Sleep regression sucks. At any age. It’s always a dark curtain of despair in which well-meaning, loving parents turn into zombies, and wonderful children transform into shadows of themselves. A sleep regression can last just a few nights, or months. Sometimes there’s a clear explanation, and sometime it’s beyond mysterious. We’ve been through it multiple times with both of our kids, and I’m here to throw down every damn solution that I can think of. Because I remember: sleep regression sucks. Continue reading
Category: Cosleeping (Page 1 of 2)
What is cosleeping? Bedsharing? How does your child sleep at home? How did you decide how to set up the room when you brought home your baby?
Real Simple Mama combines research and personal experience to show you all of the options when it comes to your baby’s sleep.
One of the goals is to disband the myth that cosleeping (your child sleeping in your room) or bedsharing (your child sleeping in your bed) are dangerous. Too many parents – and kids! – would sleep a lot better if they didn’t feel guilty and pressured. There are safe ways to sleep which also nurture every family member!
I used to be afraid to tell anyone that we coslept for fear of judgment. But I’ve done too much research to care what other people think now. We all need to do what is best for our family, and sometimes that isn’t what society wants us to do.
Let Real Simple Mama give you the tools and recommendations so that you and your children can rest easy. No judgment here, whatever you decide. Just education and support.
Also, have you seen my eBook on baby sleep? You can find it here!
Bedsharing has been a lifesaver in our house, from saving my breastmilk supply to ensuring that everyone gets a decent amount of sleep. But I don’t feel like it’s mainstreamed into society well; with that, come a lot of secret society truths about bedsharing that only fellow bedsharers would understand. Here are a few of my favorites. Continue reading
We recently purchased the Sleep Number cSe for our family. Why is this significant? Because our toddler sleeps in bed with us and I nurse her throughout the night. Here’s a bedsharing mom’s review of the Sleep Number bed. Continue reading
There are about one hundred ways to get your toddler ready for bed. And I bet you know them all: from baths to massage to lullabies and stories, everyone has the routine which works for their little one.
But when you breastfeed (which means that you probably nurse to sleep, and also possibly bedshare), your ritual can look quite different. So I thought I’d give some perspective to the parenting posts of the world, and show you what bedtime looks like at our house. Read on for a bedtime routine for a bedsharing toddler. Continue reading
It’s bedtime, and your kids want a bedtime story. You probably know the rest. Or maybe your child is awake again, and you need to get them back to sleep!
When my babies have woken up in the middle of the night, they always want to hear a story to help them relax and fall back asleep. I don’t want to turn on a light and nothing comes to mind. If I don’t start spouting a tale soon, my kid will get agitated.
So I’ve come up with a few prompts to help you get started: my goal here is to help you create your own amazing, imaginative stories for your child! These are the bedtime tales which your kids will remember long after that sleepless night. Continue reading
Shh. Yes we bedshare. I know, I know, we are horrible people. It’s not anything new: bedsharing gets a bad rap in the news and media. But honestly, lots of families do it safely. And there has been more than once when it’s gotten us rest when all else has failed. This is nine times that bedsharing saved our sanity. How many of these sound familiar? Continue reading
Cosleeping is a natural thing, and you see it in cultures all over the world. A lot of families cosleep: it’s what works for them. But I think most parents are ashamed or embarrassed to admit this. Why? There are lots of reasons to bedshare, lots of benefits to all family members, and lots of ways to do it safely. Let’s get rid of the stigma that bedsharing is dangerous or crazy, and teach parents the truth: it can be pretty damn awesome. Continue reading
I realized the other day that I’ve used a baby monitor daily for three and a half years! And I don’t see myself stopping any time soon. Read on to learn how essential I find these little gadgets, even as a minimalistic AP mom, and why I can’t live without baby monitors. Continue reading
As your child grows and develops, they will inevitably have some wakeful nights. As a parent, I hate nothing more than being helpless against my child’s struggles. Here’s how to tell between nightmares and night terrors, and some tips to help you all get back to sleep. Continue reading
When we were expecting our first kid in 2013, we had put the Snuggle Nest on our registry, thinking “this will be perfect when we go spend the day with friends or relatives!” We had no idea how essential it would be to our daily lives; when we unexpectedly decided to cosleep, we were in the dark (no pun intended). The Snuggle Nest was our peace of mind.
