Sleep. We need it and we love it! Unfortunately, we don’t get much of it when we have a newborn baby. Sleep deprivation is an inevitable part of new parenthood. You can’t fix that entirely, but you can set baby up somewhere safe and comfortable, and that goes a long way toward everyone sleeping better.
This page is the short version: what you actually need and why. If you want the full breakdown on any category, there’s a link to the deep guide at the end of each section.
The Short List
If you’re building a registry and want to stop reading right now, here it is:
- A bassinet or bedside sleeper for the first few months
- A crib
- A crib mattress
- Two or three crib sheets
- Swaddles for the newborn stage
- Sleep sacks for after the swaddle
- A baby monitor
- A sound machine
- A playard or travel crib if you travel or want a downstairs nap spot
Everything else is nice to have.
Where Baby Will Sleep
Most people start baby in their own room, then move to the crib somewhere between a few weeks and a few months in. So you’re usually buying two sleep spots, not one.
A bassinet or bedside sleeper. Having baby in your room means you aren’t walking down the hall at 3am. Bassinets are portable and most of them fold up. Bedside sleepers attach to your bed, which gets you close without sharing a sleep surface.
A crib. Every crib sold new in the US has to meet the same federal safety standards, so this one comes down to style, size and budget. Convertible cribs that turn into a toddler bed are worth a look if you’d rather not buy twice.
A crib mattress. Firm, flat, and a snug fit inside the crib frame. That’s the whole requirement. Organic and non-toxic options cost more if that matters to you.
Read the full guide: Baby Sleep Spots » It walks through bassinets, bedside sleepers, cribs, mattresses, playards, travel cribs and loungers, with my picks for each.
What Baby Sleeps In
Swaddles. Newborns startle themselves awake. A swaddle stops that. Buy a couple of different styles, because babies have opinions, and the one everyone online loves may be the one yours hates.
Sleep sacks. Once baby shows any sign of rolling, the swaddle goes away. Loose blankets don’t belong in the crib, so a wearable blanket is how baby stays warm after that.
Crib sheets. Two or three minimum. You will be changing them in the dark more often than you’d like.
Blankets. Not for the crib, but you’ll use them constantly for everything else: the stroller, over the car seat, as a burp cloth, on the floor. You can’t really have too many.
Read the full guide: Baby Sleep Stuff » It covers every swaddle and sleep sack style, the awkward in-between stage, blankets and sheets.
Seeing and Hearing Baby
Monitors. Audio-only is fine and cheaper. Video is nice for checking on baby without opening the door and undoing twenty minutes of work. If you already have indoor cameras, you may not need to buy anything at all.
Sound machines. White noise covers the dog barking, the doorbell and your older kids. A portable one earns its keep for travel and the car.
Baby Sleep Stuff » breaks down video monitors, movement monitors, sound machines and nightlights.
Out of the House
A playard doubles as a downstairs nap spot and a safe place to set baby down when you need both hands. A dedicated travel crib is lighter and faster to set up if you fly. Both are covered in Baby Sleep Spots »
Safe Sleep Basics
Worth getting right, and it usually saves you money, because the answer is almost always “buy less”:
- Put baby on their back for every sleep. Once they can roll over on their own, you don’t need to flip them back.
- Firm, flat mattress with a fitted sheet, and nothing else in the crib.
- No loose blankets, pillows or bumpers.
- Loungers are made for supervised hangouts, not for sleep.
- Share a room, not a bed, for at least the first six months if you can.
The AAP updates its safe sleep recommendations periodically, so it’s worth reading their current guidance directly.
Common Questions
Do I need both a bassinet and a crib? Not strictly. Plenty of people skip the bassinet and room-share with a playard, or go straight to the crib. Most of us want something small and close by for the early weeks.
When do you stop swaddling? As soon as baby shows signs of rolling. Switch to a sleep sack.
Do I need a video monitor? No. Audio works. Video is a convenience, not a safety feature.
Are movement or sock monitors worth it? They’re popular and they can be reassuring, but they aren’t medical devices and they aren’t a substitute for the safe sleep basics above.