https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:42:01 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832857 Mon, 09 Jul 2018 13:27:13 +0000 MaryM 2832857@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't know if our monitor has the temporary mute...but I discovered the "sleep" setting with multiple sensitivities, and saw I can have the monitor off until baby either fusses quietly or full out cries, and that has SO improved things! </p> <p>And for us, the super swaddle. DS is breaking the regular velcro swaddles and getting his hands out, but if we strap his hands down with a receiving blanket and THEN swaddle him, he sleeps like a dream. (Like the miracle blanket...without having to buy yet another swaddle) </p> <p><a href="http://images.agoramedia.com/ugcphotoservice/100/2017/3/14/73170597/74238f23-b8a4-4cb8-be21-d18c5f2d21c1.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://images.agoramedia.com/ugcphotoservice/100/2017/3/14/73170597/74238f23-b8a4-4cb8-be21-d18c5f2d21c1.jpg</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832750 Mon, 09 Jul 2018 08:33:29 +0000 JennyPenny 2832750@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jennibenni: I have this one <a href="https://www.angelcarebaby.com/product/angelcare-ac401" rel="nofollow">https://www.angelcarebaby.com/product/angelcare-ac401</a><br /> but it looks like they don't sell it anymore. A quick search suggests at least some of the newer Angelcare monitors still have the feature. It's called Temporary Mute and you can see it described in the user manual if it has it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832723 Sun, 08 Jul 2018 21:30:35 +0000 Jennibenni 2832723@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JennyPenny: What kind of monitor do you have? I want that snooze button! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832649 Sun, 08 Jul 2018 07:50:16 +0000 starchild 2832649@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Precious Little Sleep.</p> <p>Get the book then join the FB group. Also have articles and such on their site. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832641 Sun, 08 Jul 2018 03:33:08 +0000 ineebee 2832641@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Lot of good stuff here! I’ll just add that for my 3mo, the advice to put baby down “drowsy but awake” was impossible until I tried the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit! It was a total game changer. It took some time for me and the baby to get used to it, but after day two or three using it, it has been a lifesaver. </p> <p>After we got used to it, she went from 3 MOTN wake-ups to just one, and I can often put her in that thing awake, put her down in the flat crib and (with some calming techniques) she can fall asleep. It’s awesome. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832623 Sat, 07 Jul 2018 20:11:13 +0000 FaithFertility 2832623@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JennyPenny: omg, I don't have the snooze button, but I would always turn the volume down forn 2-3 mins if I heard DS fuss, usually it was to re find his thumb or now his bunny</p> <p>Def helped me! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832578 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 22:38:32 +0000 Foodnerd81 2832578@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My kids have really different temperaments and sleep habits. My first has always been a tough sleeper. Still is and she turns five this month. My second has just always been more easy going and still is, and that makes her a better sleeper. And the things that works with one don’t work with the other. So prepare yourself but remember they are two different people! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832575 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 22:00:37 +0000 Pollywog 2832575@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 2.5 year old takes an hour to fall asleep and is often up in the middle of the night. My 2.5 month old regularly sleeps through the night. I think it is pure luck. I did everything the same,.I hope you get a much easier baby! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832565 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 20:24:12 +0000 HappyBaker 2832565@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SweetiePie: Agree with every thing you said! </p> <p>DS is 3 months and our 3rd baby, and while I feel like he is partly a magical unicorn sleeper it also has been a lot of work on my part while on leave to help him get to where we are (which is sleeping straight through from 6:45pm - 6:00am most nights!) I think the biggest things that have helped compared to my last 2 are -</p> <p>- putting him down to sleep (swaddled with white noise) from day 1, and having him sleep flat on his back rather than on an incline<br /> - watching his wake times and wake cues and putting him down when he was still awake so he could learn to fall asleep on his own<br /> - keeping the monitor at the lowest volume so I don't wake to every little peep he makes, his room is right across the hall so if he is really awake and crying I easily hear him<br /> - not associating feeding with sleeping - this I did not do on purpose it just somehow has happened, but he does NOT need a bottle as part of his bedtime routine at all, which I think is why he can sleep straight through since when he wakes up he is not expecting milk </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832518 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:44:14 +0000 SweetiePie 2832518@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@BadgerMom: everything you said.<br /> Consistency is key. Choose how/where you want baby to sleep and start out that way. Stuck with it even when sometimes it would be easier to use a crutch (like rocking to sleep). Babies are sponges and only learn what we teach them. If we teach them that rocking and holding for every nap and waking every hour is ok, that’s what they’ll expect.<br /> I do believe you can spoil a newborn ;-) Not spoil maybe, but begin to teach them “bad” habits. Lay the groundwork early. </p> <p>Also, there will always be bumps in the road. Expect them, know that tomorrow is a new day, but try to remain as consistent as possible. Don’t freak out. My awesome sleeper and napper 4.5mo is having a bad nap day. It is what it is. I know he already has good sleep habits so it’s a wierd blip - like a regression or teething or something. Knowing he already has good habits helps me to better see true sleep disruptions. </p> <p>It takes 3 days to make a bad habit, I always remind myself of that. @BadgerMom: sort of said it - let the “bad habits” be the exception, not the rule. Today I have to do a lot of rocking to sleep but I know that one day of that won’t undo all of my hard work. Tomorrow is a new day. </p> <p>And that is another huge point. BABY SLEEP IS WORK. Very few have magical unicorn sleeper babies who sleep through the night and take monster naps without any effort. I’ve worked HARD to get both of my boys to be good sleepers. When people tell me I’m lucky I internally roll my eyes because it’s not luck. Sure some babies have a better temperament for sleep. But it’s still not easy and they still need to learn how to do it.<br /> It’s HARD. I’ve wanted to rip my hair out many times with this 4mo but I knew that staying the course would pay off and it has. He now takes two 2-3 hour naps and one 1-2 hour nap every day and it’s not becuase im just lucky. I’ve learned his ideal wake time between naps. I let him fuss and even cry sometimes to see if he could fall back asleep. I put him down in a flat crib drowsy but awake from day 1, even though I knew it might be an easier bandaid to just rock him or put in a rnp. Learn your baby and stay the course. </p> <p>My top sleep tips that I live and die by:<br /> - drowsy but awake in flat crib from day 1<br /> - black out shades or even just black garbage bags taped between window and shades/curtain.<br /> - sound machine<br /> - follow sleep cues AND keep track of max wake time for their age. And tweak it becuase all babies are different (max wake time recommended for a 4mo is 1h15m - 2h. Mine absolutely has to be down and ASLEEP by 1h15 so we have to take him to his room at the 1 hour mark. It’s so crucial and people don’t realize this!)<br /> - no more than 3 hours for a nap during the day.<br /> - don’t jump at every whine, fuss, snort or cry. Many many times my son has sounded like he was waking and becuase I just let him be for 5 mins or so he put himself back to sleep.<br /> - consistency. Cues and routines. Start them early and stick with them. We had solid bedtime routine by 6 weeks. It HELPS! </p> <p>This is really rambling becuase on phone feeding baby but it’s my most immediate thoughts on sleep. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832513 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:24:02 +0000 looch 2832513@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You probably already know this, but tiredness cues (what constituted being overtired) and the maximum awake times chart were helpful. FWIW my son was a terrible sleeper. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832511 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:11:04 +0000 lilyofthewest 2832511@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JennyPenny: Oooh, that's neat. I've never heard of that before. We roomshare, so not much help overnight, but that would be really handy for not rushing upstairs at every little wriggle when baby (or big kid...sigh) rouses while we're downstairs. </p> <p>@Raspberry: I wish these things had any impact on #1...I can hope I luck out on temperment with #2 though, eh?</p> <p>@BadgerMom: After living through #1's first few years, I definitely want to be mindful balancing short-term survival with long-term strategy better for #2. We held #1 for sleep a LOT right from the start. I can't help but hope that being more mindful about that next time will have some impact. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832510 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:08:57 +0000 Mrs D 2832510@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I certainly dont have all the answers, but I have had 1 great sleeper and 1 decent sleeper. For me (us), a friend gave me advice pre-baby that I consider to be the biggest part of our positive sleep experiences...teach them to fall asleep on their own from the beginning. I very very rarely rocked my babies to sleep at night (and for long naps)...thats not to say they didnt fall asleep while nursing many many times, and they certainly slept on me many times, but I tried to keep the moments before "real sleep" (i.e. night time or their long quality naps) a non rocking situation.</p> <p>We had a very clear bedtime routine. Lights always dim, sound machine on, diaper change (bath depending on the night), lotion rub down, jammies, bottle/nurse (if still feeding before bed) then laid down sleepy but not sleeping. My girls have both been very good at falling asleep on their own - which helps in the MOTN when they wake too.</p> <p>We did have to go through a small period of CIO with #2...she has a stubborn streak though, so I attribute that to her needing to "get her way". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832508 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:01:19 +0000 Becky 2832508@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Very controversial but my babies slept on their bellies and that was my “trick” for the first few months. </p> <p>I think nursing to sleep caused a lot of problems for me. It was so easy and so natural and made my babies so happy, but they woke up wanting it over and over. When I stopped nursing to sleep with DD2 she began sleeping so much better. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832507 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 13:46:06 +0000 Raspberry 2832507@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If I could name one most helpful thing for me it was to make night wake-ups as boring as possible:</p> <p>- Strong evening bedtime routine<br /> - Use the hall light instead of light in the bedroom for diaper changes<br /> - Minimize engaging through eye contact<br /> - Avoid talking or singing to the baby</p> <p>I don't know if it was a coincidence but DS got the hang of night vs. day relatively quickly and was asleep between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. by 10 weeks. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832506 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 13:45:11 +0000 Boopers 2832506@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Honestly, I think it comes down to the personality of the kiddo. LO1 was a stage 5 clinger at night and slept with us in our bed until age 2 and in our room (toddler bed) until 2 1/2 when we had LO2. From day 1, LO2 was just an easier sleeper and there wasn’t anything that we did, he was literally born that way. Every kiddo is different! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832503 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 13:36:37 +0000 JennyPenny 2832503@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>After conversations with friends I recently realized how important a feature on our baby monitor was to how we handled sleep - it basically has a snooze button. When I press it, it will silence the monitor for 2 minutes and then turn back on later. I use it all the time when they're just fussing but I'm pretty sure they'll go back to sleep soon. But I realize that without it any crying hurts me and I want to go in and help. My friends' monitors didn't have this so they had to either listen to the crying or trust that they would stay awake in the MOTN to turn it back on. Or they could take care of the crying but then not teach self-soothing. Anyway - now it's a feature I recommend to new parents cause I definitely used it a lot without knowing it wasn't a standard thing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832496 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 13:00:25 +0000 jape14 2832496@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Both my kids had reflux. LO#1 was a terrible sleeper until 4mo, sleep trained for going to sleep only, STTN by about 7.5 months. LO#2 was a good sleeper from the start, STTN by 7 months - key difference is we did drowsy but awake basically from the start. </p> <p>So my tips are: minimize sleep associations to start, and Ferber sleep training to remove any sleep associations you wind up with. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832494 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 12:56:45 +0000 BadgerMom 2832494@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not sure what you've tried and failed, so take my suggestions however you'd like, but these are the couple things I *think* helped us foster a good sleeper.</p> <p>I know most people say you can't spoil a newborn, but I do think what you do in the early days impacts at least somewhat the later days. I tried to stick with the motto, "Begin as you plan to continue." So beginning even in the newborn days...<br /> - I usually put DS down to sleep (mamroo, rock n play, crib, whatever you prefer). I held him while he was sleeping sometimes of course, but I'd definitely say it was the exception, not the rule.<br /> - I used the 5s's pretty religiously, especially the swaddle and the sound machine. One of my most valued baby items was the travel sound machine. I think those items really helped signal that it was time to sleep.<br /> - I sleep trained as soon as the ped gave the ok, but I think because of the items above, it was a pretty quick and painless process.</p> <p>ETA. Oh and I think sometimes people are way to quick to say, "I tried that but baby didn't like it," especially with the swaddle. Give everything a serious chance before quitting, sometimes you just need to get over the hump, so to say. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-baby-sleep-devices-andor-techniques#post-2832491 Fri, 06 Jul 2018 12:43:01 +0000 lilyofthewest 2832491@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're expecting #2 and I'm hoping to have a better experience with sleep than with #1.</p> <p>My 3-year-old was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad sleeper until he was well over two. He was still up 3 or more times every night until then...up 4 or more times every night until he was over a year. We tried swaddles, swings, the mamaroo, a crib "nest", cosleeping, Happiest Baby, white noise, a majority of the things suggested on Precious Little Sleep...all to very little impact. </p> <p>What's your top tip (or top 10 tips, I'll take all the advice!) to a better experience with #2 :teamgreen: </p>