Monthly Archives May 2018

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Sleep is a lost art when you are a parent. If you find something that works for your kids, you want to share it with all your friends. We’re in this together. Here is how the Pillow Fairy saved my sanity and got my toddler to sleep.

Night Owls

I live with night owls. It started in the womb with Bailey as her kicks always seemed to start around 11:30 pm and my little tap dancer would tap tap tap-eroo her way through my rib cage until about 3:00 am. I thought she was a little mixed up because she was in my belly but in reality she was readying me for the late night dance parties to come.

Starting as an infant, she seemed to enjoy playing and cooing into the wee hours of the morning. We tried moving naps around and did every bed time calm down routine we could find to no avail. I outwardly laughed and inwardly wept when suggestions poured in from friends and strangers alike. When I heard the words at parks and playgroups “I’m exhausted, [insert name here] didn’t go down until 10 pm last night, I was up all night”, I wanted to punch them in the face. 10 pm? That would be a dream!

She wasn’t just up late at night, she seemed to have a renewed source of energy that never stopped. Once she was mobile, she would crawl/run around the house a few times, tinker with toys, read books, etc. until she physically wore herself out. She rarely napped during the day and slept in a bit, but the child rarely slept.

Oh, and did I mention she would only sleep if she was in our bed? Yeah, the desolate crib mocked me every time I went in to change her. I’m sure somewhere along the line we went wrong letting her sleep with us, but when you’re breastfeeding a night owl, you do what you need to do to get buy.

Adding Night Owl #2

It didn’t bother me too much at first since I worked from home and could sleep in a bit with her in the mornings. When we found out we were pregnant with number 2, I thought for sure we would be able to get into some sort of early sleeping cycle by the time baby was born. Nope! Then, when little sis started following the same night time kicking pattern in the womb, I knew I was in for it.

Sienna arrived right before Bailey turned 2 and joined right in on the late night parties. Sienna may have stayed up later than most babies her age, but she was my unicorn baby that slept 8 hours straight once she finally got down. I had a ton of people ask me how I was sleeping with the new baby and I laughed because I was still dealing with a toddler that never slept – the baby was a breeze! After a few months, her unicorn status started wearing off and I reached an exhaustion of no return. When she began not sleeping unless physically touching me, sharing a bed with a toddler and a 4 month old crooked in your arm wasn’t going to work.

My Breaking Point

I could deal with one child’s late night parties, but adding in a second and trying to fit us all into one bed was my limit. Add on the hubs picking up a couple overnight shifts to ease the financial strain we were going through and I was trying to zone defense two adrenaline fueled night owls at night alone. After a complete breakdown phone call to my husband’s voicemail at 3:00 am, through wracking sobs I told him something had to change.

Meet the Pillow Fairy

I am a total believer in signs and things happening for a reason, so when we took the girls down to one of our favorite fall festivals the next day and the cloudy skies broke to shine upon one booth in particular, I had to stop and check it out. The sweet lady grabbed my hand and said, “honey you look exhausted, do you have trouble getting your daughter to sleep in her own bed?” Wait…what? I scoured the crowd waiting for someone to jump out with a hidden camera and looked for her magic ball, but when I saw nothing, I laughed and said, “story of my life”.

She told me about the book she wrote for her grandson that was having a hard time going to sleep and staying asleep in his own bed at night, called The Pillow Fairy. It was a story about a little boy who was told about the Pillow Fairy, who comes only at night once you fall asleep in your own bed and if you stay asleep the entire night, she leaves a little gift for you. It seemed like a cute story and I was so sleep-deprived and desperate that I purchased it, had her autograph it for me and didn’t think much of it. As we drove home, I showed my husband the book I bought and read a few excerpts to which we agreed, we would start reading it to Bailey as soon as we got home – what could it hurt?

Little did we know that in a few short weeks, this book would change our life…for the better. That may seem dramatic, but when you average about 2-3 hours a night of sleep for an extended period of time, sharing a bed with not one, but two children – it was a miracle.

Story Time

The best part about the Pillow Fairy is that it starts with the two of you reading a book. Yes, an actual book on paper – not a projection on the wall or on a phone or tablet. It’s a story you can share with your child over and over again. Children love to be read to and when you follow this story and tell them that the Pillow Fairy could visit them too, if they follow the rules, it adds to the excitement. I’m not going to get into the entire story, but I can tell you that Bailey was so excited, she rushed to her bed at 4 pm ready for the Pillow Fairy to visit.

We read the story every night for a week and it finally sank in after the 5th time. We read the story, looked out the window for the Pillow Fairy who was waiting for her to fall asleep, tucked Bailey into bed and we waited for her to slowly climb into bed for us. But that time never came – when Sienna woke at 2 am for a feeding, we peeked in on Bailey and she was sleeping soundly – in her own bed! We did our happy dance and then realized we needed to find something to slip under her pillow from the Pillow Fairy.

The next morning, I woke to giggles and happy sounds as Bailey ran into our room to show us that the Pillow Fairy came and brought her a stuffed dog toy! She was so excited she had to show baby sis, her brother Tequila and we even had to call Gigi and Pop Pop. That night she hopped right back into bed and made sure to wave to the Pillow Fairy before drifting off into sweet slumber.

Lasting Effects

I couldn’t believe it and wasn’t sure that it would last, but with only a few hiccups, Bailey not only went to her own bed, she stayed in her own bed overnight and has been sleeping soundly ever since. We were worried about breaking the bank with all the little “gifts” from the Pillow Fairy, but we hit up the $1 section at Target, checked out the local Dollar Tree and even went to Claire’s for some fun gifts that didn’t hurt our budget.

Once we got through a few months, we started talking to Bailey about all the other kids that really needed the Pillow Fairy’s help and she agreed that it was time for her to move on. We still sneak a few treats under her pillow, but it’s an extra special surprise for her and she doesn’t expect it. It’s been over 6 months and she not only sleeps in her room all night, but she has started going to bed every night around 9:00 pm!

If we could just get our littlest nugget to sleep, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves!

Don’t Wait, Get it Today

I have recommended the Pillow Fairy to multiple Moms (and a few desperate Dads) and all have given me a glowing review saying that this finally worked for their family! I knew I had to share where to purchase the Pillow Fairy for the countless others in need.

Everyone needs a little magic in their life, the Pillow Fairy is definitely ours! Wishing sweet dreams for your littles and for you!

 

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