Buy This, Not That: Sleep Edition

As a first-time mom I had the misguided inclination to buy lots of soft, pretty, brand new baby items I had seen advertised in the back of magazines at my OB's office. Most of these expensive baby "necessities" are marginally useful at best, some are truly pointless, and a few are innovative enough to actually justify the baby mark-up. Of course every baby is different and every mom prioritizes baby wants and needs differently, but here's my two cents on what's worth it and what's not.

Buy the cheapest clock radio Target sells ($6)...
...not the Cloud B Sleep Sheep ($25)

The Sleep Sheep is a small white noise machine encased in a fluffy stuffed sheep with a velcro strap that attaches it to your baby's crib. It's cute and comes with four different nature sounds. My big complaint is that it will only stay on for 45 minutes. This is, coincidentally, about the length of an average baby's sleep cycle. That means that just as your baby drifts into a light, easily disrupted state of sleep the white noise meant to lull him back suddenly cuts off. It's kind of like having an epidural for the first 45 minutes of labor: nice enough while it lasts, but not really as helpful as it could be. I bought the cheap clock so I could check the time in the wee hours when I go in to feed Henry, but I soon realized that turning the radio on and setting the station to static sounds very similar to the rain sound on the sheep. And it stays on for as long as I want it to without draining batteries.

Buy the Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe ($9)...



...not the Swaddle Designs Ultimate Receiving Blanket ($22)
FYI, swaddling is wrapping your baby up like a burrito. It make them feel secure enough to sleep since it's uncool to let them sleep on their tummies these days. I read that the Ultimate Receiving Blanket was the best swaddling blanket available, and it is significantly better than those craptacular little flannel blankets everyone who doesn't have kids yet gives you. However, it's still just a big ol' piece of fabric and by his fourth day of life Henry was already able to bust out of it during a nap. I also tried something called the Miracle Blanket, which is even more expensive. It keeps your baby secure but it is such a pain to wrap around your baby, especially in the dark after your third diaper change of the night. The SwaddleMe is just right. The velcro patches make it easy to get on a squirmy baby and difficult for them to wriggle out of. And it's cheap enough that you can afford to have an extra on hand for the inevitable midnight diaper leak.

Buy a swivel glider from a real furniture store ($430)...

...not the one that matches your crib from the baby store ($170)


This is a rare occasion in outiftting our home for a baby that I wish we had spent more money. We picked out the ugly glider set because Husband insisted on a glider (he was right, so much more practical than a rocker) but I was too cheap to spend almost $1000 for a nice upholstered one designed for baby nurseries. The cushion was so thin I had to sit on a pillow and the gliding mechanism did not survive the period around 8 weeks when Henry would only fall asleep after 30 minutes of mach speed rocking. I gave up and we ended up getting the nicer glider at Havery's for not too much money. The gliding mechanism is all metal, as opposed to wooden pieces screwed together and the cushion is delightful. It's more than the lower end Babies R Us gliders but still several hundred dollars cheaper than the nursery gliders that are nice enough to actually stand the test of time. My only regret is that it doesn't recline, although Henry's room is too small for that anyway.