Creating a good sleeper

April 21, 2020

You only truly begin to appreciate just how important sleep is once you are badly deprived of it. 

I had no idea at the time, but our first child was actually a total dream when it came to sleeping. We went through all the regular newborn and teething 'fun', but on the whole, she was an amazing sleeper. Number two child? Not so much. He woke every few hours on the dot. We tried every single trick in every single book written on sleeping. I took in way too much advice, I purchased all the things. We tried all the different routines. Nothing worked. Nothing. 

So, I can hand on heart say that I understand what it's like to have terrible sleep. I've lived through it, and we came out the other side with a gold medal sleeper who actually asks to go to bed if he's tired, falls asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow and wakes up 11 hours later fully recharged. Oh I know... the irony.

As crazy as it sounds, I'm actually OK with those few years of extreme sleep deprivation (now that I'm not living it!). The singular focus on sleep meant I did a lot of thinking about the small things that might make a difference. Ultimately, it helped influence our product design. For example, it's why the junior and toddler beds feature a guard-rail and why all our beds are low to the ground. We call it parent-driven design and you can read more about that here

Lockdown Survival Guide from Cherished Sleep: 

If you've been thinking that sleep routines have gotten a little out of hand during lockdown and that once the kids are (eventually) back at school/kindy/daycare, you might indeed have a teeny tiny issue getting them out of bed, before - say 8:30am, then Please read this.

The author is my sleep hero. Kim absolutely knows her stuff and I can personally verify that she has a huge impact if sleep has become a problem. The article is a very 'real' read, written from the double-perspective of both sleep expert and Mum. Whilst you're there, she has some great resources on supporting sleepers of all ages. 

So, good luck out there in your bubbles: may you be lucky enough to share them with great sleepers.