the sweet gift of sleep
This post is sponsored through my partnership with Sleep Number®.
Besides the obvious ones like my family, friends, and good health, there are a few things that are of intangible high value to me: keeping up with how our Arizona Wildcats are doing, a respectable wine and chocolate stash, and the priceless, irreplaceable gem that is sleep.
Sleep is like air; you don’t really think about it unless it’s gone. When my sleep quality and quantity decrease, I become a different person altogether. I’m less productive, I feel like I’m on edge, and I notice a significant impact on my personal workouts and activity levels. When I talk to my therapist, the #1 question she’ll ask is “How’s the sleep going?” She knows I cling onto sleep for dear life.
Some interesting facts and tips about sleep:
According to this survey, 45% of Americans don’t think they’re getting enough sleep. Sleep can have a direct effect on athletic performance and wellbeing. When I’ve had a great night’s sleep, I can crush my workouts, and when it’s been a rough night, I’m chugging coffee before teaching barre and hope it will give me some pep in my step.
As a mom, my sleep quality depends on the sleep of those around me, which is why it’s so important for Liv and P to get good sleep. When the kiddos sleep, mom and dad have a much better chance of catching quality zzzz’s.
Some of the things we’ve done to help with their sleep quality:
Blackout curtains. We used these until fairly recently, and will be installing some in P’s room, too.
A “wind down routine.” We’ll do the bath, pajamas, and teeth bushing routine, and then read books in bed. After books, we’ll lie down for a while, talk about the day and what we’re thankful for.
I attempted meditation with Liv… it didn’t work out so well but I do love the idea. 😉
A safe and comfortable sleeping environment.
As I mentioned before on the family page, Liv hasn’t been sleeping well. She wakes up a few times during the night, and she’ll usually end up in our room on her cot. After that, she’ll sleep, but I can’t imagine that the cot is the most comfortable thing (even with the little mattress we put on it) or that she’s getting quality sleep in there.
I’ve done quite a few things to make her room more conducive to sleep, but it was tricky since it was already a little crowded with toys, a play kitchen, etc.. We store as much as possible, but it still feels a little busy, so we streamlined quite a bit. Liv tosses and turns on her mattress, which already feels too small for the both of us to read books. I’ve been brainstorming ways to encourage her to get more restful sleep. Not because I don’t want her in our room -she comes in after we’re already asleep and I used to do the same thing when I was little- but because I want her to feel comfortable and happy in her own space.
Needless to say, I was so excited when Sleep Number® invited us in to their store to pick out a new mattress. We already have a Sleep Number bed in the house, and love it, but I was interested in checking out the new technology.
A little bit about Sleep Number:
They created a bed which allows couples to choose their individual comfort on each side of the bed. I prefer a softer mattress, while the Pilot prefers a firmer mattress, so it’s easy to adjust our sleep levels. In store, they have monitors to display your body’s pressure on the mattress.
When you find your magic Sleep Number Setting, your pressure is evenly distributed and you feel like you’re floating on a cloud.
They also offer new SleepIQ ™ technology, which provides insight on average breathing rate, heart rate, movement and bed presence to determine the quality of your sleep.
While we were there, the manager kindly led us through the store to go over the latest technology and mattress styles. They have a performance series, which includes Pillowtop beds with PlushFit® foam, as well as a memory foam series with exclusive LuxFit® memory foam, which is my personal fave.
We ended up placing an order for a bed for Liv since she’s the one lacking in the sleep department! It should be here next week, and I can’t wait for it to arrive. For her, we went with their new SleepIQ Kids™ bed. We can adjust her bed to grow with her! We’ll be sharing more on the kids bed and Liv’s sleep in a future post.
So, fit friends, what do you do ensure you’re rested and ready for the day? Friends with kiddos: what tips do you have to help your kiddo sleep through the night? We learned when Liv was little that sleep begets sleep. The more rested they are with regular naps and solid bedtimes, the easier it is for them to wind down and fall asleep again later.
Hope you have a wonderful day.
xoxo
Gina
This post is sponsored by Sleep Number®. Thank you so much for supporting this blog and the companies who help support our family.
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Just an alternate possibility for creating a sleep space for Liv. We have two girls close to the same ages as yours. They are almost four and 1. We decided to put the two girls in the same room to sleep. This gives them a dedicated “sleep space” with no toy distractions–except maybe a few stuffed animals on the shelves. All thats in there are their dressers and beds. The other bedroom became the playroom so all the toys are contained and not distracting. My 3 year old also started havi g trouble sleeping, nightmares and fear of being by herself. Having her sister in there, even though shes smaller seems to have helped. Just having another person in there, even though they are just sleeping together seems to give her reassurance.
I love this idea and can’t wait until I can move our baby into her sister’s room. The baby is 9 months and still wakes up screaming at least once a night, so we aren’t quite ready yet. In college, we had 4 women in a two bed room apartment and did a sleeping room and a study room. It worked relatively well for us. I think it would be great for kids too.
i think this is an awesome idea. for our next move, we’ll either have the girls share a room or have a designated play room. i think keeping the toys out could make it much more zen!
this is brilliant. the rooms here are too small to have both kiddos in one room, but when we move, i will definitely use that as a plan. i think toys are really distracting in their rooms
I feel like I never valued sleep until like 2 years ago when I started working full time. In college I’d get by with 5ish hours of sleep then nap during the day. Reading before bed really relaxes me so I love doing that!
sleep is the best ever
Hey Gina! Our almost 3 year old (tomorrow!) was waking up at least once a night and coming in to our room. He has a queen size bed so one of us would go back into his room and sleep with him. We have a 5 month old baby in our bed so him joining us is just not an option, but he knows if he needs one of us he can come and get us. So anyways, I bought him the GroClock, which you set for a certain “wake-up time” and the face changes from blue stars to a yellow sun. I explained that the yellow sun means it’s wake up time and before that if he wakes up he can just go back to sleep. I didn’t expressly tell him not to come in our room because, like you, I believe if he is scared or needs us it is important he feels comfortable letting us know.
Point is by some miracle it worked!! He has not come into our room since (it’s been about 3 weeks). Think that might help? I have this one:
https://m.indigo.ca/product/toys/gro-clock/5055192077113
We have a clock for our 3 year old Too and it’s amazing!! Ours is a different one but same concept. Turns yellow at wake time, blue for nap time and nighttime. You set the length of time for nap. Also has a red setting (time out) and green for encouragement (playtime, teeth brushing or rest). It works so well. I also have black out shades, white noise and I diffuse lavendar. He wakes sometimes to go potty or if he has a nightmare but he calls for us. We go in rub his back and he’s back out. We also realized that cutting out his nap (terrifying I know) led to MUCH better sleep. He dropped it a month ago and nights are so much better (we also have a two week old so great timing right?). But…he napped at school yesterday and was up until 10 last night :(. He didn’t sleep through the night until 13 months so this is huge for us. He was also a reflux baby so we just followed his lead until it was under control and he finally came off his meds at 2.
that’s been a huge problem for us, too. since liv goes full day preschool now instead of half days, she naps there. and it totally threw off her sleep schedule and she goes to bed so much later
Ugh yes! I want to tell his teachers not to let him nap but they would just laugh at me. Boo.
that worked for liv for like a year, and then she decided she didn’t care anymore haha. those clocks are awesome!!
Sleep has been the bane of my existence lately. I haven’t slept through the night in weeks and it’s making me crazy. Maybe I need a new mattress?
it could make a huge difference! for me, caffeine and technology affect my sleep too
Sounds like it could make a difference for you, Megan. These tips could help, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FqwiG-FI2o&index=46&list=PLR6a2QUEJa7CMLqEICc9nsUUyHYrPRM5q
Let us know if we can find a local store for you to stop at. 🙂
I have to have to have to have my sleep, my husband and I spent quite a pretty penny on our mattress but wish I saw this earlier!! Love the pm routine I started doing one a few years ago and it’s helped so much xo C
Essential oils before bed + in bath!
i’ve been burning lavender with water in my oil warmer but that’s about it! good to know!
I’ve never tried the sleep number bed but my boyfriend and I have a Leesa and we love it!
We have a sleep number bed too and we LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
they are amazing!
Glad you’re a fan, Jen! 🙂 How are you sleeping?
Sleep is so essential and so very important to our overall health. I go through periods where I try everything and still do not get a good night’s sleep. The sleep number beds look amazing.
Thanks Lauren, we appreciate that! Hope you can stop by and try them out sometime if you haven’t yet. 🙂
Sorry to hear you don’t always sleep well. These tips should help you sleep better when you’re having trouble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XclvyV5IzW4&index=7&list=PLR6a2QUEJa7CMLqEICc9nsUUyHYrPRM5q
I always take a hot shower before bed, and it does make me so sleepy. I sleep great from about 9:30-1am, then I ALWAYS have to wake up and pee, usually I go right back to sleep but sometimes I lay there for maybe 1-2 hours!:( Another problem I’m having is my husbands alarm goes off at 3:45, he likes to hit snooze for an hour….aaaah, so I lay there awake while he’s snoozing and my alarm then goes off at 5am, and I’m super mad! I try to tell him that hitting snooze does you no good, but he swears he loves it:((((
Great post Gina! Ugh I miss sleeping through the night- being 6 months pregnant I always wake up halfway through the night with either horrible heartburn, an empty starving stomach, a kicking little angel (don’t mind that so much haha), or just pop my eyes open and can’t fall back asleep. Who says you should sleep before the baby comes?! Omg.
Lastly, your post reminded me of a poem I remember, maybe it’s Shakespeare: “Sleep is a reconciling, a rest that peace begets. Doth not the sun rise smiling, while fair at ev’n she sets? Rest you then, rest sad eyes, melt not in weeping, as she lies sleeping. Softly now, softly lies sleeping.” 🙂 love that one! Now I’m sleepy!