a few options:

Portable white noise machine

Plug in white noise machine

#3 Sleep Sacks/Swaddles

So first, let’s outline the difference between the two. 

Swaddles are for newborns and mimic a womb environment. It prevents newborns from startling themselves awake.  

After eight weeks, we need to transition to a sleep sack with the arms out. This is because babies could potentially rollover. In a swaddle, that is so dangerous, since babies will need their arms to hold their heads up. 

Sleepsacks are also warm and cozy and snug. They can even become a positive sleep association. Putting on their sleepsack at bedtime can signal that it's almost time for sleep and make them drowsy. 

Find the right swaddle or sleep sack here

#4 Monitor

Watching your baby sleep is way better than anything you can find on Netflix. They’re so peaceful and watching them sleep soundly can give you peace of mind that your baby is okay!

Let’s just make sure that your monitor isn’t going to affect your sleep. Turn down the volume. You don’t need to hear every little noise they make, and trust me. Unless you live in a castle, you are going to hear your baby if they cry during the night. 

Monitor option

#5 A sleep consultant

Okay, this one is a little self-serving, but hear me out. 

It’s okay to need help. Sleep is HARD. It’s okay if you want someone to help you come up with a plan because you are just so very tired. That’s where I come in. I look at your sleep environment, your baby’s sleep and all those other little things and come up with a plan with SOLUTIONS that work for your family. 

I’m there every step of the way with support and encouragement and understanding. I’m there with the knowledge and experience from all of the families that I’ve helped. I am committed to helping each and every one of my clients get a good night’s sleep. 

So, if you want to add long term sleep to your gift list this year, let’s book a call and talk some more.

Book a free 20 minute discovery call here 

This is basically all you need! Don’t spend on fancy bassinets, unsafe products that are going to cause more long term sleep problems or bells and whistles that will likely disturb sleep even more. Less is more! Save for the simple things that matter.