Soothing Routines 101

February 18, 2013

sooting routines, settle kids to sleep, bedtime routine

Bedtime Bliss

All kids need the comfort and security of a clear, predictable soothing routine. I truly believe that structure helps children feel safe and assured – when you’re little and so much seems difficult to understand and beyond your control, routines are a source of confidence and certainty. Soothing routine’s are a beautiful opportunity for parents and children to slow down, connect, share some special time, and unwind from the burdens of the day.

I admit bedtime routines with children is my favorite time of the day. Yes, it’s a means to peaceful, sleeping babies (and peaceful, happy parents) but I love everything about the quiet and softness of our routines. My toddler, who runs around non-stop and hardly has time for quiet moments during his day, will happily sit on my lap and lean his head back on my shoulder while we read books. My preschooler and I will share our sad and happy parts of the day and what we hope to dream about. Yes, it’s entertaining dialog with a 4 year old, but it’s a glimpse at what’s going on in her little mind. We’re setting a precedent of communication that I hope to maintain through our lifetime together.

A good soothing routine will start during infancy and evolve to carry a child through to school age. Even if you didn’t start that early, don’t be concerned. It’s never too late to begin.

When done right, soothing routines are times both parents and children look forward to. You and your partner may take turns, and each have your own style, but make sure you share a common approach on timing, coping with stall tactics and alleviating any fears or concerns from your child.

So what do you do? How do you do a soothing routine? Whether you’re a brand new parent or an experienced parent, stay tuned! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be adding posts with elements which could comprise your child’s soothing routine and how to find a process that fits with the goals and the individuality of your family.

Lullabies: Making Beautiful Music Together – by Jodie Fera, BMus (ed.), B Ed, Music Together Kitchener-Waterloo

Basics of Sleep Hygiene – by Dr. Jennifer Castle, ND, The Urban Athlete

Yoga for Soothing – by Amanda Degrace, Little Lotus Yoga

Reading Magic – by Krista Guenther, Sleeperific Children’s Sleep Consulting

Massage for Soothing – by Amber Parkinson, RMT, Amber Parkinson Massage

Avoiding Dinner Time Panic

February 10, 2013

Taking the work out of supper

Does this ever happen at your house? It’s an hour before your family usually sits down to eat and you have no idea what you’re going to have for dinner. Yep, me too. I get flustered, run through recipes in my head, open the fridge door and stare blankly, hoping to find that miracle ingredient to pull it all together.

I do my best to be organized and meal plan. Nothing fancy, a pen, a paper a list of what we’re going to eat from Monday to Friday, but I slip up every now and again. I like to cook, I really do. But sometimes the day just doesn’t go as planned and there just isn’t time (or energy) left to prepare a meal from scratch. And any parent out there knows that quick trips to the grocery store (with 2 kids in tow) are OUT of the question.

Combine all of this with the early bedtimes and calm environments I usually advocate for all my Sleeperific families? Aye yi yi.

Enter Superworks to save the day.

Supperworks quite literally takes the work out of supper. They do all the meal prep for you. Everything is chopped, cut, portioned. You just put the ingredients together in a baggie, label it, take it home, put it in your freezer for future use. All you have to do is defrost, follow the instructions on the bag (directions for defrosting, final prep, cooking and even suggested sides), add your own side (or Supperworks can do that for you too!) and away you go.

Supperworks is a GREAT way to maximize those precious minutes you have with your family at the end of a busy work day. I can guarantee it will minimize your stress, ensure a family oriented and tasty meal, all while keeping bedtimes on track track for busy, professional families.

Find the Supperworks location nearest you: www.supperworks.com

Use the discount code ‘SUPPER’ for $10 off your next order.

Tuck Me In! Review and Contest

January 16, 2013

TINY LITERARY SALON

Kids LOVE reading as part of a bedtime routine. My children are no exception.

We were recently sent a copy of “Tuck Me In!” to evaluate. It’s an adorable book with illustrations of baby animals getting tucked in to go to bed.

Similar to the classics Goodnight Moon and Time for Bed, this book offers gentle rhythm and engaging repetition. It allows the child to not only understand, but also participate in bidding “goodnight!” and tucking in each little animal as the pages are turned.

My little literary experts approve.

Read more reviews from Goodreads and Amazon.

Want to win your own copy?

Candlewick Press will be sending two lucky winners “Tuck Me In!” Enter our contest by next Tuesday, January 22th!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Frohe Weihnachten im Krankenhaus

December 27, 2012

Merry Christmas, in the Hospital

Warning: this post contains personal information about not so flattering ailments.

You’ve been warned!

Our accommodation in Austria were amazing! St. Nicholas (Austrian Santa Claus) made an appearance at the hotel, handed out some presents. We ate and ate and ate. In Europe, Christmas Eve is a bigger event than Christmas day – so dinner was about 10 courses long. Everything was beautiful, delicious and impeccably served. The kids even managed to stay sitting, stay patient, reasonably and awake through the entire meal.

We finally wound down, got the kids to bed (“Santa doesn’t come unless you’re sleeping”) and went to bed ourselves. I woke up around 3AM and felt funny. I’ve had a UTI before, and I suspected that might be it, but everything was just off. I also knew I usually eat fairly cleanly and simply, and the meal I’d just had was far from that. I passed it off to my stomach feeling a bit funny from the rich food and excessive wine.

We had a normal Christmas morning, opened some presents, had some breakfast (although I had little appetite) – played with the kids at the indoor play centre and the Kinder Club. I skipped lunch and tried to nap. By 3PM I was feeling awful and was passing blood. I tried to go into the sauna based on some awesome on-call advice from my amazing naturopathic doctor, Dr. Jennifer Castle from the Urban Athlete. Just to try to induce a fever and get my body to fight this off. Little did I know that the sauna was located in a “Nude Only” part of the hotel. The usual me would have found this hilarious and would have loved the people watching. The sick me wanted to curl into an invisible ball and put on blinders to any bits and pieces in my sight. I left within about 20 minutes after arriving, when all the skiers returned from their day on the slopes. By the time I ended back in our room I was throwing up and had a headache. My family had headed out on a horse drawn carriage ride, and I knew they’d be back soon. I knew I needed someone to peel me up from the bathroom floor. So I stayed there, hugging the toilet until they returned.

We decided to head to the hospital since the next day was still a holiday and I was feeling weak and pretty uncomfortable with a headache, fever, nausea and I was still passing blood. I wasn’t likely to get better without any sort of treatment. My husband made a quick call to the insurance company (which did not feel quick to me) and the hotel concierge ensured an ambulance was on it’s way.

I was so lucky my husband was able to come with me while we were able to leave the kids with Oma and Opa. We were taken to a.ö. Krankenhaus St. Vinzenz in nearby Landeck. Within minutes (yes, minutes, not hours, not days, MINUTES), they had admitted me, begun a medical history (in English – all of my care providers spoke at least a little English which was far superior to my German) and administered an EKG and CT scan (since I’d hit my head the day before on the toboggan run and was experiencing a massive headache). They were kind, efficient and funny (“You have a bladder infection, gastroenteritis and concussion. Frohe Weihnachten!”). I stayed overnight while they monitored me and gave me IV fluids and IV antibiotics, and released me the next day. They actually were able to speed up my release because my family had travel plans to head back to Germany. So the doctor came to see me as soon as she could (which again, was within minutes). How amazing is that?!

I felt terrible about causing so much trouble and fuss, especially on Christmas, but I’m so grateful I had my family took care of me (and my kids!) when I was not feeling well. I’m also extremely grateful for our insurance, and the swift and efficient health care system in Austria. If you’re going to spend Christmas in a hospital, it might as well be a hospital in Austria.

In light of the events, I have some updated travel tips for you:

1) Seriously consider the health care available within the country you are travelling to when little ones are in tow. We were lucky and blessed that Austria has what I would consider to be superior care than Canada (wait times for admission, testing and diagnostics were far less than what we would have experienced at home).

2) Know the ins and outs of your out of country health insurance. We knew we needed to call prior to receiving any medical care (which seems weird in more urgent circumstances… I’m not sure how we would have handled that, or how our insurance would deal if they were told about our trip to the hospital after it happened).

3) Mastering a few basic phrases (please, thank you) in the native language of your destination is a pretty common preparation to make for travel. Add “hospital” or “doctor” to the list. A couple smartphone apps (online and offline) that can help you out with that.

4) Grab a business card from your hotel (or jot down the address of the place you’re staying) and keep them in your pocket/purse for the duration of your stay. In addition to making it easy for taxis, we needed detailed contact information for our insurance company.

5) Make copies of your passport(s), health card, physician’s name with their contact details and insurance information. This could be as simple as taking pictures on your smartphone. Medical staff wanted to see these, insurance needed this information as well. And this doesn’t just mean that one parent is responsible: Ensure both you and your traveling companions know where these copies are located and how to access them. Better yet, each parent/care provider has their own copies in case one of you is incapacitated.

6) Everyone knows to turn off the cellular on your phone to avoid roaming fees. But do you (and your travelling companions) know how to turn it back on? Do you know how to dial from a mobile within your host country? Do you know how to dial from your country to another country? This isn’t completely straightforward. Check out these suggestions for dialing within Europe.

I really hope none of you have to go to the hospital while on vacation. But it never hurts to prepare for the worst and expect the best.

Happy Holidays from Sleeperific

December 25, 2012

Tips for a Successful Holiday

– Take advantage of the extra capable and willing hands that are around this time of year.
– Bend some of your sleep rules.
– Try not to let the holiday stress take over.
– Celebrate with those you love the most.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Austrian Holiday

December 24, 2012

Postcards from Austria

We love Germany and Austria. We got in some great skiing. Our hotel offered lots of great activities for the kids, including child care, indoor play centres, swimming and watersliding. We even went tobogganing.

Note the happy faces! Little did we know that down the mountain, with our 2 and 4 year old was INSANE. It was icy. Steering on an alpine sled is all about sturdy, grippy, hard soled footwear. I had on smooth bottomed Ugg-style boots. We went around our first corner to a family standing there rearranging themselves. I had 3 choices: taking out the family, going off a ledge with my 4 year old or stopping ourselves in a fairly uncoordinated way. We opted for the last option and took a pretty serious tumble – she was fine (I pulled her out of the way before Oma almost drove us over), but I hit my head pretty hard – more on that to come. The little guy loved it though. I could hear his requests for “faster, faster” from further up the hill. Our fearless little adventurer.

We made it

December 19, 2012

And we lived to tell you about it. Photos courtesy of my phone.

It turns out my almost 2 and almost 4 year old CAN carry luggage. They were actually upset when we tried to carry it.

The luggage upped their cuteness factor while walking through the airport and waiting at the gate. Mrs Claus (did Santa trade her in for a younger model?) actually found them on our way to the gate to give them candy.

In spite of the cute factor, I know there were still other folks at the gate who were still saying a silent prayer “please don’t let my seat be near them.” But with a full flight and a whole crew of people flying on standby, not everyone’s prayers were going to be answered.

We did our best to prepare the kiddies. Everyone was well rested going into the flight. We had our pajamas, eye masks, ear plugs, and lovies in tow.

But it was a bit of a myth to think that they were actually going to sleep. What you can’t see in this picture is my son, standing in the seat, bouncing up and down, entertaining/annoying the row of seats behind us.

This was at 12AM local time (which was why the overhead cabin lights were out), or 6AM destination time. He didn’t sleep at all up until this point. His bedtime is usually 7PM. That would make this his second (or possibly his third or fourth) wind.

But I kinda forgot that there were SO many sleep rules that were already being broken, that I didn’t have to worry about one or two more. Like turning off electrical devices within 1-2 hours before bedtime. What you can’t see is two tired little faces mesmerized by the Backyardigans.

They finally faded around 1:30AM. Our older daughter sprawled out on the floor (yes, the floor – we offered for our daughter to sleep on the floor of an airplane. Once again, we will be passed over for the elusive “Parent of the Year” award). We justified it that my down jacket was a nice, cozy bed for her to sleep on.

The son slept partially on Dad’s lap, stretched across the seat between us, with legs on my lap. I finally faded when I knew they were sleeping. We arrived at 4AM Local Time, or 10AM Munich time. Our German Vater was waiting to pick us up at the airport and take us home.

After a day of catch up, and one good night’s sleep, I think everyone is on Local Time. Which leaves me pleasantly surprised. Circadian rhythms take some time to adapt, but I guess when you’re typically fairly well rested (that would be weird if my kids weren’t good sleepers, right?!), it helps make the bumps easier to navigate.

Our daughter doesn’t usually nap, and there are several Sleeperific tried and true nap rules that are being broken here, but when she only sees or Opa for 3 weeks per year, we’ll let it slide.

We’re off to Oma’s secret surprise 60^th Birthday Party tonight. Wir lieben dich Oma!

Preparing for our Christmas Vacation

November 28, 2012

My husband’s parents lives in Europe. Our family is making the trek to visit over Christmas. Although we’ve been to Europe before with our first child (see below, on one of our previous trips – note the Bosu Ball and my husband’s awesome footwear)…

it’s always different when you travel older children. I’m having a few anxieties about it for the following reasons:

1) Luggage: It’s winter. It’s cold. That means winter boots, snow pants, jackets, mittens, hats, sweaters, long underwear need to be packed. X 4. 2 out of 4 family members can’t carry luggage. 1 out of 4 has a biological need to run around and explore that surpasses his biological need to cooperate and follow instruction. Effectively, he’s luggage too. He’s luggage that’s closely resembles a 35 lb bag of snakes.

2) 1 pair of boots per family member? For anyone who knows me, you’ll understand why this is a next to impossible situation.

3) It’s a long flight. On our way east, it’s an evening flight. So the flight is set to take off later than the little traveler’s bedtimes. My children have not been up past 9PM more than once in the past year. And my youngest will be in our laps for the flight. For over 8 hours. He hasn’t slept in our arms in over 1.5 years. Did I mention he’s a 35 lb bag of snakes?

On the way back home, the timing of the flight makes for the longest day ever. My daughter shouldn’t be too bad, but the little one will be trouble… revisit the biological needs identified above.

4) Jet lag. x 4

5) We’re off to the land of beer and sausage, but also milk, cheese and butter. My youngest has a dairy allergy. Even bread that’s made with milk will send him into writhing stomach pains.

So what’s my plan?

1) Become a packing ninja. I’ve already started test packing.

2) I have no idea. I have no single purpose, looks good with everything, keep my feet warm, can play in the snow boots. Maybe I need new boots?

3) Aiming to have them as well rested as possible before we even leave for the airport. Getting to the airport in lots of time to have some food, change into jammies, and read some stories at the gate. Hopefully, boarding and take off all happen at the appropriate times, and they’ll settle in for some long naps. I actually purchased eye masks and ear plugs for the kiddies so they can hopefully block out the noises and just get some rest.

For the flight home: Loaded iPad. Books. Color Wonderful Markers. In flight movies. Accepting other suggestions.

4) The aim is to let everyone sleep as much as they want on day 1, while still trying to protect their night sleep. Day 2 is when we push everyone to be on European time.

5) Avoid EVERYTHING that could have dairy in it. I believe my son will enjoy indulging in the other German food groups.

I know we’ll have fun. I’m really looking forward to the time away and taking in the European Christmas. Stay tuned to find out how we manage.

Circadian Rhythms for Dummies

November 26, 2012

Circada-what?

The nurse who works the night shift, the university student who parties into first rays of daylight (this may or may not have applied to me in a past life), the traveler traversing time zones and the professional pulling an all-nighter to meet a deadline have all felt the repercussions of manipulating our bodies natural rhythms.

Circadian rhythms were first documented in early 18^th century France by a scientist experimenting with plants. He noticed that these plants opened and closed their leaves, even when kept in complete darkness (Source). Since then much research has been done, but it all proves that there are forces at work, within all living things, functioning much like a clock. When I talk to my Sleeperific families about circadian (or biological) rhythms, I’m always trying to convey this major point:

There are optimal times for our bodies to rest and wake.

One of the most important drivers of our circadian rhythms are day and night (light and dark) cycles.

So what does this mean for my kid?

Circadian rhythms means there are ideal times for our bodies to be sleeping. We will obtain the best benefits from sleep and our bodies will be most willing to go and stay asleep when we sleep in phase with circadian rhythms. When consulting with families, I try to maximize sleep by taking advantage of the natural “wave” that children experience throughout their day. I ensure they’re sleeping at ideal times and not trying to go to sleep when their bodies are telling them to wake. There’s a bunch of other stuff involved with the plans I put together for families, but working within our biology is a vital component.

It’s important for parents to recognize that these biological rhythms do not really emerge until a baby is closer to four months of age. Prior to then, babies are just too immature to have established rhythms. Although there are other (and other) things we can do to encourage healthy sleep for infants, but worrying about ideal sleep rhythms isn’t relevant in these very early stages.

Terrific Quiet Time

November 12, 2012

Color Wonderful Markers

Thanks again Crayola! Color Wonderful markers work with Color Wonderful paper – and nothing else. So not your walls, floors, furniture, or even little hands or clothes. These markers are going to be neat and tidy for your budding artist.

Of course, we HAD to purchase the princess themed package. Which came with glittered paper. For any parents out there, you know you do a glitter craft once and then never again. There is now glitter on me and her. And all over her room. You don’t have to purchase the glittered paper – in fact, I would advise against it. There are plenty of options which are non-glitter.

I’m stocking up on activities which I know will work well for when we’re travelling to Europe in December. Color Wonderful (non glittered) gets a big thumbs up!