Our Sleeptime Must-Haves

Throughout my entire pregnancy with Emma, I prayed and prayed that she would be a sleeper. Ellie was so hard at nights and rarely napped unless I was nursing/holding her or pushing her in a stroller and it took us months to find a routine that worked for her. It was one of my biggest fears about having a second child is that I would get another difficult sleeper. I just couldn’t imagine doing the zombie mom role while still having to take care of an infant and a toddler. I barely survived some weeks with just Ellie! How was I going to do it again if I had a bad sleeper?

Fortunately, Emma has been an angel from the start and is the sweetest baby ever. I totally lucked out with her, but being that this isn’t my first rodeo, I knew what we needed to do to help build and keep her routine and get her sleeping. Getting to know Emma and watching for her sleep cues were important to build a routine around her natural sleep tendencies. We wanted to instill a good sleep routine from the start and below I’ve listed what has worked best for us and my favorite tools that help us get there!

Diaper and Jammies: A clean pair of pajamas and a fresh diaper are the first step in our routine. No matter how new the diaper may be, we always change Emma right before we put her down to avoid any leaks. We learned how important that was with Ellie and I swear, anytime I thought her diaper would be find since she had only been wearing it for a short time, she would always have a leak if I didn't change her!

Sound Machine: We used one with Ellie and have used one still with Emma. She doesn’t require one to go to sleep, but she does sleep more soundly and in longer stretches when we have it on. It creates a white noise effect that’s steady and keeps other noise out, you know, like a crazy toddler who insists on talking/crying/singing at the top of their lungs when the baby is sleeping. We even have a travel one that we used with Ellie that’s nice when we’re out and about. The one pictured is no longer available, we also use this one which has a nice projector.

Books/Quiet Play: After a busy day, the girls will need some winding down and our favorite way to settle in is with some books (BabyLit is a fave around here)! We’ll also sing songs that have hand motions like Itsy Bitsy Spider or Wheels on the Bus. We’ve also done stretching and massages as well. This part we switch out depending on our day and moods.

Sleepsack: This is a must, must, must for us! Since Emma was first born we have swaddled her and I think it’s made a significant impact in keeping her a good sleeper. When it was time for sleep, we just swaddle her up and she nearly just goes limp and passes out immediately (even her new daycare teacher noticed!). Now that’s she getting bigger and can roll, crawl, and sit up we’ve been using the new HALO Sleep Sack that's 100% cotton muslin (available on Amazon). I love this sack and it’s perfect for warm nights to keep her covered and still comfortable. I love that it zips from the top down, making diaper changes a snap! We used their HALO Sleepsack Swaddle when Emma was younger and smaller and I'm glad to have a brand we can rely on as our babies grow.

Paci: Ellie had to have a paci to soothe herself to sleep, Emma does not, but does like to chew on the edges. Sometimes when she wakes up, she plays in her crib and I'll find her playing and chewing on a paci.

We keep our routines really simple so it's easy to do every day and can be done anywhere. It's important to us to do the same thing each night and even when Emma doesn't seem tired when I turn on her sound machine she rubs her eyes and when she gets her swaddle on, she's out! Follow HALO on Instagram for sleep tips and new products!

Thank you HALO for today's post! All opinions and experiences are of my own, a sleep sack was provided to me for an honest review.