We're talking all things sleep!

Now that we are in the middle of Winter, it can be super tricky to keep your little one warm and snuggly! 

In this blog post, we'll give you some great little tips to make those long nights just a little bit easier x 

Bedtime with my three

Just thought I'd share some of my own personal experiences of sleep with my three little ones! Here I've included a small list of things that have worked for us: 

Spotify Music Mix - Ocean Mix

In the middle of Winter with grey skies overhead and our Bali holiday canceled I was like - get me seaside! For a little taste of the sea, I tried out this new Spotify mix called Ocean Sounds and it so relaxing. The gentle background noise has helped bubba Coco sleep for another sleep cycle on occasion and the house has been calmer because I'm calmer. 

Bedtime Routine

So many people suggest a bedtime routine and initially, I thought how on Earth will this be possible especially with our third bub! We jump around a bit of an evening and it can get a little hectic with a run to soccer training and getting homework sorted. 

I approach our bedtime routine in a more relaxed way though. For us, it doesn't have to be a strict 5.30pm 'bubba has a bath' but generally each evening we go through the same steps. Coco has a feed from me followed by a shower for the boys. After this, it is dinner time and either play or cuddles or story or a mixture of all three. Most likely she will take a bottle after this and then it is time to snuggle her into her ergoPouchsleepsuit and she sucks her dummy. While it's not to the minute, it is mostly the same pattern of events and that as a 'routine' I'm happy with!

Diffuser

Another great background sound has been our diffuser I bought from Snotty Noses. It's a gentle white noise that we've added to our bedroom (Coco is in the bassinet next to our bed) and we add oils to help aid calm sleep and help with any nasty congestion

Taking a minute for yourself

The more experience I have at this whole parenting gig, the more I appreciate that if I'm not OK, the flow-on effect to everyone else in our bubble is huge. I'm truly crap at taking time for myself but would be the first to tell anyone that it is vital. Some things I've tried that have really helped are taking a hot bath - it doesn't have to be an hour reading a book with a wine like it once mean - just taking 15min or so has been an absolute gift. 

I've loved lighting an iKOUcandle and taking a moment to appreciate how beautiful it is and setting an intention like 'I'm making a restful and happy space by lighting this where I can cozy up with my family and be calm'. 

On Insta, I follow Cat Sanz who started 5 Minutes of Mine - reminding mums (mostly) to take a moment each day to do something for them.

Cuddle Bunny

No sleep is complete without a snuggle toy! The Cuddle Bunny is Coco's favourite with its long, soft ears which help her to self-soothe and sleep peacefully. When we go out, I often take Cuddle Bunny with us and attach her dummy to the long ears to keep it secure.

Storytime

When Coco gets a bit older, we will bring out the Soft Book as a cute little bedtime story. The soft, crinkly pages encourage sensory stimulation plus the bright pictures and cute characters are a great way to introduce reading to little ones.