By 9 months old, my son had sprouted his first two teeth and hit a dreaded milestone: biting a hole through his pacifier. For his safety, my husband and I decided to stop giving it to him, so he couldn’t accidentally swallow or choke on the plastic. That meant the weaning began unexpectedly, and he was not happy about it.
Those first few nights, he howled. No matter how we rocked and rubbed him, he could not be placated. Not only was he losing his soothing tool, his gums were irritated because he had additional teeth coming in.
In a throw-everything-at-the-wall attempt, my husband reached for a gift we had received before my son was born—a hard-topped, soft-bodied elephant projector with a music feature, called the SwaddleMe Slumber Buddies Soother. Over the next few nights, his cries gradually decreased.
This battery-operated bedtime pal is equal parts plushie, music box, and projector.
The Slumber Buddies Soother quickly became a must, even when the pacifier was a distant memory. Little did we know how crucial it would become to our nightly schedule.
Shortly before my son turned 2, we lost our home to a devastating house fire. When we moved into our new house, my first priority was ensuring that my kids felt comfortable. Their lives had been upended, and I wanted to both find our new normal and return to normalcy as much as possible. With this in mind, a new Slumber Buddies Soother was one of our first purchases post-fire.
The Slumber Buddies Soother helped us create a new yet familiar routine. It plays soft, nursery-rhyme melodies, a heartbeat, and a bubbling-water sound. The sounds have a soothing effect, helping children to fall asleep. The toy also projects stars, planets, and circles in blue, red, and green.
To end my son’s day, my husband would carry him to the light switch so he could flick it off. He’d then take him to his shelf with the Soother, where my son would turn it on and ask for a specific star color. My husband would then tuck him into bed, and he’d fall asleep to “Hush Little Baby.” This not only gave him something to regularly look forward to at night, but it also heightened his sense of independence during the routine.
The volume has three different settings, which is helpful if you have other children being rowdy in their bedrooms. It has a built-in timer, for 15, 30, or 45 minutes, which conserves the battery and allows you to control how long the music and lights stay on. There is also an option to turn on only the light or only the music, depending on what your child needs.
Now for the rub: The plush face and limbs are more of an aesthetic choice than a functional feature. Although they are soft, since the top is hard plastic, you may not want your child to have it in bed with them if they’re under a certain age. If this is a concern, the Soother works just fine on a shelf or a dresser that’s out of their reach.
Also, the Soother projects light onto the ceiling, instead of a dim, concentrated glow near the floor, like a traditional night-light. So if your child is in a phase of resisting sleep, there’s a chance that they may find the lights too entertaining and not be put to sleep by them. But the good news is you can turn off the light, so that only the music will play.
Alternatively, if you don’t want the night-light feature at all, you could use a standard humming machine, like the LectroFan EVO—our top-pick white noise generator. Android and iPhone users alike could download the myNoise app, which helps to almost completely eradicate other sounds, giving you and your little one the gift of great sleep.
But having the combination of different sounds or music, along with the comforting light, means the room is blanketed with warmth in a way that a white noise machine alone just can’t replicate.
If you want projected light without sound, the Cloud B Star Projector Twilight Turtle is another great option.
For my son, we used the Slumber Buddies Soother only in the evening, and not during naps, so the batteries (it requires 3 AA batteries) lasted a long time. After about a year, they gave out. By this time, my son was 3 years old and able to go to sleep on his own, without any aid.
Since moving into our new home, we’ve had another baby, and her teeth are due to emerge from her gumline any day now. She’s exactly the same age her brother was when we knew we’d have to take his beloved binkie away. To get ahead of it, I’m slowly beginning to wean her from the pacifier now and replacing it with our son’s Slumber Buddy Soother. If all goes well, she’ll be sleeping like a baby for years to come.
This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Maxine Builder.
