Category Archives: Bedtime

I need your help with my 3 year old..please

Age 3-5, Bedtime, Personal, ,

I’m exhausted as a result of getting an average of 4.5 hours of sleep a night for over 3 years now. You must know though that despite what professionals say I feel like sleep is a waste of time and it’s not something that I look forward to like some people (like my husband). I am not, however, a night owl or party girl. I know that I need sleep for health and sanity reasons so I go along with the whole sleep thing even though I think it is time waster.

Here are a few facts about the situation that I am desperate for help with, for my 3 year olds sake and ours:

– She’s 3.5
– She always goes to the bathroom before going to bed
– She doesn’t fight going to bed
– We have a consistent bedtime routine that she enjoys that includes bathtime, stories and singing
– She starts stirring and/or crying after being asleep for about 1.5-2 hours
– She doesn’t remember crying the next day
– My husband and I don’t run into her room after every sound she makes
– If we don’t go into her room to soothe her pretty quickly she’ll stir or talk herself into a full wake
– She seems to get her best sleep between 4-7a.m.

My husband and I are EXHAUSTED. This has been going on every night for over a year. She doesn’t ask to sleep in our room, but we’ve thought about moving her into our room. We aren’t sure what good that would do except that we wouldn’t have to get out of bed to help her.

Your tips and feedback are appreciated!


Please forgive any spelling errors. I wrote this post on my iPhone.

Review: Good Nite Lite – a great gadget for kids ages 3+

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Bedtime, Must Haves, New posts, , ,

This is a great gadget for a toddler or school age child or a parent who’s child’s sleep patterns need adjusted… like mine!  What a dream it would be to sleep in until I WANT Madelyn to get out of bed… 9:00a.m. would be great but I’d settle for 8:30.  With the help of the Good Nite Lite she is beginning to understand that she can’t get out of bed in the wee hours of the night.  The Good Nite Lite sun illuminates at 7:30 a.m., the time I’ve programmed it to so that she knows that it is OK for her to get out of bed.  I’ll let you know when I can push the time back to 8:30a.m… which will be.. uh, never.

Good Nite Lite

More about the Good Nite Lite

  • Program the time you want the sun to illuminate in the morning and when you want the moon to illuminate in the evening so your child knows when it’s time to get up and go to bed.
  • It’s fun to look at!
  • The Good Nite Lite features a friendly, glowing moon/sun face that changes from a Moon to a Sun at the programmed “wake-up” time and from a Sun to a Moon at the programmed “bedtime.” Children rapidly come to associate the moon image with the knowledge that it is still bedtime and the sun with the idea that it is the correct time to wake up. During the day, the Good Nite Lite automatically shuts off to eliminate any distractions and to conserve energy.
  • The Good Nite Lite will help your child learn that he/she needs to stay in bed until the ‘the sun is on’ as Madelyn says.

One minor fault I see with the Good Nite Lite is that it covers both outlets so you can’t have another device plugged into the second outlet while the Good Nite Lite is plugged in.

The Good Nite Lite is available online at www.goodnitelite.com for just $34.99.

Review: Jewel Lullaby CD

Bedtime, Music & DVD, New posts, , , , , ,

The combination of Jewel’s angelic voice and the timeless lullaby classics such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star will make your heart flutter and you’ll want to stay in your baby’s room while she is lulled to sleep by Jewel’s voice.

Multi-platinum singer-songwriter Jewel partnered with Fisher-Price and Somerset Entertainment to debut her first-ever independent release, Lullaby.  The 15-track album features 10 self-penned songs and classics including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Somewhere Over the Rainbow which as you can imagine are beautifully sung by Jewel.  The acoustic record is reminiscent of Jewel’s twelve-time platinum album, Pieces of You.

Lullaby is a wonderful album for busy moms to listen to at the end of the day and if you’re like me and you need to create a peaceful car riding environment for the kids (and yourself!), just put Lullaby in your car CD player and I’m pretty sure your kids, no matter what their age, will be calm and quiet within a matter of seconds.  Just don’t fall asleep while driving!

Jewel states that “It’s the perfect album to relax to at the end of a long day,” and I agree.  “It’s really a mood album.  It’s great for children, but adults will love it too.”

Lullaby was produced by Jewel and recorded at her home studio in Stephenville, Texas and is available at major retailers in the baby and infant departments, as well as online at jeweljk.com and iTunes.  Get your copy today!
Listen to samples here.

Cozy Eco-Cuteness – Organic Cotton Pajamas

Bedtime, , ,

Put on your comfy pajamas to lounge, relax and nest. Nourish your soul and the Earth with eco-friendly and organic cotton pajamas. In sizes for mom, kids and baby there are plenty of adorable styles for the entire family. Cotton that is free of pesticides will help you sleep better at night knowing that baby is sound asleep in pure 100% organic pajamas. For the women's pajama styles check out the exclusive deals from Gaiam.com. They are offering free shipping on purchases over $25 through June 1,
2009 with online coupon code, TheFind4.

Organic-pajamas

Styles shown from upper left clockwise:

Womens Solid Organic Flannel Pajamas, Sale $59.99. Gaiam

Under the Nile Organic Layette, $24.00. Land of Nod

Bamboo Pajamas starting at $24.00. WildFlower

Womens Jersey Knit Pajamas Sale Price $39.00. Gaiam

From our friends at TheFind.com

Sleep Scentsations scented pillow liners + win one!

Bedtime, For Mom Only!, Relaxation, Travel, , ,

 Sleep is precious to most moms. And for most moms, sleep is hard to come by. 

Because I have a difficult time falling and staying asleep I have a little bedtime ritual during which I prepare my 'sleep aids'.   First, I turn on my sound machine and set it to play ocean waves. The ocean waves sound is what helps me go back to sleep when I wake in the night.  Second, I replace the scented pillow liner on my pillow if I need to.

Sleep-scentsations-pillow

Sleep Scentsations scented pillow liners are thin, soft liners infused with essential
oils and fragrance oils. I place a new scented liner on my pillow, under my pillow case, every week or so.   I have the Shanghai Nights Scented Collection box which includes 10 scented liners in 6 different scents.  My favorite liners so far are the White Tea & Lily liner and the Day at the Beach liner.  One that's really a cool idea is Cold RX.  I haven't needed to try it yet and hopefully won't for a while, but definitely will next time I have a cold.  After using Sleep Scentsations scented pillow liners for about a month now, I have total confidence that the Cold RX liner will work.

Check out Sleep Scentsations Scent Menu for a list of all available scents.

GIVEAWAY!  I have one Shanghai Nights Scented Collection box to give to a lucky subscriber!  Click here to go to our Subscription page, subscribe if you haven't already, then fill out the entry form on that page!  That's it!