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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Sweet Sleep (please sleep?) #PampersSleepChat

We all know I am a sucker for a sleeping baby.  I take a ridiculous amount of pictures of the girls in their sleep.  See?

8.17  (1)8.17  (3)

Except here’s the thing – that tiny one there, she is not a huge fan of night sleep all of a sudden.   We have a good bedtime. And a quiet routine. And always comfy PJs.

However, we discovered a bit of a wet diaper/leakage issue.  We are pretty loyal to Pampers Swaddlers but for some reason had been using a different brand overnight.  They was weren’t fitting her well enough and we were getting pee leakage out the leg hole! and they were no where near absorbent enough.  So we did some research and decided to pull out the big guns. Enter:

BabyDry_Size_4

Pampers Baby Dry! Up to 12 hours of overnight protection! And? They make them in a small enough size for Aleesia! We put one on her before bedtime and don’t have to worry about her waking up wet. Since we switched? NO LEAKS at all (which means she is waking up at night for some OTHER reason!). 

I thought this infographic pretty much summed it up the 3 a.m. wake up scenario prettttty appropriately!

infographic_PAMPERS_RE2

Recently, she started only wanting to sleep on or with me. Which, is precious and awesome for a little while, but I really like to sleep myself and co-sleeping is not my thing.  She is slightly difficult to get to stay sleep and then she wants to hang out with me at 4am.  Needless to say, I am tired and she is not as well rested as we all like.  (Her pediatrician did assure me today that 9 month olds go through a change in sleep pattern/separation anxiety, so I am hoping things will get better soon.)

But now we have the other HUGE sleep-game-changer this weekend (Sunday November 3rd at 2:00 a.m. to be exact) – the end of daylight savings time.  Fall Back. AKA the time when all small children get up an hour earlier than normal.  Over half of moms (52%) feel that their baby's sleep patterns are thrown off when the clocks 'fall back' and Daylight Savings Time ends – I am most certainly in that 52%.  Gianna is old enough that it won’t really phase her, but I have been trying to prepare my sweet little non-sleeper Aleesia for the whole “fall back” situation.

Kim West, “The Sleep Lady”, has some really wonderful tips for helping with the end of daylight savings time adjustment.  These a few of my favorite tips, aside from ensuring they have a dry diaper on right before bed, are:

1. Watch your baby’s wakefulness windows. Children have a limited window of wakefulness (the time that they can be awake and alert without meltdowns) between naps and bedtimes. Make sure that you watch your baby for sleepy cues carefully. Make sure that you’re changing your baby’s diaper right before your child goes into the crib for naps or bedtime. Keeping your child dry will help to prevent unnecessary night awakenings, and help to ensure a happy, well-rested baby the next day.

2. Stick to your flexible schedule. If you always have breakfast at 8:00 a.m., then keep your schedule, but make sure that you are following it according to the time change. You can start slowly adjusting your daily schedule forward in 10-15 minute increments 4-5 days before the time change. So if you normally have lunch at 11:30, on Wednesday, have lunch at 11:40, on Thursday, move lunch to 11:50 and so on. The same goes for naps and bedtimes. The idea is that when the time change takes effect your child’s circadian rhythm, or internal clock will already be in sync with the change.

3. The end of daylight savings is a good time to make sure that your child’s bedtime is age-appropriate. Infants and babies do best with a bedtime between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. Later bedtimes have shown to have a negative effect on children’s attitudes and their ability to focus, and can result in instances of early rising. If you find that your baby has been going to bed too early or too late, take advantage of the time change to gradually shift bedtime (back or forward in 15-30 minute increments over the next week).

I feel like I could pick The Sleep Lady’s brain for hours on how to ease into the end of daylight savings and about a 100 other sleep topics (how to help with self soothing at night. easing them through changes in sleep cycles.)  I could also go on and on about how great Pampers products are and how wonderful their customer service is check them out on Twitter (linked below) and Facebook too!  I mean, they sent me a gift when I was pregnant with Aleesia – it was the sweetest, most appropriate onesie ever:

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The good news? We can all join Kim West, The Sleep Lady, and Pampers for the  #PampersSleepChat Twitter Party on November 7th at 9pm EST.  Chat about how the end of Daylight Savings Time can affect sleep patterns & get tips on easing the transition from The Sleep Lady, Kim West.

Twitter Party prizes include:

  • $50 AMEX Gift Card, $25 Children’s Place Gift Card, Pampers product and book by Kim West.
  • $100 AMEX Gift Card, Pampers Product, series of books by Kim West
  • Grand Prize: $500 AMEX Card to purchase sleep items such as a new crib, video monitor, etc.
  • To participate, follow your hosts @DoubleDutyDivas, @BridgetteLA, @CeceliaMecca @AngieKcom @WhatMommiesNeed @RamblingChick, sleep expert @TheSleepLady and our sponsor @Pampers.

RSVP: http://twtvite.com/pamperssleepchat

I hope you tune in to the Twitter party – the Double Duty Divas put on a great show! But if you can’t make it or you aren’t loving Twitter – I have a little something special for you too!

Leave a comment with your favorite sleep tip or trick (or your favorite way to appear well-rested even if you aren’t!) And maybe YOU could win a pack of Pampers Baby Dry Diapers, and a pair of Children’s Place PJ’s! [which, I love Children’s Place PJ’s, so soft and such cute patterns!]

I can’t wait to hear all your tips!

The giveaway will be open until November 8th at 11:59pm – enter! But don’t forget to leave an email address in your comment (if I can’t reach you through your Google account) so I can tell you that you won!

Don’t forget to join me on Facebook and Twitter too!

This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Pampers. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine

11 comments:

seussgirl said...

I am so thankful that I finally don't have to worry about overnight diapers! I still have the occasional wet bed, but we're almost past that too. We love to sing and pray with the boys each night. By ending the prayer the same way every night, they can pray it with us now, which is so sweet.

seussgirl said...

P.s. if I did win the diapers, I would either give them to a friend, or disagree them to a pregnancy center. But I do love Children's Place pjs!

Jessica B. said...

One of my tricks is sleeping when my sons do. My sons go to bed with warm jammies, a bottle or small drink, and prayers. jj250@aol.com

Unknown said...

I sleep when luci sleeps and I rock her to sleep!

Thomas Costello said...

My kids are a little older now so they fall asleep on their own. We give them books and stuffed animals in their beds to occupy them until they eventually fall asleep. If they wake up too early (like 5 am this morning) I'll either give them the ipod touch or my phone to watch netflix on. My youngest one actually fell back asleep this morning for an hour.
Aimee Costello akcostello678@yahoo.com

flowerchild said...

My tip is to drink a cup of warm milk before bedtime and have a warm bubble bath.
thanks

flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

Photogrl said...

The Pampers Baby-Dry were the ONLY diapers that could make it through the night with Big Boy! Lifesavers!

Only thing that has worked in this house for bed time is a routine. PJ's, a book, and rocking, that's what we do with the twins!

ME said...

My best sleep comment is to swaddle, swaddle, swaddle when babies are little. It helped my two be wonderful sleepers.

Kuparstwn said...

My sleep trick is to stick with what works!

Our first baby was swaddled until she was 16 months old (Thank you Miracle Blanket).

Our second is nearing three and still in a sleep sac because she doesn't like to sleep without it.

Despite how it may feel at the time, they aren't actually going to go to college wearing swaddles so don't be in a rush to get them out of those things that keep them sleeping so well!!

Sara said...

When my kids were new borns I nursed them to sleep and prayed they'd sleep when I laid them down, but now as toddlers and preschoolers, a good routine means a lot to them.

Ann B said...

Opps wish I could have gotten in on the giveaway but I love Pampers diapers! I love rocking my girls to sleep - they seem to go to sleep pretty quick when I do that. Even my older daughter still wants rocked some times :)