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It’s All About The Zzzz’s – Kiddicare Sleep Diary

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You may remember I wrote a little while ago about a sleep diary I was keeping for myself and Chloe as part of a Kiddicare campaign.

Each day I charted mine and Chloe’s nighttime sleep and nap times. I also charted her moods throughout the day as well as mine.

I found something interesting by the end of it. I was having trouble getting Chloe to nap in the evenings and she didn’t want to settle down to actually sleep until 11.30pm. We were all getting worn out, grouchy and myself and A had no time to ourselves as a couple. We have now started putting her to bed earlier, gradually each evening – actual bed. Not napping in our arms or in the lounge which we had been doing and it’s really working. Last night she slept from 9pm till 7.40am … With feeds inbetween of course but immediately back to sleep after each feed – this is a huge improvement on 11.30pm until 8am just 4 weeks ago. I’ve started to see that I need to pick up on her sleep cues and make her nap rather than letting her get more and more overtired.

It’s easy to miss these cues when you also have a toddler to concentrate on but it’s important to do it otherwise it makes your life so much harder and it really affected my moods.

Here are some fab tips from the Kiddicare team starting with pregnancy sleep:

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Pregnancy sleep – arrggh. I think I was more tired in pregnancy than I am now due to discomfort or crazy dreams.

And did you know that new mums spend 10 days in the first year just putting baby to sleep..?

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Thanks to Kiddicare for running this campaign. I’ve found it really helpful.

For more info and advice check out the Kiddicare Blog

* I received a voucher for taking part in this research.

A Sleep Diary – Kiddicare

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I’ve started keeping a sleep diary as part of a project which has been organised by Kiddicare. It involves me keeping a record of both mine and Chloe’s sleep throughout the day and night. It has been interesting to see the sleep patterns she is forming and I have realised that I really do need to start going to bed earlier.

We were also sent a book about Baby Sleeping Trust Techniques by Rebecca Welton – it’s a really interesting read and offers some great alternatives to controlled crying.

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You can win a copy of this book on the Kiddicare blog

I will keep you posted on the results of our sleep diary in the next few weeks and what I learnt from the whole experience.

Ewan the Dream Sheep Review – Baby Essentials!

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I receive items quite often for review purposes which is lovely but it’s not often I think to review a product which I’ve bought myself or that we have received as a gift but sometimes they can be my very favourite products so I’ve decided to also start reviewing the things I truly love which make our lives as parents easier ..starting with Ewan.

Chloe received Ewan the dream sheep as a Christmas gift from her aunty and uncle and well it really has been a ‘dream’ sheep. From the day we started using it the soft cuddly toy has helped to both settle C to sleep and also to calm her when she’s upset. If she starts to wake in the night we push a button on Ewan’s leg to play the womb/heartbeat sounds and within a minute of so she’s back in the land of nod. During the day when she gets irritable we play the harp songs and it seems to help settle her.

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At £29.99 in most shops it’s not cheap for a cuddly toy but then its so much more than a toy and I would say its worth every penny. An absolute wonderful present for both a baby and their tired parents, I think it’s a product I will recommend to all of my pregnant friends and followers.

You can buy Ewan in lots of places but here is a link to it for sale in Kiddicare mainly as I’m a big fan of the Kiddicare shops.

Here is what Kiddicare say about Ewan:

Ewan’s actual heartbeat/womb sound combinations mimic the noise babies hear in the womb and are proven to be effective at settling and calming your baby. Combined with the comforting pink glow, Ewan helps ease the transition from womb to world.

Ewan the Dream Sheep is soft and cuddly and can be used as a hand held toy or can be attached to the Cot side. He has gentle womb, rain or musical sounds and has a gentle pink glowing light in his chest.

*Suitable from Newborn
*If Ewan is used from birth baby will recognize the sounds and associate calmness and sleep when played
*Comforting pink glow
*20 minute timer
*Volume control
*Sponge clean only
*Hangs from Cot with Velcro tail
*Helps to soothe restless babies
*Batteries not included

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There is only one fault I can find with this product and I thought long and hard about it and that is that it uses up a LOT of batteries. It takes 3 AAA batteries and we change them about every 4/5 days – but it still works out less than £1 a week which I am more than willing pay for the peace 😉 Also if we used more expensive batteries they would probably last longer but we bought a big pack cheaply a while back so working our way through them first.

Coming up shortly are reviews for the Boba wrap, Bednest and Gro Swaddle.