Sleep Sacks – make sure you check out TOG – we use 1.0 during the winter and 0.5 in the summer!
Swaddles – I’d recommend getting a few to see what you like! We tried: Ollie, Halo, Love to Dream, and SwaddleMe Pods
Bassinet on main level – I didn’t do this but would like to get one for my next baby so I have a safe place for them to sleep on the main floor during the day.
Baby monitor – I have three (Miku, Vava, and Owlet) and you definitely don’t need all three. I was very anxious and wanted something to monitor her breathing so we used the Owlet for when she was still in our room, we use the Vava for every nap and at night now that she is in her own room, and the Miku is also in her room to monitor her breathing for every nap and at night. The Owlet was nice peace of mind but it is EXTREMELY glitchy. The Vava is an awesome monitor that doesn’t use Wifi so it can’t be hacked, but it doesn’t monitor any breathing. The Miku does use Wifi but I love that it monitors her breathing without needing wearables (like the Nanit) and I can check in on her even if I’m not home.
Pacifiers – get a few different kinds to see what your baby likes. Fletch liked Philips Avent and Mam.
Taking Cara Babies First Five Months Bundle – This course teaches you SO much about baby sleep and I can’t recommend it enough. Even if you don’t plan on sleep training or following any kind of schedule, it will help you learn so much about babies and how they operate so that you can practice healthy sleep habits early on.
***Note – we followed all the safe sleep guidelines (did I mention that I had anxiety?!) so that meant that we never used anything weighted to help Fletcher sleep (i.e. Magic Merlin’s Sleep Suit or Dreamland) and we always kept her crib/bassinet completely empty with nothing but Fletcher in her swaddle or sleep sack and her pacifiers. We also always kept a fan running in whatever room she was in to keep air circulating!
