I started to get a lot of questions about products I use for Kili and I thought what a great time this would be to start a blog! I don't know about you guys but I always research a ton before I buy baby gear...what is the best sleeper, toys, food maker, etc.
I've always been one of those "early to bed, early to rise" type of people. I enjoy waking up early and being productive in the morning so I have the afternoon to relax. I also enjoy going to bed early - crazy...I know.
When we brought Kalei home 3.5 years ago, I quickly learned about sleep deprivation. I never pulled all nighters in college and going out to party is a lot different than being up with a newborn.
Kalei is what my google research termed - TERRIBLE SLEEPER. He hated being swaddled (trust me...we tried everything out there). The only way we found he slept well was in the baby carrier so I wore him 24/7. Sleeping through the night didn't happen until he was almost 2 years old and that was when he slept in bed with us. Never thought I'd be co-sleeping with a baby but survival mode kicked in and since I was going back to work, I had to so I could get some sleep! I felt like I had tried everything under the sun except the Dock-a-Tot, which I learned about when Kalei was over a year old...After investing so much money in failed attempts, I gave up with getting Kalei in his own bed...I couldn't imagine paying for a Dock-a-Tot to have it not work...
Fast forward to the era of Kalei AND Kili...I wanted only one thing when we found out we were pregnant with Kili. I wanted a Dock-a-Tot. We got rid of most of our baby stuff but I knew that was my one must have item. I was determined to have a baby that could sleep on their own because there is no room in our king size bed for another little body.
I don't know if it's Kili or if it was the Dock-a-Tot but since Day 1 she was 1000000000 times better sleeper than Kalei. I am a BELIEVER! You'll probably hear that a lot as I continue these blog posts. Fast forward again 5 months and Kili has almost outgrown the Dock-a-Tot. Their website says the Deluxe can be used until 9 months but she was starting to fuss and we had to keep it unclipped.
Shout out to Casey from Little CayCam who told me about the Baby Nest that she bought for son from Etsy. Once I saw the price I was sold. The shop, BabyCo Design has their version of the baby sleeper. Their nests are similar to the Dock-a-Tot but at a much more affordable price. For less than half the price, I was able to get the Baby Nest from BabyCo Design with shipping!
They have tons of cute designs and accessories. I opted for this beautiful palm print with the extra pad. We don't have carpet in our house so I like the extra padding for Kili when she's on the floor.
It's also easy to wash - I threw everything in the washer and drier! I just followed their directions it came with. To save myself from washing it all the time (since Kili still spits up a lot)...I usually cover it with a blanket. The one nice thing with having the extra pad is I can easily swap it out if I do have to wash the pad.
We have had zero issues with the transition. I continued to put Kili in the Baby Nest like we did with the Dock-a-Tot, swaddled, and she loved it. She had more space to move and roll over and could still use it to play and lounge in. We're about a month in and couldn't be happier. Kili is even sleeping it her Baby Nest unswaddled now!
We love our baby nest so much, we are going to try the snake pillow to help with Kalei's transition out of our bed!
Want to try the Baby Nest?
Use code: THEKEIKIDEPT7 to save $7 off your order.