Nobody handles mom-ing quite like Suzanne, my friend and contributor. She’s a mom of 3 with one more on the way, and has a husband in the Navy who works long hours and deploys frequently. We teamed up with JOHNSON’S for this sponsored post because she was eager to try out… anything that could make bedtime at their house something less than chaos, and we’re pretty sure many of you feel the same way.
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I have exactly zero kind words to say about that hour we lost to Daylight Savings Time last weekend. ZERO. And I used every single unkind word I know in the last week under my breath while dealing with exhausted children, a baby who is still running in circles at 9 pm, and the disaster that is thinking since I’m not tired yet I shouldn’t go to bed, even though the clock says it’s 1 am.
I’m not a fan, is what I’m saying.
When you throw in the challenges of a husband who is often gone or working through the bedtime hours, three children who don’t want to go to bed at the same time, plus pregnancy exhaustion, our bedtime routine is not always what you would call consistent.
So when JOHNSON’S® sent me their line of BEDTIME® products and asked me to take their “Tonight We Sleep™” 3-step challenge, I figured the worst thing that could happen was…nothing. Nothing could happen and we could stick with the status quo. Bedtime couldn’t actually get MORE chaotic. Why not give it a try?
The first part of the challenge is a warm bath with JOHNSON’S® BEDTIME® baby bath, JOHNSON’S® BEDTIME® baby bubble bath and wash or JOHNSON’S® BEDTIME® baby moisture wash. The kids were all a fan of the baby bubble bath and the no-tears formulas were great for both hair and body washing. It’s specially scented to be calming, which is a great way to start the bedtime wind-down after a busy day.
The second step in the Tonight We Sleep challenge is a calming baby massage with the JOHNSON’S® BEDTIME® baby lotion. Linc leans towards dry skin, especially when he’s getting lots of baths, so baby lotion is a must. This lotion left him soft, smooth and delicious-smelling. Not that I would actually eat my baby, but I certainly enjoy sniffing him while we rock to sleep. Plus who wouldn’t like a relaxing massage before bed?
The last step is quiet time, which is the most essential part of establishing a good routine. The experts recommend reading, singing or listening to music to help create an environment condusive to sleeping. We often read stories, but Linc is a little on the young side to sit through more than the most basic books. This is where the BEDTIME® Baby Sleep app became the BEST THING EVER. It has so much useful information – a sleep log with a timer so you can easily keep track of wakings to detect patterns, reminders of when to start your routine for the most consistent and unrushed bedtime, a link to a forum where you can ask for or read advice from other parents and ambient sounds like wind, crickets, waves, and white noise to help drown out other household noise. It also has a built in lullaby soundtrack you can customize with both familar songs and JOHNSON’S®
You can see a behind the scenes video of how the lullaby was created here, but let me just assure you it was created with magic. Dark magic, light magic, who the heck cares what kind of magic because it’s magic that WORKS. Not only does it put my own baby to sleep in less than 3 minutes both for naps and for bedtime, I used it on a pair of fussy newborn twins on Friday and before the song was even over both screeching babies were calm and drowsy. It HAS to be magic.
During our week long challenge, the biggest obstacle we faced was the night Linc fell on his face and had to go to the ER. Because nothing says “bedtime is screwed” like a baby who comes home at 9 pm with 4 stitches in his face. He’s FINE, I’m fine, it’s all fine. And honestly, once we got back on track the next night I think the bath + massage + lullaby time was super helpful in calming him down and distracting him from any pain. He slept for his usual 10 hours (which I learned was his normal pattern from the sleep log in the app) and has been less miserable each day as he gets a little more rest and no more night wake-ups.
Since the baby was going to sleep at a reasonable hour more consistently, I was going to bed at a reasonable hour more consistently. My mornings come a lot sooner than his do, since I have to get up in time to put the big kids on the bus, so every extra second he’s asleep is like a tiny gift from heaven. I don’t mind lunch-packing and breakfast-making so much when I got plenty of kid-free time in the evening and was still able to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
I would definitely encourage anyone who struggles with their bedtime routine to take the Tonight We Sleep™ Challenge. Starting with the time change really worked for us, because it was a time where we REALLY needed the help, but I would recommend any Friday or Saturday as a good day to start. Even if you aren’t a bath-every-night kind of family, I cannot emphasize the magic of the BEDTIME® Baby Sleep app – and especially the lullaby – enough.
Try it! You might love it. The only thing you have to lose is more sleep.
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9 comments
This is awesome, but can you do a post for help with keeping babies to sleep allllllllllll night. Know any writers with that kind of black magic? We’ve got our bedtime routine down, it’s the staying asleep part we can’t get the hang of ? like at all…
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