Newborn Hacks: Whisbear Humming Bear | GIVEAWAY

 Harrison is only three weeks old - he was never going to be sleeping through the night at this point, that much I was always aware of. What I didn't realise though, was how difficult it would be in the beginning to get him to sleep in the first place. Newborns only supposed to sleep and feed after all? How could it be so difficult to get him to sleep at night... In the first few nights, I honestly felt like the walking dead, he wouldn't go down for more than an hour or two at a time, and even when he would go down, he'd be stirring. Because of this, I was eager to try anything I could to help him sleep even just that little bit longer. We tried hot water battles in his bed before putting him down, dream feeds, swaddling, towels around his moses, sleep nests (which have also worked an absolute treat - see our Purflo Nest review here), and came across the Whisbear Humming Bear.

The Whisbear Humming Bear is nothing short of a saviour - if not for our sleep than for our phone charges. We used white noise from a few days after we came home from the hospital, out of desperation mainly,  but endless google searches suggested the noise of the Hairdryer could work wonders, so we downloaded Sound Sleeper. This worked well for the first few nights, but slight issues arose in the fact that the sound would only play for half an hour from a free app, and our phone charges were not lasting anywhere near long enough to make it through the night, so we were lucky to come across Whisbear. In the simplest of terms, Whisbear is a noisy bear. It's a cuddly toy that emits white noise, which replicates what they heard whilst in the womb. It's been so much more than just a noisy bear though: the extra design features on the Whisbear go above and beyond to make it soothing and comforting for the little ones, and as easy as newborn life can be for the parents.

CRYsensor;

 This was one of the major selling points for me - unlike most white noise toys, the Whisbear has a cry sensor which recognise when baby is stirring and automatically switches on the white noise, which -fingers crossed- should have a calming effect. This lasts for 40 minutes before it fades out, which should be more than enough to put baby back to sleep, at least, it is for Harrison. In saying that, the minute Harrison is up, I am too, so switching on the bear wouldn't be an issue for now, but it gives me peace of mind that when we move him to his cot, his Whisbear can go with him and it'll work without me having to work it manually.

It's still a bear;

This is what the app is missing. Although right now Harrison may not know the difference between a cuddly toy and an iPhone, in a matter of weeks he will, and I know which one I'd rather have sitting in his cot with him. The bear is designed to be able to attach easily to the side of a cot, or a pram, whilst still being able to sit up on a flat surface, all due to magnets in the paw, which means it'll work for any nursery or bedroom, and can be taken travelling easily! The fact that it's still a bear as well means that in the coming months it'll be a comforting and friendly face for little H - somehow I don't think a little noise emitting box would have the same effect.

It's well designed;

The Whisbear has that Scandinavian style - very minimal, but still child friendly, and it would fit in most colour schemes, if that was important to you. Each of the legs and the ears are also able to make rustling noises, so are good for sensory stimulation, as are the bright colours on the these. Again, this doesn't really help me at the moment, all my newborn wants is to be coddled and held, but in the future, it won't hurt. It also comes with a velour bag, fair enough I don't think I'll ever use it for the Whisbear itself, but it's a lovely extra to come in the box, and it's been great for keeping a change of clothes in in our changing bag! One key point for us with the Whisbear as opposed to the apps, was the noise level. I never realised how quiet our phones were until we tried the bear - psychologists suggest that to settle a baby, white noise that equals the level of the baby cry should be played, I don't think my phone quite reached the level of Harrisons lungs sometimes, so our little bear does the trick quite nicely.

In terms of negatives, it doesn't really have many. It's a bear that emits white noise, and it does that job very well, it's also very well designed and I can see Harrison relying on it heavily in the next year. For the sake of a balanced review though, if I could pick up on one thing I would change about this it would be the single button to control everything. It's not exactly that big of an issue, once you can work it, it's fine, but it took a good few tries for me to work it out, and during the night feeds was not the time to try and do this. Take note for when you pick yours up.. make sure you know how to use it before your baby starts crying, the pressure does not help at all!

The Whisbear retails for £39.90 and comes in three different colours OR in the Christmas Edition.. bold and underlined there because we all know how much I love Christmas. If you are interested in this at all, the ladies over at Whisbear have offered to give away a bear to one of you lovely readers. We've loved our bear so far, so I can't recommend it enough - and if it's free, what have you got to lose? Good Luck!

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TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This giveaway is open to UK residents only and entrants must be 18+. The prize for this giveaway has been kindly provided by Whisbear UK and will be sent directly to the winner by Whisbear UK. The giveaway will be monitored to ensure no false entries are made. One entry per person may be made and multiple accounts under the same person will not count. This giveaway will run for one week and a winner will be chosen at random using Rafflecopter.

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored, however it does contain an item we were sent for review! All of my honest opinions are included though and I would not share something I do not use myself.