SleepTraining – BurritoBuzz

DockATot Grand {Product Review}

Published on January 6, 2017January 10, 2017 by AmandaLeave a comment

Sleep. Please give me all the sleep. It’s the thing that all parents are seriously lacking in. How toddlers run on so little sleep has to be some sort of miracle. Sleeping when they sleep doesn’t constitute to enough sleep most of the time. It’s a cruel joke, really. I know I know….”Cherish these days while you have them, they don’t last. You will wish you were up at 3 am snuggling in 6 years”. Blah blah blah. No I wont. I will never wish that I was up at 3 am watching Curious George praying that MAYBE it will make her settle long enough for me to snag a few more snoozes.

Until the day that my kids are teenagers and sleeping like I wanted them to when they were two, I will just funnel coffee directly down my throat, and work out at 5 am in hopes that I can make it till bedtime.

DockATot sent us their Grand dock and I gladly accepted. Promises of happier babies and more sleep. Yes please. Take all my money.

What is a DockATot?

Quite literally it is a safe pillow to nest your child in for a cozier sleep environment. It comes in two sizes the Deluxe and the Grand. Deluxe is made for 0-8months and Grand is made for 9-36 months.

The Grand is perfect for cuddling, playing, lounging, resting and everything in between. It’s ideal for travel—either from room to room, grandma’s house or on vacation. It’s also ideal for bed transitioning, thanks to built-in, air permeable bumpers that act as bed rails, allowing young children to settle more easily in a bigger bed. It gives little ones a snug sense of security in their newer, bigger beds.

The dock is BREATHABLE, MACHINE WASHABLE, OEKO-TEX CERTIFIED,HYPO ALLERGENIC, FREE OF CHEMICALS, AND NATURALLY COOLING.

The dock comes in many different patterns and they also have many cover options that you can purchase separately.

The pad and bumpers are very breathable. I shoved my face in and could definitely take a deep breath and breath comfortably. That made me feel good about my one year old using it. I wish I would have had this months ago when my little man was still co-sleeping because of nursing. I am sure this would have given him more hours of sleep in the pack n play next to my bed.

I have to admit that I was skeptical. It’s HUGE. And basically a big body pillow for toddlers. Both BK#1 and BK#2 are HUGE fans of it. BK#1 ended up with it permanently in her bed though. BK#2 is my sleeper and will sleep 12 hours at night and a good 2 hour nap during the day. BK#1 on the other hand is almost 3 and fights sleep with everything in her being. We recently moved her into a twin bed, and I think the large surface area might be messing with her sleep pattern. After I saw how much that she loved playing in it, and then dozing off in it, I decided to put it in her bed to see what would happen.

The past 3 days she has gone to bed without a fuss and stays up until her clock tells her that she can get out of bed. Which hasn’t happened in a few weeks! I am actually going to push the time up a little bit for her because I think it is actually waking her! She is definitely more comfortable and not tossing and turning as much. She hasn’t came in my room asking to be covered back up or arriving at my bedside at 4am saying she is up for the day. WIN!

BK#1 LOVED it in his crib. He is 1.5 and can have things in his crib, but the FAQs say that’s not what it is made for without observation. I put it in there for a nap time and a photo, because dang it …its adorable!

What I don’t love:

The price?!?! I get that its made of some awesome breathable fabric, its gone through some pretty strict testing, and the design is awesome…but really almost $300 is a little steep. That is NOT in the average person’s budget. The company is limiting their market by quite a bit with the price. If I knew that some pillow bumpers would have made my toddler happy then I would have put two body pillows in her bed!

Its HUGE. Yes it would be great to have at a grandparents house, or on a vacation for unfamiliar beds, but getting it there is the problem. You can purchase a carrying bag but its still the size of a large suitcase. Lord knows that parents have to take way too much as it is when we travel with children, add on carrying a huge pillow? Yeah that would be a big NO in my book. The car seat for the airplane is enough to lug around.

I give the DockATot a 3 out of 5 stars. Its awesome and definitely gets the job done, but the price is way too high and its definitely not something you have to have as a parent. Adorable and super popular right now? yes. Practical 100% of the time? No.

~Amanda

My child is scaring the crap out of me

Published on October 4, 2015October 4, 2015 by The Essential Life 365Leave a comment

When I was in college, I saw the movie Paranormal Activity with my fiancé (now DH). Mind you, I’ve always loved a good scare and own the entire Saw series. That movie scared me so badly I did not sleep for weeks.

Contributing factors to my fear:

The first night I saw it, after watching two comedies immediately after, I dosed off and my fiancé pulled my leg out from under the covers and started to pull me off the couch (scene from the movie, absolutely terrifying) (why did I still marry him?!)
My roommates found out about this fear and told me they were going to come into my room and stand over my bed for hours every night. I slept with my door locked, a chair up against the door and a BB gun next to my bed for two months. I wish I was exaggerating.

It’s scarier when you’re watching it alright?!

So when I say that ghosts/demons/general night time creepiness scares the living s%!+ out of me, I mean it.

Naturally you can understand my horror when while traveling recently, my LO developed a sleep talking, crawling and walking habit. This is worse than a habit. It’s happening about every other night and generally starts around 4 am. It goes on for about 45 minutes until I can’t take it anymore and go get her and bring her into my bed. It’s not fussing or crying. It’s baby gibberish along with her favorite word “uh oh!” We are also not limited to talking. Occasionally she’ll get up, shuffle a few laps around the crib and then face plant back down, completely asleep. Yea. It’s freaking terrifying to wake up to.

Crap Google told me:

Up to 40% of children will have a sleep walking/talking episode at least once.
It typically happens after they develop a new skill such as walking or talking.
Generally it will happen in the first two hrs of their sleep during REM sleep.
This can be hereditary.
There’s nothing you can really do about it.
You shouldn’t tell them about it because it could create a sleep anxiety.

Thanks Google. You’ve helped me not at all. My DH is a notorious sleep walker/talker also. Awesome.

I’ve decided that it happens more often when she has not taken good naps that day (so true that good naps = good night time sleep) or has had a lot of out-of-routine activity.

Moral of the story, my video monitor has turned into my own personal Paranormal Activity hell. Going to drink some sleepytime tea and pray for a night lacking another episode of Adventures With Asleep Callie…

-Chelsea

Our Sleep Schedule

Published on September 17, 2015October 25, 2015 by Katie KuceyeskiLeave a comment

The first 2-3 months of being a parent are brutal. There is such a HUGE adjustment period, and acclimating on little to no sleep is nearly impossible (not to mention those post-partum hormones.)

Like many, I brought my LO home thinking he’d sleep soundly in his beautiful nursery in his giant, expensive crib. HA. Oh man. I gave up within an hour. My LO was quickly laying in the Rock n’ Play next to my bed. Soon after, we upgraded to a full-blown pack n’ play with a sleeper/changer built in. My LO stayed in our room solidly for the first 6 weeks. In all honesty, it was easier. I could quickly feed and change my LO, watch him breath and fall asleep, and go back to bed (in-between Googling a billion things at 2AM.) When the 6 week mark approached, I knew I needed more sleep since I was going back to work at the 8 week mark. So, I set up a plan. I’m not a proponent of the CIO method, so I needed another way to get my LO to sleep more than 2 hours at night (especially with reflux.)

Once we got our reflux issues worked out (more about that in our “reflux” category,) my daily scheduled looked something like this:

6AM: Wake Up. Whether he was up or not.

9AM: Nap

Around noon: Nap

Sometime in the afternoon: Small nap

Bedtime: Firmly 8:00PM. I would take him up to his nursery, lights off, no talking, no playtime. He would eat, and, as much as I wanted to hold him forever, I’d lay him down in his crib.

During the day I kept him active. Lights on, window shades open. TV or background noise, and lots of play and interaction.

After putting him down at bedtime, if he would stir/cry I would give it a minute before running in instantly to console. I never let him cry hard, or more than a whimper.

I also put him to bed without his binky. Though, I sometimes had to go back in and give it to him to console him.

After about a week and a half of the routine, he was set. We have had the same schedule for months now, and it’s worked out SO so well for us. I was firm with our routine, and I think it helped us to really feel confident and get through the day. Disclaimer: you will get grief about this from someone. Do what works for you.

And, of course, this won’t work for all babies. Every baby is absolutely different. To any parent trying to get a scheduled day? Keep on it. Eventually you’ll have some progress, no matter how small.

-Katie