The Gift of Sleep

As a first time parent I worried a lot. No one prepared me for this new adventure we were embarking on, which I learned rather quickly that you cannot prepare anyone for parenthood. You learn as you go.

Now there are many things you can worry about. Believe me, this list is long my friends. At least for me it was.

Having a baby with special needs changes everything. Raegan's cleft palate, Pierre Robin Sequence, and sleep apnea diagnosis rocked our world. We had so many things to worry about when it came to her.

But the thing I worried about the most was sleep. Why? Because I was also asleep when Raegan was so I couldn't watch her breathe and make sure she was ok. I know I'm not the only hovering parent out there. Can I get an amen?! I would hear her grunt or cough and immediately check to make sure she was ok.

We tried different products to help us monitor her while she slept at night. They worked fine and did their job, but I still worried.

When I became pregnant again with Hudson I knew I needed to find something that would ease my mind when he slept. Then I found the best baby item every parent should own that has completely taken my worries away when Hudson is sleeping.

Insert {the owlet}.

Not only is it designed to alert you if baby stops breathing, but you can easily see what baby's heart rate and oxygen levels are right on your phone!

And putting it on baby is so easy! You just slip the sock right on their foot. It comes in 3 sizes so it can grow with your baby.

Granted our little guy is a wiggler so I have to try a few times to get it right, but once I do, it's on their snug and secure and reads his stats all night long with no problem.

And if I forget to turn it on before leaving his bedroom it's no problem because I can turn it on from my phone! It's absolutely the best!

I wished that it had been around when I had Raegan, but I'm so thankful that I have it now for Hudson. Knowing I will be alerted if Hudson's levels are off helps me sleep soundly at night and gives me peace of mind.

So when I can't be there to watch my baby, I no longer have to worry, because the Owlet is there keeping watch over my little guy all night long.

Been wanting to purchase one? They are on sale for $20 off this week! Click here to purchase!

Owlet is intended to provide peace of mind. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, mitigate, cure, or prevent any disease or condition.

4

Baby Registry Must Haves Series {Sleep}

Sleep is a toughy and I swear I've used pretty much every item recommended to me to help Raegan sleep. Since she had sleep apnea we did have to do a few extra things for her because it wasn't good for her to sleep on her back. Swaddling was a life saver for us which is why I have more than 1 type on this list. I know I'm set for when Hudson arrives because we have tried everything with Raegan!

1. Graco Pack 'n Play- This is a necessity. Well at least in our house it was. It has this amazing bassinet that can be removed and placed anywhere in the house. Kitchen, bathroom, living room, or anywhere else you need baby to be. And the attached changing table makes it just perfect to put in your bedroom before baby moves to their nursery.

2. Fisher Price Rock 'n Play- Raegan quickly grew out of her bassinet in her pack 'n play and the rock n' play was the next step. She slept in it until she was 4 months old. For awhile next to our bed then around 3 months we moved her into her nursery. Then transitioned to her crib around 4 months.

3. Halo Bassinest- I've heard this guy is the bomb! It sits right next to your bed and has a side that bends down so you can easily bring baby into bed to nurse, then back into the bassinest. AND the dockatot (the next item) fits in in perfectly!

4. DockATot- This guy is NEW NEW NEW! And I want one! Must have, I don't know. But for me, I want it! I like the idea of the bassinest, but I know baby would need to feel snuggled and comfy, which is where the dockatot comes in. Keeps baby nice and snug and can be moved to their crib when they are ready too! 

EDITED: Now that Hudson has been born, I can't say enough good things about it. You can move it anywhere so baby can sleep anywhere. Including when we aren't at home. He can easily sleep anywhere. It's kind of like his lovey. I am actually getting the next size up next week. It is a little pricey, but worth it and can be used over again for future babies.

5. Summer Infants Monitor- For me a monitor is a top must have. I like being able to look at Raegan whenever I need and I can link multiple cameras to the video monitor so all we have to do is buy another camera for Hudson's room.

6. Angel Care- Raegan had severe sleep apnea when she was little and worried about not breathing throughout the night. With her sleeping in the rock 'n play she was elevated which helped her breathe, but when she moved to the crib and chose to sleep on her tummy, I was a wreck, until Angel Care. It goes under the mattress and detects if baby stops breathing. An alarm goes off so you can attend to baby right away. I'm sure we will use it with Hudson too when we move him to his crib.

7. Aden and Anais Swaddles- I loved wrapping Raegan in these. Now girlfriend was way too good at breaking free, so we didn't use these to sleep in, but we used these for naps and in the carseat. She was a summer baby and these were thin enough that she didn't get too hot.

8. SwaddleMe Swaddles- These were the best! They velcro and baby is nice and snug!

9. The Miracle Blanket- Once Raegan started breaking out of her swaddle we moved to the miracle blanket. If you have a houdini who can get out of any swaddle, this is the answer to your prayer. It's like a double swaddle. Baby's arms are swaddled down next to them then swaddled around them. It does take some practice to get it right, but once you do, it's all worth!

10. Boppy Lounger- This is a great little pillow for baby to hang out on and take cat naps on. Especially when they are a new born.

11. HoMedics Sound Spa- Raegan is 15 months and still sleeps with this one. She loves it and it helps drown out any extra noise around the house. For Hudson, poor guy, it'll be drowning out Raegan's screams more than likely.

12. Wubanub- This paci is the best! I loved the little stuffed animal on the end because when she was first born, I could swaddle it into her swaddle and it would keep the paci in her mouth. Then it kind became her thing, her wubi as we called it. She was never found without it.

13. The Ollie Wrap- This is not an item we've used yet, but I've heard great things, so I'd love to try it with Hudson.

Make sure you stop by tomorrow for the "play" Must Haves Series!

11

Baby Registry Must Haves Series {Travel}

As I'm now more than half way through this pregnancy it's time to start thinking about everything we need for this sweet baby. Lots of what we got for Raegan we can reuse, but there are a few things I want to add to our home for baby #2.

All of the items I'm listing are items we have in our house and they proved to be must haves. Then a few items I'm wanting to try out for Hudson.

I will say if you're reading this and you are pregnant with your first, you can read all of the "baby registry" posts you can get your hands on, but once baby is here is when you will really realize what works for you.

Yes, having these posts to read were a life saver for me, which is what I hope this post is for you, but just know, you won't get everything you need before baby comes.

I can't tell you how many times Kyle and I went to our local Buy Buy Baby store in search of the next item we needed that we hadn't thought about before she arrived.

I'm hoping this time around I can use what I learned with Raegan and skip the many many trips to the store.

When I started complying everything I loved I realized I needed to break up these posts. I don't want them to be overwhelming at all so I've decided to do a "Baby Registry Must Have Series" and will post all of my must haves for travel, feeding, sleep, play, and bath separately.

Also, keep in mind that every baby is different. What works for 1 baby may not work for another. So don't worry if you have to try a few different types of items before finding the one your baby loves. These are just what have worked for us.

So first up in the series are my must have for travel.

1. Britax Car Seat- When we registered for a car seat with Raegan we didn't really have a preference, but once she was here I was glad we got this one. Some of the infant car seats are too plush and when baby gets bigger, they get really cramped. So this was a nice middle ground between the two.

2. Britax Car Seat Insert- While Raegan was tiny we used this insert to help secure her a little better and keep her head from falling over. Once she didn't need it, we took it out and put the Britax insert that came with the carseat back in.

3. Brica Backseat Mirror- I love being able to look in my rearview mirror and see my baby. This mirror goes on the back of the headrest on the seat that baby's carseat is installed in. Now that Raegan is older she can see my reflection in the mirror too and it helps 

4. City Select Baby Jogger- what I love about this stroller is that it's a single stroller when you need it to me and then when you're ready to turn it into a double stroller, all you need are the attachments and another chair. AND you can also get attachments for it to hold your infant car seat. Or if you want the bassinet attachment you can use that too, when baby is really little. Yes, the price tag is high, BUT you never have to buy another stroller again! It was well worth it in my opinion.

5. Solly Wrap- This wrap is the best when the baby is itty bitty. It does take a little practice to get the hang of tying it, but once you do, baby will be a happy camper. When Raegan was little she was take her naps in it or when she was super cranky and I needed to get stuff done she'd just hang out on my chest, happy as can be!

6. Ergo 360 Baby Carrier- We have the regular Ergo carrier from when I had Raegan, but I love this one, because baby can face forward or towards you. Raegan loves looking out so I wish they had had this one when I had her because she wasn't a fan of the Ergo we have now.

7. Milk Snob Car Seat cover- This thing is so cool! It just stretches right over the carseat and voila! Baby is protected from the wind and maybe any wandering hands that want to touch baby.

8. HoMedics Sound Spa On the Go- This little guy was so nice to have when Raegan was itty bitty and we were in a noisy place. I'd turn on the white noise and she'd be good to go. No outside sound bothered her at all.

I hope this post was helpful as you plan for your little one. Join me tomorrow for the feeding must haves of the series.

4

Crib Transition and Sleep Training Part 2

To preface this post, I know that there are many ways to transition your baby to their crib and even MORE ways to sleep train your baby. These are the ways that were successful for Raegan and I wanted to share them in case another mom could benefit from them!

To see my post on how we transitioned Raegan to her crib from her rock n play, click HERE.

Picking up where we left off yesterday, I had shared how we transitioned Raegan from her rock n play to her crib. To put Raegan to sleep every night we would rock her and let her have her paci until she fell asleep. Then we would gently and carefully, remove the paci, and place her in her rock n play. We continued this as well when we moved her to her crib.

One night we were having a really hard time getting Raegan to go back to sleep once she had woken up about an hour after we put her down. This was a normal occurrence that would continue happening all night long. We would have to go in and put the paci back in her mouth until she fell asleep, then gently pull it out so that it wouldn't fall out and wake her up.

We had always planned to use Dr. Ferber's method of modified crying it out and thought, this was as good of time as any to start since we had tried all our normal tricks of putting her to sleep and she just wasn't having it. It was time to let her learn to put herself to sleep. Our pediatrician had said to at least wait till she was older than 3 months and Dr. Ferber's book recommends between 4-5 months.

Dr. Ferber's method was perfect for us. We wanted her to learn how to put herself to sleep and we were fine with letting her cry, but we still wanted to be able to check on her and reassure her that we were still there.

So we kissed her on the forehead, said we loved her and walked out. What I loved about Dr. Ferber's book, "Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems", is that it gives you a chart to help you navigate modified crying it out (CIO). 

The first night you go in at 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and then every 10 minutes until the baby falls asleep. You comfort the baby for about a minute then leave again. We chose not to give Raegan her paci during our check in time because she can't hold it in her mouth anyways and would just get upset all over again when we left and it fell out. The first night it took her a total of 17 minutes to fall asleep. We were shocked. We expected at least an hour.

The next night came around and we did the same thing. Fed her, put her in the bed, kissed her on the forehead and walked out. Night 2 has you check on baby at 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and then every 12 minutes until baby falls asleep. Tonight it only took her 15 minutes to fall asleep. Now on this night she did wake up about an hour later, and we just started the timer again. Checked on her at 5 minutes and she was asleep before we went in to check on her after 7 minutes. We were shocked AGAIN!

Raegan is a stubborn little girl and we thought she would put up more of a fight, but she responded amazingly to sleep training. By the end of the first week, she would take about 10 minutes of babbling to herself and then fell asleep. No more crying at all. And when she woke up through out the night, she was able to put herself back to sleep.

Here is the chart if you are wanting to try the modified CIO sleep training schedule.

And now, 6 weeks later, she's a sleeping champ! She goes down about 6:45-7pm and sleeps until 3:30am-4am, eats, then is back down until 8-8:30pm. Now naps are a different story! Girlfriend naps a TOTAL of a little over 1 hour a day. Yes, poor momma. We will get naps under control one day! I'm just not sure how.

Now I know that every baby is different and responds differently to sleep training, so I was ecstatic when Raegan responded so well to it. If listening to your baby cry is hard for you, but you are desperate and need something to work, just try it for 1 week. Grab a glass of wine or something stronger, hunker down, get out your timer, and give it a go. If you still don't feel right about it after 1 week, that's ok! Do what you think is best for you and baby.

Now when she wakes up in the middle of the night, my heart doesn't skip a beat, wondering if she will go back to sleep. Now she may talk to herself for a bit, and then she's right back to sleep. Another tip if you choose to do this sleep training route, if baby wakes up and it's not in their normal feeding window (Raegan's feeding window is 3:30am-4:30am) do not go into baby's room. Start the timer when they begin crying and stick to the schedule.

On day 7 of Dr. Ferber's sleep training schedule, he has the first check in at 20 minutes and that's what we use every time she wakes up now. And more often than not, she is back asleep before the 20 minute timer goes off.

Our next hurdle was transitioning her out of her swaddle. Things were great for about 1 week into our sleep training when she decided to roll over in her swaddle in the crib! Well, we decided to just go cold turkey, take her out of the swaddle, take all of the towels out of the crib, and lower it to the ground. We continued our sleep training like we had before. It took her a few days for her to figure out how to handle not being swaddled, but she took it like a champ, and now sleeps on her tummy with her bottom in the air.

The cutest thing around if I do say so myself!

Have a question about Dr. Ferber's method or how we handled sleep training? Email me at ashley.sanderson1@gmail.com. I'd be happy to help you in any way I can!

20

Crib Transition and Sleep Training Part 1

To preface this post, I know that there are many ways to transition your baby to their crib and even MORE ways to sleep train your baby. These are the ways that were successful for Raegan and I wanted to share them in case another mom could benefit from them!

Raegan had been sleeping in her rock n play since she was about 6 weeks old. She loved being swaddled and having that cozy environment to sleep in. She slept next to our bed until she was 3 months old. That was when momma needed her in the nursery! I was waking up to every little sound she made and I just couldn't do it anymore. So in October when Raegan was almost 3 months old, we moved her rock n play into her nursery. She continued sleeping in it swaddled until the beginning of December.

Right after Thanksgiving she learned to roll herself over in her rock n play. After she did it a few times we knew it was time to put her in her crib. We worried that she would struggle sleeping in it since her crib wasn't like the cocoon that the rock n play provided. So we started thinking of how to slowly transition her.

First off, my husband built a little platform that helped elevate one end of the crib. One reason Raegan was in her rock n play for so long was because it allowed her to sleep reclined and not be so congested. Her cleft palate causes her to have a lot of congestion. So we knew we wanted the crib to be elevated as well.

Now this could be done with books as well, but my husband worried about one of the legs slipping off and the crib toppling over. He's a worrier.  So I let him build a sturdy platform. Choose your battles ladies!

After elevating the crib we knew we wanted the inside to be cozy like her rock n play. So we took 2 large bathroom towels and rolled them on the long side. Then made it into an upside down U. We then took 2 sink towels and rolled them on the short side and put it at the bottom of the U so that if she moved throughout the night her bottom wouldn't slide down. We also had a plastic crib wedge under the towel, but this was really not necessary.

After putting the sheet back on, we took a couch pillow and stuffed it at the bottom of the crib so that if she scooted down at all through the night, it would stop her. 

She absolutely loved this set up! It allowed her to get used to her new sleeping arrangement, but still have the comforts of what she was used to.

This amazingness lasted about 2 weeks. Then she decided that she was going to learn to roll over while swaddled in the crib too. It was time to transition her out of the swaddle and into the big ole crib!

The saying is true. "Once you get used to one thing, the baby changes it all up!" And Raegan sure did!

Come back tomorrow and hear about how we taught Raegan to put herself to sleep on her own!

22

Safe Sleeping {HALO sleepsack giveaway}

As I've been researching ways to help Raegan sleep at night and how to keep her safe while she was sleeping I was astounded that more than half of U.S. parents say their babies sleep with pillows, stuffed animals, and blankets despite recommendations from their pediatricians! Holy moly that's a lot!

UNSAFE SLEEPING

By having all of these extras in the bed with baby, their chance of SIDS goes way up. I know for me I worry about Raegan constantly and I don't want to add anything to increase her risk of SIDS at all. So when Raegan goes to sleep, there are no stuffed animals, no blankets, and no pillows in her crib. But then you might ask, how does she stay warm? That's where the HALO sleepsack comes in!

SAFE SLEEPING

This amazing little sleepsack keeps baby warm during the night. We had the HALO swaddle sleepsack when Raegan was born and it was great because we could swaddle her arms and her muscle jerk reaction wouldn't wake her up. Now that she's older, she wants her arms free to sleep which is why the HALO sleepsack is perfect! Mostly because she wants to put her thumb in her mouth, which I'm fine with because she's learning to self soothe! She is also starting to roll over and she can do that in her sleepsack.

Now we always put her to bed on her back, but if she wants to be a tummy sleeper, so be it! The sleepsack allows her to have her arms free to help her roll, but still gives her that since of snugness and security.

Here are some more safety tips to remember when you are putting baby down.

ALWAYS

• Place baby to sleep on his or her back at naptime and at night time. 
• Use a crib that meets current safety standards with a firm mattress that fits snugly and is covered with only a tight-fitting crib sheet.
• Remove all soft bedding and toys from your baby’s sleep area (this includes loose blankets, bumpers, pillows and positioners). The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests using a wearable blanket instead of loose blankets to keep your baby warm.
• Offer a pacifier when putting baby to sleep to help baby soothe. If breastfeeding, introduce pacifier after one month or after breastfeeding has been established as not to have nipple confusion.
• After feeding the baby in the middle of the night, put your baby back to sleep in his or her separate safe sleep area alongside your bed or in his or her own nursery.
• Room share, but don’t bed share. Bed sharing can put a child at risk of suffocation.

NEVER

• Never put your baby to sleep on any soft surface (adult beds, sofas, chairs, water beds, quilts, sheep skins etc.)
• Never dress your baby too warmly for sleep; keep room temperature 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Never allow anyone to smoke around your baby or take your baby into a room or car where someone has recently smoked.

Would you like the chance to win a HALO sleepsack or sleepsack swaddle for your baby? Enter using the rafflecopter below! Good luck! Open to US and Canada residents only!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

16

Raegan's Schedule

I don't know about you, but I thrive off a schedule. Well turns out, so does miss Raegan!

Now there are many opinions out there about when it's appropriate to put a baby on a schedule. As a new mom, I had and sometimes still have no clue what I'm doing! But I paid attention to my little love bug and started realizing I was actually the one making her cranky and fussy! 

I know!!! {insert shocked face!}

Now newborns are on such sporadic schedules that trying to put them on one will likely drive you insane! Especially because they are up throughout the night numerous times. 

From the time Raegan came home from the NICU we just continued the schedule we had learned in the hospital. Feed every 3 hours. And before you feed, change her diaper. So that you can put baby back down right after her feeding. And that worked well for us at the beginning when she was sleeping all the time!

Then she started to be more awake and we kind of took the stance of if she's awake, we will let her be awake. Yeah, that didn't work. Babies need sleep and they won't always go to sleep even when they need to! So the result of that was a very overly tired baby and very tired parents.

So I started doing research and it showed that a baby Raegan's age, 6 weeks old (yes, 6 weeks. I can't believe it either!) should only be awake 40-50 minutes at a time. 

Well there was our problem! We were keeping her up too much!

She needed some awake time to allow her to get stronger both physically and socially, but she was getting too much! She was getting overly tired and pretty much wasn't napping at all during the day and if she was, I had to be holding her and if I did manage to nail the transfer from me to the bed, they were short little cat naps.

I was getting nothing done and things had to change!!

Hence, I started Raegan on a schedule. Every baby is different and may not be able to tolerate a schedule at 6 weeks. This is just what worked for Raegan and I. You have to do what's best for you and your sweet baby.

So let's start at the beginning of the day. 

Raegan wakes up at 5:30am from sleeping the whole night. So we will start there. 

I know, we are blessed with a baby that sleeps through the night at 6 weeks. I've decided we are due something easy because Lord knows getting pregnant with her was anything but easy!!! 

And then her 28 hour birth and stay in the NICU earns us easy potty training right?! ;)

Alright, onto the schedule.

5:30am- Kyle feeds Raegan while I pump. Praise Jesus for that man! I do my devotional while I pump. It's the only time of day where I can fit it in! Early morning with my Lord!

6:15am- Kyle leaves for work and I go back to bed. 

8:30-9am- Raegan wakes up. I change her and feed her and put her right back down. Whenever she is being fed or sleeping, she is swaddled. This is a physical cue for her to know we are eating then going to sleep. 

9:30am-12pm- nap

12pm- I change her and feed her. If she's acting like she's tired. I put her back down. If she's awake, then I put her in her rocker in the bathroom with me and I pump while doing my make up and hair. Impressive multi tasking going on! Then we play for alittle bit before putting her down. I watch her for cues of yawning or rubbing her eyes. If she does this while I'm getting ready, I stop and put her down and continue getting ready after she's down. And if I need to run an errand, this is the time I do it and I don't put her down. She takes a few cat naps while we are out.

3pm- change, feed, and down for a nap. She may sleep till 6. If she does, great, if she doesn't, we play for a bit. But I don't get her up until at least 5:15 so that she's not overly tired at 6pm for her feeding.

6pm- change, feed, and play until daddy gets home around 7pm. 

7pm- go for a walk, take a bath, then one last feeding before bed. 

8-8:30pm- down for the night.

She normally will sleep until 4 or 5 the next morning. She may eventually need a dream feed (10-11pm) before we go to sleep, but she hasn't needed that yet.

Of course, her schedule changes occasionally up or down an hour, but I just go with it. And sometimes she sleeps less or longer. You have to ebb and flow with baby's tempo.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments and I will answer them the best I can!

Don't get discouraged if your baby doesn't respond to a schedule yet. They will! 

And sometimes you will have to sit by their bed as they sleep to help soothe them if they are waking up multiple times throughout their nap. 

That's exactly what I'm doing right now!

Tune in for my next post of how I put Raegan down and how I keep her asleep! 

And because you have to keep a smile on your face when you want to rip your hair out...

11

Putting and Keeping Baby To Sleep

Now I by NO means have the answer to the asked question of "how do you keep a baby asleep?" but this is what has worked for me!

I have linked each picture to where you can purchase each item.

First off, here are the thing I use for her sleep time.

I would be lost with our swaddle blankets. The swaddle me blankets are my favorite because Raegan is a wiggle worm and will wiggle out of the best of swaddles, but these swaddles have velcro and try as she might, she has a hard time getting out.

AND they come in large too (14-20 pounds) So we can use them for awhile! They come in boy and gender neutral colors too!

Next up is the paci. Yes, we use a paci and I LOVE THEM! And so does Raegan. They really do an amazing job at soothing her. I'm so glad she takes a paci. These are the ones we use. Since she has a cleft palate and can't get a very good suck and seal of the cleft, these are great because the nipple is long and she's able to suck and close that hole with the paci.

And along with her pacifers she has a wubbanub. I love her "wubby" because it has the lamb attached to it and it's hard to lose BUT I can also swaddle wubby in her swaddle and it doesn't fall out of her mouth as much. We didn't start doing this until she was a little older and had more head control. She can still get the paci out of her mouth so there is no risk of suffocation. The wubbanub comes is many different animals!

Next up is what she sleeps in. We have the graco pack n play set up in our room and when she first came home she slept in the bassinet portion of the pack n play. It actually detaches from the pack n play so we were able to move it wherever we needed to! Loved that feature!

Now that she's older and LONGER she's not always a fan of the pack n play. So we purchased a Fisher Price rock n play and this what she sleeps in at night and for her naps. It's also good because she can sleep alittle reclined and with her cleft palate she is very stuffy so this allows her to breathe better. And it vibrates! Halle to the lujah!

Ok so now that you've seen WHAT I use let's get to the HOW! Well first off, with her schedule she eats right before she goes down. So I always swaddle her and get ready to go to sleep before feeding her. It's her cue that it's time to eat then take a nap.

After she eats I do not rock her for very long since I don't want her using me as a way to fall asleep. So I put her in her rock n play and rock her. Yes, she is using the rocking to fall asleep, but that habit we can break later. And I am not saying I don't rock my baby because if she needs it, I'm the first to give it to her. (fussy, gassy, just needs some momma loving, etc).

I make sure she has a paci in her mouth and the swaddle strategically holding it in her mouth so she doesn't spit it out, and I rock the rock n play with my foot. Lots of multitasking!

I also like to hold the paci in her mouth and rest my hand on her chest as she falls asleep. This gives her the sense that I'm still there and haven't left and I'm able to keep the paci in if she starts moving her head around. She tends to do this right before she falls asleep.

Now here is the kicker. How long do you does this for? It all depends. If Raegan is acting like she's not sleepy then we may play a little before attempting the nap. Remember from my last post, activity and sleep can be switched around, except of course if it's bed time.

And if I've given it a good 15 minutes and Raegans's eyes still haven't closed, I may need to pick her up and rock her a bit to get that sleepy phase started. She may even cry at me a little in her rock n play, and then the next minutes, she's asleep! I will be at my wits end and am about to pick her up because I don't think she's sleepy and then BAM! Asleep. Which is why I say give it some time! Don't pick baby up as soon as they let out a cry or seem annoyed to be in the bed.

When you are sitting and rocking the seconds creep by! You feel like it's been 20 minutes, but really it's only been 2. I urge you to give it a good 5 minutes after baby has closed their eyes. Set a timer, play some candy crush on your phone, but don't walk out just yet. Because they aren't asleep when they close their eyes. Give them some time before walking off to really fall asleep. Better to give it 5 minutes then than having to come back in a few minutes because the paci has fallen out because they weren't in a deep sleep and it woke them up. Just my two cents!

And when she does wake up in the middle of her nap or at night, I put the paci back in and start the whole process over. I don't pick her up unless she's crying. We will work on self soothing when she's alittle older, but this process is helping her learn that a little bit at a time.

Just remember, babies change constantly! Just as you are about to pull your hair out because they aren't sleeping more than 30 minutes or a time or they won't nap or they won't sleep unless you're holding them, they will change! Then something new will cause you to want to pull your hair out :)

As hard as this time is, baby is learning how to cope with the outside world and you have to help baby to do that.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below. I will try to answer them as best I can!

And how can I post without a picture of Miss Priss?

spit bubbles!

oh that double chin! swoon

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HALO Bassinest Swivel Sleeper

Well our sweet girl has been here for almost 2 weeks and to say we are in love is an understatement.

We are working on getting into a schedule and adjusting to our new life as mom and dad. We have Raegan sleeping in our room with us. Her nursery is upstairs and is just too far away from us right now. So we have a pack n play set up, but if I had to be honest, I wish we would have found this gem.

The HALO Bassinest Swivel Sleeper.

I am not a fan of co-sleeping (having the baby in the bed). The #1 reason is because Kyle is a sleep walker/talker and I honestly can't trust that he wouldn't do something. He feels the same way so it was an easy decision to decide for her to sleep in a pack n play. BUT this amazing new product allows baby to sleep close to you without actually being in the bed with you.

Unlike some co-sleeping products on the market that do not address the safety concerns of bed-sharing, the Bassinest Swivel Sleeper is the first bassinet product to provide both convenience and safety.  Baby sleeps in his/her own separate sleep area, reducing the risks associated with bed-sharing. Mom can easily get in and out of bed, as well as tend to baby without having to get up.

 The bed swivels 360 degrees to bring baby close for safe sleep.

The sides easily go down to allow easy tending to the baby.

 Rotates 360 degrees to allow you to easily get out of bed. (This is great for moms who had a c-section)

 Includes nightlight, 3 lullabies, 3 nature and womb sounds, 2 levels of vibration and nursing timer with auto shut off.

 The bassinest scoots right up under the base of your bed so you can have baby as close to you as you want.

You can adjust the height to fit your bed. (fits beds 24 in to 34 in tall)

Make sure you check out the Bassinest in action. After watching the video I was completely hooked and wanted one of these babies RIGHT away!

Would you like a chance to win a HALO Bassinest for you and baby? Head over to their website and get entered. Click HERE to go enter!

Not only is HALO giving away a Bassinest, they have given me a HALO sleepsack to giveaway to one of my lucky readers!

These babies are the best! Raegan has one and I absolutely love it! She feels tight and secure and it really helps her sleep at night! The giveaway will last for 1 week so make sure you get entered!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I can promise you that I am crossing my fingers to win the HALO Bassinest for our 2nd baby, and if we don't win one, I will definitely be investing in one!

Be on the look out for Raegan's birth story on the blog in the next few days!!

**All opinions stated in this blog post are mine. I was compensated for my post with a HALO SleepSack Swaddle to use with my own children**

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