Did you guys know that May is Better Sleep Month? Yeah, me either. Until yesterday, when Wayfair.com contacted me about teaming up to write a post about getting my kids to bed and sharing using #mysleepstyle.
It was perfect timing, because earlier in the day, I had been browsing their website picking out new bedding for Megan's room (for our new house!) Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite bedding pics for Megan's new room and I'm sharing my best sleep tips for getting your honey pie's to sleep so you can have your "me" time at the end of a long day!
First up, my bedding picks. This is the first house that we are buying with three children. DJ and I have kids, and the other when Gretchen was a mere tot. Now that we have decided to buy a house again, I knew right away that I wanted to paint my big girls bedrooms in their favorite colors. Gretchen's favorite color is pink, and her bedding will be perfect and is still in great shape! (My mom made it when we transitioned Gretchen into her big girl bed) and Megan's favorite color is purple.
This is her current bedroom, and I absolutely love the pale blues, pinks, and green, but her quilt won't work for room with purple walls.
So, I've been on a mission to find the perfect bedding for my Megan. Since, Wayfair.com asked me to write a post, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite sets that just might go in Megan's room.
I love the polk a dots on this one, plus it will coordinate well with her white eyelet curtains and bedskirt that I plan on keeping.
I thought this one had really fun colors, and it won't get as dirty as my other picks. Megan has a tree painting with a pink background that I plan on keeping, and I think these will coordinate well together.
This is definitely a top choice! I love that there's a mixture of purple and yellow, and that "play" pillow is just too cute! Again, I'm a little afraid of all the white! But, the bedspread looks like it reverses to a purple with white dot!
I must be craving polk-a-dots, but I love this simple quilt! Again, it would match with everything we already add, and then I could bring in my own accent colors (whereas the one above, I'd be stuck with yellow.) Since we already have pink throw pillows and the pink painting, then I'd likely use pink as my accent color.
Now that I may have bedding picked out for my middle, let's talk about how I get my kids to sleep better at night!
From early on, I always wanted my babes to sleep well. Now, I know sleep habits and solutions are controversial when it comes to babies, and I'm not getting into that, but I AM saying that establishing a good routine from early on is so important! As soon as my girls came home from the hospital, we did as best as we could to get into a good consistent bedtime routine!
When my girls were babies, they ALWAYS went to sleep well in their crib! Our typical routine was to read a book, rock to a lullaby CD, say a prayer, and kiss good night. I've never rocked the girls to sleep. For one, I didn't want the girls to learn to rely on the rocking motion to fall asleep- that would make for very long nights if they would wake up in the middle of the night! It's just what worked for me and the girls- if you want to rock your babe to sleep- go for it!
All of the girls had their "lovies" when they were babies. Gretchen and Megan just wanted their pacifiers (or "dede" as Megan called hers) and Adalyn only wants her thumb and ballet baby. We are all about the lovies in our house!
Now that the big girls are bigger, they don't sleep with paci's anymore. They do however request a cup of water. It's a total security thing. Most of the time, Megan doesn't even drink her cup, but she wants a new cup of water on her nightstand each night.
Over the years, we had difficulty transitioning from crib to toddler bed. Megan was definitely the hardest transition of all, but to be fair, Adalyn is still in her crib, and I plan on keeping her there for a while! We kept our bedtime routine the same, minus the rocking. Once they transitioned into a big girl bed, the rocking chair was typically taken out of their room. I do remember that my big girls were super excited to get a big girl bed, and once they fell asleep, they mostly stayed asleep. However, once Megan figured out that she could get out of the bed- we had a problem.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Megan falls asleep on the floor a lot! Like, 2 or 3 nights a week! Here's the deal: when we transitioned Megan to her big girl bed, I was pregnant with Adalyn and EXHAUSTED. After DJ and I spent weeks upon weeks upon weeks battling with Megan, we finally gave up. She won. I have no qualms admitting this failure on my part as her mother. We finally gave up, and thought, you know, if she falls asleep on the floor while we are watching t.v. so be it. She won't do it forever (and really, she has started falling asleep in her bed MOST nights), and when we go to bed, we move her back. Really, it has gotten so much better over the last several weeks!
Here's what I've noticed though: when Megan goes to daycare and has a nap, which is every day, she has a difficult time falling asleep. But, if we can wear her out in the evenings by taking her out to play and letting her burn off energy, she goes to sleep much faster! On the weekends, we skip naps all together, and we don't have a bedtime battle.
She's almost 4 and has grown out of needing naps. Our daycare has a rule though, that kids have to lay down for at least 45 minutes- undoubtedly, Megan will fall asleep.
So, on the weekends, her bedtime routine is much better and she sleeps better than she does during the week. We get her pj's on, DJ reads her a story from the Bible, they say prayers and he says goodnight. I come in a bit later and give her another kiss, and she most often falls asleep in her bed.
Gretchen has been the easiest of all putting to sleep. When she was younger, we would follow the same bedtime routine. But now that she's older, we give her a kiss, send her to bed, and she stays up for a little bit reading before turning out her light. There are still several nights where DJ or I go upstairs with her, listen to her read, say her prayers, and then tuck her in. However, as soon as we leave the room, she grabs her book, turns on her lamp, and reads until we have her turn her light off.
So, my best tips for getting your kids to establish their own sleep style:
- Establish a consistent routine.
- Drop naps when it's appropriate for your child.
- Help your child burn off extra energy before bed- typically 5:30-6:30 works best in our house.
- Have a calming period. After bath time, start your calming routine- maybe have the child watch a favorite t.v. show for 20 minutes, or sit and read books with your child.
- Use "lovies" or things that provide your kids with security during the night. (paci's, favorite toys, or a drink!)
- Go with the flow. If you're tired of the battle. Stop fighting. Your child won't sleep with you forever, they won't sleep in their crib forever, or on the floor.
Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'd love for you to share your comments on how you get your child to sleep better!
I was asked by Wayfair.com to participate in their #mysleepstyle campaign. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this post.
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