While some recommendations from a Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant can sound like no brainers, others can be game-changers. Keep scrolling for a quick list of nursery must-haves from me, a Certified Baby Sleep coach and mom of two little ones:

Sleep Environment

When your baby wakes up, draw the curtains, talk to them (yay, it’s time to wake up!), engage and bring them to the naturally light. We want to juxtapose the difference between restful and active states of their bodies:

😴RESTFUL= Keep environment dark, quiet (sound machine), low stimulation. Sleep or rest laying down.

🥳ACTIVE= Keep environment bright, engaging, stimulation like talking, singing, movement, playing, exercise

Always have a “sleepy time phrase” or mantra before putting baby down. Keep it short and sweet, about 5 words, “Night, Night Bella, time to sleep.” Make sure everyone says it every time they put baby down for sleep (nights AND naps).

🌙 Sleep-related Nursery suggestions below:🌙

Sleep Safety/Distractions

Keep the crib completely clear of blankets, toys, loveys, etc... It’s not recommended to have blankets or toys until at least 12 months of age. This is both for a safety reason and also for distraction.

Make sure crib is at the appropriate setting. When baby starts rolling a lot and pulling up, you’ll want to move crib to the lowest setting.

Keep cords, sound machines, and baby monitors/cameras out of reach from the crib. The rule of thumb is 3-5 feet from the crib. We are huge fans of baby monitors, but mounting it to the wall, as opposed to attaching to the crib is recommended.

Mobiles can be a better distraction for over the changing table, but best kept away from the crib, especially during nap time strategies.

Baby Sleepwear

Swaddle from birth. I prefer the tight ones with (quiet) Velcro— scroll down for my product rec button. Around 2 months of age or any signs of rolling: switch from swaddle to transition swaddle/ sleep sack.

free product recommendations

Sound Machines

White or brown noise. If you are unsure, you can always use a phone app to test the decibels (rec is around 60db), otherwise, about 3-5 feet away and positioned near where you may hear sound is the best place to put your sound machine!

Lights

While fun lights can be fun, and night lights help you see, light signals wakefulness— to all of us, but especially to babies. They are used to a dark, cave-like environment AKA the womb. Keep your nursery lights off (as dark as possible), no night light. They do not form a fear of the dark until much older.

While we recommend red light if you need it to see, the best thing to do is turn it off, and only turn it on when you are going to feed or need to do a change. Keep lights as dim as possible for melatonin production and distraction purposes.

I hope this helped give you some guidance! I have a lot more to say on this, but I do a nursery audit for each of my clients and sometimes one tweak or suggestion can go a really long way.

Any more nursery or safe product questions? 💤 Head here JUSTSLEEPALREADY.COM to download my free product recommendations!

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Sending sleepy vibes,

Jackie & team