Day 10 Giveaway Bambino Land Organic Crib Sheet

December 10, 2015

Organic Crib Sheet from Bambino Land

Love these sweet, colourful sheets from Bambino Land. Manufactured with organic cotton, and responsibly made in Asia, these sheets are a perfect addition to your nursery. Check out the Bambino Land product line for more great options for your bambino!

Enter below from now until December 12.

Winners will be announced here on December 14th, 2015.

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Missed our previous Days of Christmas Giveaway?

Visit Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8 and Day 9 to enter while you can!

Day 9 Giveaway AppleCheeks Learning Pants

December 9, 2015

Learning Pants from AppleCheeks

So excited about this new product from AppleCheeks! Famous for their high quality cloth diapers, AppleCheeks has recently added Learning Pants to their product line. These brand new Learning Pants come in 3 sizes (small, medium and large, which should cover your potty learner from a size 2 to a size 6). They’re ADORABLE, not to mention a environmental and economically responsible way to potty train. Bonus that they feel and look like real underwear – so if your child is truly ready for potty learning, these are going to get them to independent pottying faster! Responsibly made in Canada, AppleCheeks also supports the David Suzuki Foundation with a portion of their profits!

Enter below from now until December 12.

Winners will be announced here on December 14th, 2015.

Contest available only to residents of Canada.

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Missed our previous Days of Christmas Giveaway?

Visit Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 Day 6, Day 7 and Day 8 to enter while you can!

Day 1 Giveaway Bugaloo Baby Snack Bags

December 1, 2015

12 Days of Christmas from Sleeperific - Day 1

On the first day of Christmas, my sleep coach gave to me…

Snack Bag Set from Bugaboo Baby Designs

We LOVE these bags. We use them for MANY on-the-go purposes: for snacks (obviously), storing small toys on road trips, or wet hand/face cloths when we head out to eat. They’re well made, right here in Canada by a work-at-home Mama. They come in a number of adorable prints pioglitazone 30 mg. They’re reusable. Wipe with a damp cloth or throw in the laundry. And the best part is that my toddler can independently open and close them!

Check out Bugaboo Baby Designs on Etsy for more fabulous products and designs.

Enter below from now until December 12.

Winners will be announced here on December 14th, 2015.

Contest available only to residents of Canada.

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Here Be Monsters

September 30, 2015

Contending with Bedtime Fears - Monsters Under The Bed

I’m regularly asked about how to contend with children’s fears, especially this time of year when Halloween decorations, creepy costumes and scary stories are making their way into your child’s daily experience.

“I’m afraid of the monsters under my bed” is the most common complaint I hear from families with preschoolers and beyond. Monsters, or other fears, can cause delays at bedtime, but more often lead to night wakings and difficulty falling back asleep.

Well intending parents might use a “monster spray,” “no monsters allowed” signage or even do a magic spell to exterminate the monsters. Think twice about using that approach. When we validate monsters, we acknowledge they exist. Children deserve honesty, especially from their parents. Validate the fear, but not the existence of fictitious creatures.

Avoid teasing or using language like “big boys aren’t afraid” or “only babies get scared.” Feelings are always legitimate, especially feelings of fear. Older toddlers and preschoolers are developing vibrant and vivid imaginations. Acknowledge their fears by using language like “I can see you are scared.”

Additional strategies for contending with monsters under the bed include:

As part of the bedtime routine, look through closets and under beds together. Make the experience a fun one with a flashlight your child can use.
If there’s anything like a bed skirt, remove it. At least for now. Having a visual of the space will give them more confidence.
For a child that is showing fears of not just their bed, but their room, make sure to spend some positive time together in their room, playing. Bring a special toy or activity you can do together. Keep the experience positive.
Night lights can help, but can build shadows too. Bright night lights can limit melatonin production which can make sleep more restless and minds more anxious. Sometimes a dim light in a hallway outside their rooms, with a door ajar, is a “less scary” bet.
Tell your child you will check on them when they’re asleep. It’s a reminder that you’re always close and checking on them, even when they don’t think you are.
Eliminate screen time (including television, tablets and game devices) especially it’s late in the day. 3 year olds are highly imaginative. Even benign programming can have their imaginations running away.
Cut out any books that might be “scary”. You’re probably not doing a lot of “scary” anyway, but I have lots of families put away “Where the Wild Things Are” and similar books when contending with fears of monsters.
If they’re having bad dreams that they can articulate (this is often for kids who are more 4+ and have a better understanding of the concept of dreams), talk about the dream and how they can “re-imagine” their dream to have a positive outcome.
Discuss it matter of factly (away from bedtime) and see if you can get to the source.

One last suggestion: Feelings of nervousness and anxiety are normal feelings for children to encounter. Aim to have your reaction be calm and reassuring. Use of the word ‘scared’ often elicits a strong reaction from parents. Don’t give fears more power by reacting strongly, or encourage regular use of the word “scared” to gain benefits that delay bedtime.

xxoo

Krista

About the author:

Krista is a mother of 3 (+1 dog who believes she’s people), a wife to a wonderful husband, and the owner and founder of Sleeperific. Even though she’s been in the sleep consulting biz for 4 years, she still gets really excited when she’s hired by a sleepy family.

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!

Infant Sleep Series – Part 1

September 3, 2012

Newborn Sleep – ages 0 – 8 weeks(ish)

I run a weekly Q+A session over on my Facebook page. I call it Terrific Talk Tuesdays, but really, it’s a virtual sleep clinic. Sleepy parents ask, I answer.

An interesting question came up this week during Terrific Talk Tuesday:

We have a new baby on the way, and I’m wondering what advice you have to set the baby up to be a successful sleeper. In other words, if you could do it all over again, what strategies would you implement right from the beginning?

I try to answer these questions quickly, given the bit of information I’m given, I’m providing the bit of information I feel will be helpful. Often, my quick answers don’t do the questions justice. But I feel this was a great question to elaborate on. In fact, this is the first installment of an Infant Sleep Series.

Are we really equipped for what we’re getting into? When we’re expecting, we read the books. We buy cute little outfits and decorate cute little nurseries. We get weekly updates from Baby Center so we know the size of our baby, relative to a fruit or vegetable. We might see Snooki’s or Jessica Simpson’s Twitter feeds and have an idea of what to expect with a newborn, but are we really prepared for what to expect, after we’re expecting?

I know I wasn’t prepared for the depth and breadth of my exhaustion when we had our son. While there are a lot of things I wish I knew then that I know now, the top of that long list is knowledge about sleep. As a new parent, you’re going to get tired. But there are things you can do in the early stages to create healthy sleep habits.

What’s ‘normal’?

Newborns typically do a few things. They eat, and they sleep . . . oh, and they cry too. Their sleep needs are as high as 20 hours per day. You can expect most of that sleep will come in the form of long and short naps. Remember newborns have TINY tummies and will need to feed often. What often drives their waking cycles is the need to eat.

That means that sleep can be erratic. You might look for patterns, but you’ll be hard pressed to find any. So take sleep when it comes. That may mean your baby sleeps more in the day than in the night in the beginning.

What should I do?

Here’s some suggestions to help you cope:

1) Whatever it takes – This is your new motto. Embrace it. Keep your baby as well rested as possible. You may need to help your baby to sleep. Don’t worry about spoiling your baby or forming any “bad habits” (like nursing/feeding to sleep). It’s too early for habits to stick and it’s really too early for patterns and biological rhythms to emerge.

2) Take care of yourself – Ensure you’re eating well, drinking lots and sleeping as well as possible. Only if you’re taking care of yourself can you take care of the new life in your hands. This means protecting your sleep too. Split “shifts” with your partner if possible, and/or enlist the help of willing and capable grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends.

3) Enjoy your baby – Be responsive to their cries, you’re not going to spoil them or get them into any bad habits at this point. Marvel at the miracle your baby is. Get to know each other. You’re in this for the long haul, so you might as well be friends.

Stay tuned for next week as we look beyond, into the 8-16 week old range.

Why Sleep Consulting?

August 17, 2012

Really? How did you get started in this? Why are you doing this? Seriously – sleep consulting for kids?

These are just a few of the questions I’ve been asked since pursuing children’s sleep consulting. Here’s the long winded answer.

This all got started for me because we really struggled with my son and his sleep. REALLY struggled. My older daughter was easier to manage. Don’t get me wrong. It’s never easy and we worked hard there too. I’ve always prioritized sleep for her (the happy by-product of which was sleep for tired parents). But implementing a few basics made all the difference.

My son was a different story. We welcomed Gus on a chilly January morning in 2011. He was big. He was beautiful. His arrival brought immense joy and immense change for our family.

He had emergency surgery at two weeks old (which I literally feel saved his life! Dr. Braga at McMaster Children’s Hospital – you are a hero to our family). But as a result of his rough start, we got into some terrible habits. He was eating every couple hours (doctor’s orders!). I knew he needed to be fed with this frequency; his weight was so low for the first month, he was doing some catching up. But by the time he was ready to slow down with his growth, and our pediatrician gave the thumbs up to let him guide the frequency of feedings, he didn’t know how to sleep longer than 1.5 hour intervals. AND, he developed what everyone else was calling “colic.” He was eating all the time, and within minutes of eating, was spitting up and crying inconsolably. So feeding every 2 hours meant 20 minutes of eating, almost 140 minutes of back arching, writhing discomfort, loud-enough-to-wake-my-sleeping-toddler crying, and repeat.

As a result, I was a zombie. A cranky, short fused, couldn’t-even-put-my-pants-on-the-right-way mess. I was starting to spiral towards depression. I couldn’t console my baby; I couldn’t help my baby sleep; I remember admitting to my husband that I didn’t love our son the way I loved our daughter; I started to understand why some parents shake or abandon their children, which only made me feel more inadequate and incompetent. What kind of parent was I? I’m no saint. I had meltdowns. Each meltdown served to make me and everyone around me feel worse. I clearly remember sitting and crying with my son and daughter on many occasions.

It’s an understatement to say I was running on empty. I knew I wasn’t being a good parent. Actually, I wasn’t good at anything when I was that sleep deprived. My relationship with my husband was suffering, my toddler was unhappy, even my gentle, loving dog steered clear of me. I knew Gus wasn’t sleeping enough for him to be happy and healthy. I knew there had to be a better way.

But when I tried to find resources, there didn’t seem to be many options for mothers looking to educate themselves on sleep. When my son was sick and losing weight as a newborn, we were initially diagnosed with a “feeding issue.” I had about 10 nurses, lactation consultants and physicians watch me breastfeed in the span of two weeks (which I now find mortifying, but my modesty was checked at the doors of the hospital when my baby was not well). I went along with all the professional suggestions and advice, even though I felt confident in his eating ability and in what I was doing. After all, I had exclusively breastfed my older daughter for 6 months, which is right about the time she grew out of her infant car seat – rated to 21 lbs (that means she was pretty much a giant). So I had to do something right?! My point is that information about breastfeeding is about 10x more accessible. But when the feeding stuff was taken care of, I didn’t know who to turn to for real, tangible advice about sleep. Sure there were forums out there which offered support from other parents. But hearing “It’s ok, it’s completely normal for your baby to wake that many times” or “that’s just colic. . . it will get better in a few more months” only made me sink deeper into despair (ok, admittedly it was more like yell, cuss and slam doors first with despair coming second).

So what did I do? I researched the crap out of sleep (and this mysterious “colic” that everyone kept talking about). Even though I was exhausted and regularly fell asleep with a book on me, I perservered. Turns out, I actually found this sleep stuff fascinating. So anything I could get my hands on about children’s sleep, I read it. I implemented pieces from here and there, based on what I felt like was in line with our family and our parenting style. We figured out the “colic” bit too. GERD along with a dairy allergy. Who knew? Antacids and cutting out dairy did the trick to make him more comfortable.

It wasn’t until I started following some rules and strategies to optimize his sleep that I started to see improvement. The results of our efforts were life changing! Our son was sleeping better!!! He was exponentially happier!! I don’t doubt his sleep has helped his health as well. With better sleep, I regained my sanity and sense of well-being. I was able to reconnect with my husband, making us a stronger foundation for our young family. I restored my relationship with my daughter. Even my dog and I called a truce when I found the energy to run with her again.

And who doesn’t love a happy, well rested cutie?!

Gus is now 19 months. He’s funny. His giggle is infectious and makes my heart swell. He’s adventuresome. He’s taught my 3.5 year old a lot about climbing and jumping. He’s affectionate. Myself and our dog are frequently the lucky recipients of his generous hugs and kisses. He’s got this whole charming thing going on that makes it hard not to smile, even when he’s poured his spaghetti on the floor and is wearing his bowl on his head. His sleep is still something we work hard to maintain, but I know it’s well worth the effort.

I got a bit more serious about my enthusiasm for children’s sleep and I completed my certification as a Children’s Sleep Consultant with the Family Sleep Institute. My instructor has been doing this for almost 20 years. She’s an amazing mentor and friend to have.

I love sharing the power of sleep. I love working towards a common goal with awesome families. I love when families get better rest and begin to feel and do better. I love the opportunity to create positive change.

I’m thrilled to have a job I feel passionate about.