Whatever gets you through the night...

Once upon a time I had a baby. A gorgeous, chubby cheeked, rolly polly thighed boy baby. When he was born we thought he would sleep in the bassinet in our room. That lasted about two nights. He was a noisy snuffly sleeper and I was a blindingly exhausted first time Mum coping with more than any first time Mum should have to cope with. We moved the bassinet to just outside our room, then as our baby got bigger (and louder) down to the lounge, and finally into his own bedroom.

He was a good sleeper that baby, once we got past the first few weeks. At six weeks old he slept through the night and continued to do so for quite a while. We knew how lucky we were and counted our blessings. At nearly nine years old he is still a fantastic sleeper, once he eventually GOES to sleep.

Sadly I cannot say the same for his siblings. When our big girl was a babygirl she was a nightmare at night. She dropped day sleeps very early and slept far less at night that I would have liked. But she was happy and healthy. At seven years old now she finally sleeps through the night consistently, but still needs less sleep than her brother. From birth that girl slept near me, and so we became a co-sleeping family.

These days my sleep (or lack of) is shared with my autistic three year old (who has periods of waking constantly, not unusual for children with ASD) and my cheeky Little Miss Thing who seems to channel her oldest brother in many ways, sleep ability included. Unless she is teething. Then it's on for young and old.

The Little Mate is happy to know I am nearby. He needs that sense of security and I am happy to provide it for him for as long as he needs. I suspect the girl will transition to her own space before he does, truth be told.

But there is a downside for our sleepsharing and it is this: the small girl is a doona kicker.

It is freezing where we live. I may have mentioned that before. Overnight it gets incredibly cold, especially when the little bugger girl next to you insists on removing not only her coverings but yours as well. Then she wakes cold and cranky. It is not a fun one to me.

Recently I was lucky enough to be sent a beautiful Winter sleeping bag for my girl from Woolbabe. Despite the fact that my girl had not used a sleeping bag before I had very high hopes that this may solve our little dilemma.

The first night I put it on her she lost her mind was not really sure about it. Because she was not really sure about it the Little Mate got upset as well, and started yelling at me to take it off. That was ace fun. Not.

We hopped into bed and she quickly forgot her displeasure and fell asleep. The boy eventually did as well.

It was another terribly cold night, but for the first time I did not wake up frozen to the bone. The covers stayed where I wanted them (up to my ears!) and my girl slept beautifully next to me in her quilted wool filled sleeping bag. Win!

The next evening I got the duvet sleeping bag ready along with her pyjamas. She happily lay down and let me zip her into it. I'd love to tell you my Little Mate was happy about it too but change takes a long time for him to accept, so I did still get a few rounds of 'take it off'.

We've been using the zip front sleeping bag for a little while now and it has just become part of our evening routine. I am happy knowing that my girl is warm and toasty overnight, and I like not sharing my bedding with her kicky legs as well. For us it has been a definite winner.

You can purchase the beautiful Woolbabe merino sleeping bags at The Sleep Store.

Or, you might like to win one!

I have a Woolbabe merino sleeping bag to give away to one lucky reader in your choice of size and colour, valued at $129.

To enter, please leave a comment telling me what gets you through the night with a small person. Be creative, this is a game of skill! Once you have done that please click here to register your contact email and to put you in touch with both the Kate Says Stuff and Woolbabe Facebook pages. Easy right?

This competition ends on Sunday July 22nd and is open to Australian residents.


*** There has been some controversy in the news of late about co-sleeping. If this concerns you please rest assured that we are very aware of the safe co-sleeping guidelines and like all parents make decisions based on what is best for our family. Co-sleeping is not for everyone, but it works for us. Mostly ;)



Disclosure: we were sent a gorgeous merino sleeping bag for Little Miss Thing and it is making us both happy at the moment. No payment was offered or accepted and all opinions are my own as per our disclosure policy.