During pregnancy, I was so nervous about the impact motherhood would have on my sleep. I love my sleep. It’s well known that babies wake up in the middle of the night and it’s hard to know what is normal or not normal. Plus little sleep makes it so hard to care for yourself well, maintain good mental health (especially as a new mom!), and to have a good day! So I dove into finding baby sleep resources to help me manage and feel more prepared. Here I’m sharing what I’ve found in one spot for you to browse as you’d like!
**This post contains affiliate links, where if you make a purchase through the links, I receive compensation, at no extra cost to you. To learn more about this, please read my Privacy and Disclosure Policy Page.**
1. Happy As a Mother Podcast
I absolutely love this podcast! The host, Erica, tackles so many topics about parenthood and I’m always learning new information about babies and myself as a mom! She has an episode that is a great starting resource about sleep – on bed sharing, sleep training, room sharing, crib sleep – all the big topics about sleep. This is a great starting baby sleep resource to start forming your own opinions about your child’s sleep!
2. Taking Cara Babies
I feel like everyone knows Taking Cara Babies, often referred to as TCB. Her program was recommended to me several times, once by one of my midwives even! I bought her newborn program and 4 month progression ebook, which both helped me feel more confident about sleep and provided me with a set order of interventions when putting H to sleep!
Because Taking Cara Babies was my first baby sleep resource I used, I learned tons about creating a great sleeping environment for newborns and infants. Swaddles (this one H loved!), keeping the room dark (I recommend these blackout shades, they were the best ones for us as they fit nearly all window sizes and are easy to travel with too!), and white noise (hello Hatch machine <3 – I upgraded to the Rest+ once I realized the original one would turn off it we lost power!) are the big ones! But I have to say, the things I learned and have used from the courses, you can learn for free from her Instagram stories! I highly recommend you give a follow as she provides lots of information for free!
**If you’re looking for other swaddles to try, check out my post with several different swaddle types to try with all the swaddles we tried until we found the Halo Sleep Sack for Baby H!**
3. Hey Sleepy Baby
Hey Sleepy Baby is another account I followed on Instagram for information about baby sleep. She provides more information about safe bed sharing and explaining that it’s okay to comfort your baby at night. When H got to the age that most sleep train, I just wasn’t comfortable yet. So I wanted to learn more about the biology of baby sleep and what is considered more “natural.” That’s where Rachael came in!
On top of the information she provides, she has a Facebook group for like-minded parents to join and just find solidarity in your sleeping and parenting woes!
4. The Wholechild Company
Along with Hey Sleepy Baby, I also found The Wholechild Company. Hayley is a lactation and sleep consultant that links breastfeeding and sleep. As a first-time mom, her Instagram is a great baby sleep resource to look to when I’m struggling with sleep or breastfeeding! Hayley is also part of the mom community that Rachael from Hey Sleepy Baby started this month too!
5. Baby Sleep Answers
I love Baby Sleep Answers Instagram account, Andrea is so real. She has 3 kids herself, one that she just had a few months ago. She has tons of information on her stories, with question and answer stories at least once a week!
She also creates sleep plans that are individualized for your baby and your comfort level with crying. Plus she ALWAYS has sales for her programs too! I bought one and read through it to have some other ideas on how to deal with the late night wake ups!
6. Newborn Week Guide
This baby sleep resource I used religiously when H was first born. I love that it’s a plan for the first six weeks after birth. Each week, you focus on a different aspect that makes sleep difficult at the beginning. I highly recommend looking at this article to address different issues, as it gives a great way to do a reset!
7. My Baby Sleep Guide
I found My Baby Sleep Guide when my daughter was struggling with going down for her naps as a newborn. So I googled ways that calm babies outside of just rocking and feeding. This was how I found out about the shush-pat method. The My Baby Sleep Guide provided lots of articles and methods that I hadn’t learned about before, and they are all linked together within this website, which is handy when you’re reading something and not sure what it means!
I want to point out a couple things that are super important for new parents.
First, finding all the resources in the world will not make your baby an amazing sleeper. I poured over all the research and methods and soaked up all the information. My daughter does not sleep through the night. We still have nights where she wakes up every 2 hours and it’s exhausting… But I’m okay with that because I’ve learned so much!
Second, you do not need to commit to one person’s method about baby sleep. If you noticed, I’ve gathered information from all these resources! I take bits and pieces to form my own thought process on handling sleep (or lack thereof!).
In the end, baby sleep is one of those topics that everyone has something to say about it. But remember, is okay to not know everything and as long as you’re trying your best, you’re the best parent for your little one! If you need a pick-me up, read these affirmations to address the issue you’re struggling with <3
