Slumberful Solutions, LLC

Tips on helping your newborn sleep better in their bassinet:

1. Swaddle or sleep suit (we use baby Merlin’s)

2. Dark room, as dark as you can get it. That’s right, baby’s don’t experience a fear of the dark. Infact they prefer it because it mimics the darkness they experienced in your womb.

3. White noise as loud as a shower. This mimics the sounds heard in the womb and drowns out environmental noises such as snoring or turning in bed.

4. Take a shirt that you wore all day and lay it in the bassinet before bed time. You can even sq**rt some breastmilk on it for an added scent bonus!

5. My personal favorite. Lay a heating pad down on top of the bassinet before bedtime to allow the bassinet to warm up. Remove the heating pad before placing your baby inside of it. And double check with your hand before as well to ensure it isn’t too hot. We’re looking for a towel fresh out of the dryer type of warmth!

Look at this cutie! Sweet Benton has come so far!! When I first met him he struggled falling asleep, staying asleep, and he woke for night feeds all through the night. He also had a brand new baby sister and mom was exhausted. Today, Benton goes to sleep at the same time every night and sleeps all through the night for 12 plus hours. We kicked the night feeds in one day and his naps have improved so much! Most importantly Benton learned how to self soothe and put himself to sleep peacefully!

Hatch Baby Rest Sound Machine, Night Light and Time-to-Rise

Last year we purchased The Hatch from amazon to help Rhett with his early morning wake ups and it helped us out tremendously!! He now knows when the light is red he needs to stay In bed and be quiet and when the light is green it’s time to get up and mom and dad will be in to get him! Because of that I will forever recommend this product.

I have had so many new clients benefit from this as well that I decided to offer a promo!
SOOO, every packaged purchased from today until the end of June will come with a free Hatch, the same one below! A 60$ value! Don’t walk, run!! To book a package, reserve a start date and earn a free hatch, fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JZKRjPLjSlwQJJSzWnpZQRiAYigI8iy-SZZY_qvgh4A/viewform?edit_requested=true

Talk soon!

https://amzn.to/3oy67N6

Hatch Baby Rest Sound Machine, Night Light and Time-to-Rise Hatch Baby Rest Sound Machine, Night Light and Time-to-Rise

Wake window- the amount of time your baby is awake in between sleeping periods. Start counting from the moment you take your baby out of the crib until the moment you put baby back into their crib!
Every child is different which is why most of the wake windows are in ranges! No mama guilt allowed, it’s okay if your child’s window is a bit off from the chart!
“Why are these important?”
Wake windows ensure your child doesn’t get overtired. Over tiredness can cause tantrums, low appetite, difficulty falling/staying asleep and more.
“What if my baby is acting tired but hasn’t been awake long enough”
Try some of these activities to wake them up:
•Go outside for 20 minutes
•change scenery, go to a different room
•play in the sink, cool water
•coloring, Plato, learning activities
•an activity to get their muscles moving
Don’t stress! Finding the correct wake window for your baby can be a bit of trial and error. You can adjust and experiment every couple days by 5-10 minutes until you find the sweet spot!
I often hear parents tell me “her wake window says she should nap right now but she isn’t acting that tired” THAT IS THE GOAL!! When your child starts getting fussy and melting down they are usually already over tired, your window has passed. You know you found the sweet spot when they are slowing down/quieting down, telling you they’re tired, or rubbing their eyes, BUT they are not yet fussing! Bedtime and nap time should not be a battle, and finding the right wake window will help tremendously.
Save these to your phone to look back at later if naps or early wakeups start to become a struggle!

how sleep deprivation affects your relationship – Slumberful Solutions

https://slumberfulsolutions.com/how-sleep-deprivation-affects-your-relationship/(opens in a new tab)

how sleep deprivation affects your relationship – Slumberful Solutions It seems that way, doesn’t it? You have a night of broken, interrupted, just plain lousy sleep, and the next day people are driving like they’ve been lobotomized, humming and hawing about their Starbucks order in front of you, and asking you the same stupid question at work that you’ve already...

Happy monday!! Sometimes mondays are hard for me. I just spent the whole weekend with my husband and my toddler and now it's back to business! I love my job, the motivation just tends to lack on monday! Some tips that have helped me?
1. Get ready! Dress cute, do your hair, make up on fierce. When you look good, you feel good, and you're more likely to be productive with that mindset.
2. Meditate and motivate! Go over two things you want to achieve today and manifest it. When you start your monday off right the rest of the week falls in line. Morning meditation with my coffee always puts me in a better mood.
3. Give yourself something to look forward to. A bubble bath after work, a glass of wine and Grey's anatomy, a good book and a cozy blanket. Makes the day go much faster.
4. TAKE-OUT! Nothing worsens a monday like getting off work only to slave the evening away in the kitchen. Save that for tomorrow.

What are your monday motivation tips?

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mamas out there! Dog moms, step moms, Angel moms, TTC moms, and human moms! You all matter!
And to all the dads out there who had to be both mom and dad, this day is for you too!
May all your days be filled with love and appreciation!

Research has shown that it takes the average person up to 10 minutes to fall back to sleep after a middle of the night waking. Your little waking in the night may just be them in between sleep cycles. They want to go back to sleep they are just frustrated that they are awake and they just need some time to get there. Waiting 10 minutes after you hear your little cry before going in to get them may be just enough time to let them fall back to sleep on their own, infact 9/10 times when my clients are faced with a night wake the baby is back to sleep within the 10 minute time frame. This decreases future wake ups from happening and allows for better sleep not only for your little but also for you. If 10 minutes pass and they are still crying then by all means, intervene! But give them a chance to figure it out and put themselves back to sleep first before you initiate or else you could cause a full wake up that didn't even need to happen!

Personally, I would choose the maid! But the Chef would be nice too! Which would you pick?

Hey guys! Be on the lookout for me tonight on KSNT news during their 5pm show! I had the honor of being interviewed for their health segment this month, where I talk all about slumberful and what I do! 🥰

when You want to sleep train but your partner does not – Slumberful Solutions

“I want to sleep train but my partner isn’t on board” A sentence that 9 out of 10 of my clients will say to me, and a sentence I spoke myself when my son wasn’t sleeping. So you want to sleep train but your partner doesn't want to spend the money, they don't think your child needs the help, they think you guys can do it yourselves, or they just don't want some stranger coming into their lives and telling them what to do with their kiddo! I've heard it all, trust me! This is very common, in fact on the rare occasion that I get a call from both parents equally on board I nearly faint in amazement!
https://slumberfulsolutions.com/when-you-want-to-sleep-train-but-your-partner-does-not/

when You want to sleep train but your partner does not – Slumberful Solutions “I want to sleep train but my partner isn’t on board” A sentence that 9 out of 10 of my clients will say to me, and a sentence I spoke myself when my son wasn’t sleeping. So you want to sleep train but your partner doesn’t want to spend the money, they don’t think your child needs the he...

If there's only one tip that you take away from me when it comes to transitioning to the toddler bed please let it be this: Create a good sleeper before creating change! If your toddler is not sleeping well in their crib, moving them to a toddler bed will not improve their sleep. In Fact most often it makes things worse. You have a disadvantage when it comes to sleep training in the crib, it's much easier to maintain situations and it usually goes a lot faster too. Improve your child's sleep before you move them to their big kid bed. You want them to love bedtime and be okay with you tucking them in and walking away before you move beds. Trust me, it will go much smoother for everyone this way!

Ahhh the first couple days, even weeks of transitioning your little to their big kid bed are the best. Butttt it usually ends there, we call this the honeymoon phase. The day you move your little over to their new bed is a day full of so much excitement. There's new bed sheets, new blankets and pillows, mom and dad are talking in there happy voice, and they are spending a lot of time with me, PLUS they keep saying I'm a big kid now and look at my cool new bed! However, once the excitement wears off, things fall back into routine, the bed sheets don't smell so new anymore, and the new bed suddenly feels scary, all of the sleep problems your toddler had before come barging right back in, sometimes even worse than before! Sound familiar?

How iron affects sleep – Slumberful Solutions

Can low iron affect sleep? Let's chat about it!
https://slumberfulsolutions.com/how-iron-affects-sleep/

How iron affects sleep – Slumberful Solutions Let me just throw a little disclaimer out in front of this post by saying that I’m neither adoctor nor a professional research scientist. I’m a sleep specialist with a fascination for allthings sleep-related, and I follow the latest research and studies in the field.Typically when I write these ...

You guys!!! Check out my newest grads in their slumberful gear, Sydney and Ariyah! SS shirts make great PJ tops. These sisters took on the slumberful sleep course together! In less than a month their nights were completely transformed. They hated bedtime and spent a good amount of time procrastinating it as well as waking up multiple times in the night. Today they are running their own bedtime routine, telling mom and dad it’s time for bed, in bed and asleep in under 20 minutes, and sleeping all through the night!! 💓💓 so proud of these two! Dorcianna

Is your baby showing signs of rolling? If so it's probably time to ditch the swaddle. Once they get curious that first roll could happen at any time. Even during a snooze, we want baby's arms out so they can hold themselves up if they do take that first roll in the middle of the night. This creates a much safer sleeping environment.

Start by leaving one arm out for 3 nights or until baby is used to it.
Then remove both arms, swaddle just below the armpits. Do this for 3 more nights
Then switch over to a sleep sack!

The first night of each transition may be rocky but hang in there! It shouldn't take more than a few nights for baby to adjust.

Let's talk about adults for a second. It's easier to spot sleep deprivation in others but for some reason it's much harder to diagnose ourselves. Maybe it's because we're too tired to notice 😉. Here are some common symptoms that go hand in hand with sleep deprivation in adults. If you are experiencing a majority of these, you may be sleep deprived! If you're a new mama or a mama of a sleepless child, let's talk about getting your whole family sleeping better, so you can get back to loving motherhood!

Welcome back to drowsy week part 5! Today let's talk about stage 5.
This is the final stage of drowsiness. The final stage of drowsiness is always also the first stage of sleep. Because our brains are unable to shut down immediately into sleep, although it does seem most men have that ability 😉. Trust me, they too need a slow power down in order for the minds to switchover into their sleep cycles. At this point your baby has gone from playing, to clingy, to fussy, to inconsolable. Now sleep has taken over, their eyes are closed but they may still wiggle around a bit as the first stage is very light and can be easily waken from.

This stage completes drowsy week part 2! Keep in mind that these cues may not look the same for every baby, so it's important to start with one cue and pay close attention to what comes next. After watching this a couple times you'll be able to tell when your baby is getting drowsy vs when they are full blown over tired ready to be laid down.

Welcome back to drowsy week part 2! Today let's talk about stage 4.
This is basically the final straw for your baby before they tire out to sleep. This is when your baby is practically inconsolable, some will confuse this stage with gas or discomfort. They will arch their back, scream and fuss, rub their eyes and pull on their ears. They may also appear to be rooting which is really just them attempting to turn their head away from stimulation and into your chest for comfort. Once again, double check for a feed, double check their wake windows, and lay them down for a nap after you ensure their bellies are not in need of milk and that their wake window has passed! But wait there's more…..

Welcome back to drowsy week part 2!
Today let's talk about stage 3. At this point your baby is visibly demanding change. Most people confuse this stage with hunger. They will offer their baby milk when they really just want to sleep. But your baby finds comfort in feeding so they will happily oblige. This is often how parents get roped into now feeding their little to sleep every time. When determining if this is real hunger or just sleepy cues. Check their wake windows to determine if it's actually naptime. If not then ask how long it's been since their last feed, did they fill up their tummy? If not then absolutely offer a feed first! If you assume they're just fussy or they are full and deny the bottle, get ready for stage 4….

Welcome back to drowsy week part 2! Today let's talk about stage 2. This is that moment when your baby goes from playing happily to suddenly wanting to be held, cue the “Don't even think about putting me down” clinginess. They don't want to play with their favorite toys anymore, they aren't focusing as easily and they aren't as giggly. You may notice their eyes getting a little heavy and their blink slowing down. This is a short period before stage 3 comes barging in….

We’ve talked about what sleepy cues look like during feeds, now let's talk about what they look like off the bottle/breast. Starting off with stage 1, these are characteristics you will find in a rested baby who is fully awake with playtime on the brain! If your baby never gets to this point after sleeping periods and always appears to be tired, they most likely are not getting enough sleep or the sleep they are getting is fragmented or inadequate. Reach out to me so we can change that! Come back tomorrow to find out what stage 2 looks like.

Is my baby waking from hunger? – Slumberful Solutions

Is your baby truly waking in the night out of hunger or just to get some midnight mama time? Click the link to find out!
https://slumberfulsolutions.com/is-my-baby-waking-from-hunger/

Is my baby waking from hunger? – Slumberful Solutions We’re all willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that our babies are properly nourished, obviously, butas anyone who’s been through this glorious journey of motherhood will tell you, kids are shrewd. They’reunimaginably clever. They will find ways to get what they want and they will repeat ...

*If you haven't already, go back to part 1,2,3,and 4 so you can better understand part 5!
Now you've reached the final stage of feeding to sleep. At this point your baby is either fully asleep with the bottle hanging out of the side of their mouth. Or they are still suckling but ever so softly with long pauses between each suckle. Their eyes may open but only because the brain forces them too while suckling so not to choke. If you were to remove the bottle from this point your baby would probably not notice too much and continue to sleep. This is great, for the next 15-40 minutes because the moment they realize they are not in the same spot that they fell asleep in, they will wake in pure confusion fussing for you all over again! While sleep training or newborn teaching, avoid this final stage like the plague! Notice I only say WHILE training. Holding your baby and feeding them to sleep is one of the most precious moments you can have as a parent, I would never want to deprive someone of that. SO once training is over and your little has mastered their new sleep skills, an occasional snooze to sleep is perfectly safe, as long as it's the exception and not the rule! It’s much more enjoyable when it's not forced on you so often anyway!

*If you haven't already, go back to part 1,2,and 3 so you can better understand part 4!
Your baby is now officially in stage 1 of sleep. You will see your baby closing their eyes for several seconds and then peeping back open suddenly. If you've ever been watching a movie late at night and found yourself taking a couple seconds of sleep during a scene only to open your eyes again and realize you missed a couple seconds of the movie, this is very similar to that feeling. This is also the stage that feed to sleep associations begin, if you're sleep training or preparing to teach your newborn healthy sleep habits, this stage should be avoided completely in order to stay on track! Come back tomorrow for part 5!

* If you haven't already, go back to part 1 and 2 so you can better understand part 3!
Your baby is now tip toeing over to stage one of sleep, they are drowsy yet awake. Their eyes appear to be more heavy at this point and their blinks are very long. Singing or tickling a baby at this stage most likely won't be enough to wake them. Simply removing the baby from the breast or bottle will do the trick. It's similar to flipping on the bedroom light while your partner is dozing off, instant wake up! Come back tomorrow for part 4!