Giving The Gift of Sleep with TEMPUR®

 AD - This is a paid collaboration with TEMPUR®

2020 - What a year. A year full of ups, downs, rounds, and rounds, it's really been a time. Lockdown has impacted everyone's life in one way or another - whether you've experienced the illness first hand or not.

For our family, the changes have been notable and our lives have been turned upside down. Noah was off school for months, now we're having to home-school again due to a positive case in his class. Ava was supposed to start nursery back in April but it was pushed back to September - it seemed a good idea at the time but I feel now that she missed out. My partner, Nick, he's been working from home since March - which of course has it's own trials and tribulations too. Lockdown aside, as a mother I already had a limited amount of sleep. Children do that to you. It's like they are programmed to sleep as little as possible and their mission is to wake everybody up at the crack of dawn - You've got to love those little, walking, talking, alarm clocks.

On the whole, we've adjusted well and have appreciated the extra time we've had together without school, nursery, and work getting in the way. That said, there are other areas which have suffered - the main one being sleep and we all know that isn't a good thing. Sleep is important in so many ways - for your health, mentally and physically, for concentration, productivity, it's vital for your immune system and so much more. 

With the importance of sleep at the forefront of my mind and with December just two weeks away, I thought what better than giving someone I love the gift of sleep. I have my partner Nick in mind for this, however, I think we all need it.

The foundation for a good night's sleep starts where you rest your head - it all begins with a high-quality pillow and mattress and that's where TEMPUR® comes in. TEMPUR® is the best of the best when it comes to mattresses and pillows and have been for generations. Their products provide proven pressure relief and are designed to distribute weight and pressure evenly. Their mattresses and pillows support your body, absorb motion, all while ensuring the utmost comfort - making sure you have a restful and deep sleep. They say how TEMPUR® Material works is complex, but what it does is simple: it helps you sleep better, longer, deeper.

The TEMPUR® pillow has given me the gift of sleep this Christmas and in return, I want to give the gift of sleep to my readers by providing the voucher code: TEMPUR1993 for an extra £25 off any single sized mattress, an extra £50 off any double+ sized mattress, or an extra £5 off any full-sized pillow.

Will you be giving the gift of sleep this Christmas?

Ways to help your baby sleep

As a first time Mum I am by no means an expert when it comes to babies. In fact half of the time I don't know what I am talking about and I just go with what my intuition tells me to do. I think that's all a Mother can do and should do.

Noah has been a good sleeper from a young age but when he goes through a leap it all changes. Just when you think you have cracked the whole sleeping and napping malarkey a big development leap rears it's head and sets you back to square one. It can be frustrating but with a little bit of patience and persistence you can get back to where you were.

Today I thought I would share with you my top tips on how to make nap and bedtimes times easier and hopefully drama free.

Unwind. About half an hour before I take Noah up for a nap or to bed we will snuggle up on the sofa together, I will stroke his hair, give him kisses and cuddles. I think this is one of the key stages for us.

Be quiet. As well as unwinding before sleep I talk to Noah in a soft and quiet voice. I will turn the TV down if it's on. I like to have everything calm right before I take him up to his room.

Lullaby. I don't sing to Noah because it doesn't ease him into a relaxed sleep but instead has the opposite effect and makes him laugh and dance, which is just charming really! We have the Vtech Scout Puppy and we play it's lullaby for 15 minutes at naptime and bedtime. Noah finds it really soothing and it's also good to have a little background noise to cover up your footsteps and that creaky door when you are trying to make your escape.

Comforter. Babies either love them or don't bother with them and Noah loves his. He has two teddy bear comforters which we call his "Kiki's". He's had them since he was a few weeks old and as soon as he has one in his hands, his eyes begin to roll. He takes so much comfort from them and I think some babies just need that extra comfort to get to sleep.

Blackout Blind. Noah usually doesn't mind about it being too light or too dark but when he is going through a leap he seems to be more sensitive to it. I don't know if many other Mum's experience that too? Noah's nursery can become really light in the mornings so I have been looking at blackout blinds and the Itzala webshop have some great choices available.

Night light. Again Noah doesn't usually mind his room being light or dark but he does go through patches of not liking it to be too dark. He has a couple of nightlights so we have started to use them at bedtime and it's nice not leaving him in pitch black.

Do you have any tips you would like to share with me? 

Baby Diary: 7 Months Old

It literally doesn't feel like a minute ago that I was typing up your 6 month update. This month could possibly been the quickest month to date. There's no sign of time slowing down. Each month you come on leaps and bounds but this month you seem to have changed dramatically. Every day I seem to love you more and more and I don't even know how that is physically possibly! You are my best little buddy. 

Character

You are still that cheeky chappy we know and love. You are a dream first baby as you are just so easy to please and a pleasure to be around. You usually wake up with a smile and go to bed with one too. You love to smile and and laugh and give them away freely. We will have the odd day where you are cranky but that's usually when you are teething or a bit constipated. 

You have learnt how to throw a mini strop this month though. If you are playing with something that I would rather you not be and I take it off you, you will cry! Then if I give it back you stop. I now don't give it back as I don't want you to learn that if you throw a wobbler you will get your own way. I usually give you something else to distract you. 

Your confidence is growing around other people and you seem to have totally overcome stranger anxiety now which is great. People are now able to see the Noah we know and love and get to enjoy you like we do. 

Size

I'm a bad Mum. I really need to get you weighed. You are now wearing 6-9m in everything but I am finding that some of the smaller sizes babygrows are already starting to get a little snug on the legs and feet. But that just seems to be in the Next babygrows. Everything else is fine. You have long legs and arms and a skinny little body. Considering how much you eat I am surprised you aren't a bit chunkier. 

Health

Well you had another good month until this morning! This morning you turned 7 months old and you woke up with your first cold. You have a runny nose, are sneezing and a little cough. You are currently napping in the travel cot beside me as I type this up. You had a bad night sleep last night with it and considering the lack of sleep and the cold you have been in a good mood. You aren't your usual cheeky self. We are still getting smiles but you just want to be cuddled and want to take it easy. Hoping you won't begin to feel worse and that this is as bad as you will feel. I don't like to see you under the weather but I am enjoying these extra snuggles. 

Feeding

You love your food and are yet to discover something you don't like the taste of. You now have three meals a day; breakfast, lunch, dinner. Usually porridge and fruit for breakfast, a veg meal and a fruit dessert for lunch, then a meat meal and pudding for dinner. At the mintue we are living with the in laws while our house is being renovated so we have been relying on baby food jars as we aren't cooking. You have the stage 2/ from 7 months jars and pouches and enjoy the different textures. Once we are in our new house you will be eating what we eat and mainly eating home cooked foods again. 

I have introduced fingers foods too and you do brilliantly with them. Your favourites are; toast, crumpets, strawberries, wafer biscuits and biscotti. Again once we are in the new house I want to give you lots more choice and variety when it comes to finger foods too. At the moment everything is convenience but I do get lots of fresh fruit and veg into you. 

Seeing as you are such a foodie you don't really bother with your milk anymore and we really need to make you drink it. You currently have 4x 5oz or 3x 5oz a day. I like giving you porridge in the morning as I make it with your milk and it's a good way of getting more milk into you. 

You now also drink cooled boiled water or very weak juice with your meals as we were having issues with constipation as you eat that much! You drink about 5oz of water/juice a day. 

Sleep

As I have already said we are currently living with your Grandparents whilst our new house is being renovated. I think as you are now sleeping in a new room, in a new place that is has interfered with your sleep a little. You are still sleeping well but the room gets really hot and bright in the morning which tends to wake you up. I can't open the window either as it's a busy road and that would wake you too. That being said you are still sleeping around 10 hours but seem to wake a lot more frequently. Nap wise you have been great! I think the noise of the traffic soothes you at nap time as you have never napped so well! 

Milestones

- Sitting. You are pretty much sitting up totally unaided now. I still wouldn't leave you alone whilst doing so as you can get a bit lazy when you are tired. I'm so proud of you. 

- Confidence. Again your cofidence with other people has grown so much this month. Although you can have your shy moments and can still cry if a stranger takes you from me and is a bit full on with you. 

- Vocal. You have always been a very chatty baby but this month you have discovered your consonants. You now babble away with gaga, rara, dada, baba, yaya. You haven't said a word purposely yet though so we are still holding out for your first word. 

- Coordination and movement. Where as before you could only grab items at arms length you are now able to move your body to reach across for things. Now items that I think should be out of reach are easily picked up, nothing is safe! I've also seen you grab your dummy or a toy with your feet to drag it up to your hands! Little monkey boy!

- Food, As I have previously said you now eat lumpy baby foods and can eat various finger foods. You love to feed yourself. 

- Playing. You now enjoy older toys that require a bit of concentration. I only need to show you something once and you remember how the toy works. You love to kick your toys around too whilst you are sat up. 

- Eating you feet. You have discovered that your toes taste really nice!

Things you like

- SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS. You took a liking to spongebob back when you were only a few months old and would stare at the TV in awe. Well now you absolutely adore it. You will be watching it and I can see you enthralled. You smile at certain characters and laugh at different points. If you hear the theme tune or someone sings it to you (which we do a lot as you love it so much) you will get all excited and smile away. Yesterday I was singing it to you and when I got to the part that says "sea" you said "eeee". I thought it must be a fluke but kept singing it to you and you said it about 5 times in a row. So your first word might end up being sea! Ha ha.

- Kiki. You cannot go anywhere without your comforters which we nickname Kiki's. You play with them, snuggle them, bite them, suck them. I bought them in a two pack from TK Maxx when you was a newborn and they are the best baby item that I invested in. I just wish I bought some more of them because you are really partial to these two certain ones and if we lose them I don't know what we would do!

- Food. I've said it a dozen times but you are so good with your food. You have tried so much and we haven't discovered one food that you don't like. I just hope that you will be this much of a good eater when you get older.

- Singing. Although I have a terrible singing you voice you love it when I sing to you. A long with the spongebob theme tune your favourite song is "hush little baby" and one I improvised "How much is that Noah in the window? The one with the curly hair? How much is that Noah in the window? I do hope that Noah's for sale!"

- Nappies and Wipes. I don't know why I bother with toys. You get the most enjoyment out of throwing a nappy about!

Things you don't like

- Having something taken of you. You will now throw a wobbler if you don't want it taken from you!

- Bedtime. Since we have moved in with the inlaws while our house is being renovated you have decided that you no longer want to go to bed at 8pm (which is late enough) but will fight sleep until as late as 11pm. I think the change of routine is to blame. 

- Runny noses. We are currently experiencing our first cold and you have been handling it well despite the coughing fits. It really bothers you when I try to wipe your nose. 

 

So there we have it for another month! Lets hope this month goes by a little slower. The next time I write your update we should be settled in our new home. So exciting! 

All about baby - Day 3 - Where Noah sleeps

At the moment Noah is still sleeping in his moses basket beside our bed at night. He has just turned 12 weeks old and he has almost outgrown it. We will be making his transition to cot in the next few weeks but he won't be going into his own room but his cot will be brought into ours. I can't believe my tiny baby is about to go into his big boy cot.