Oh for a good nights sleep…

cosy bedroom

In my life before children, sleep wasn’t a thing. That is, I slept. When I was tired, for as long as I needed. I didn’t think about it. To be honest, even after having Lola, sleep still wasn’t a thing. She was one of those blissful babies who liked to sleep, she slept twelve hours a night from eight weeks old and even before that only got me up once or twice in the night for a feed.

So I was somewhat unprepared the years of sleep deprivation that were too come later. After Kiki was born, I had really bad PPD, while she slept, I didn’t. I was too tense, too sad, too freaked out about everything to sleep. By the time we had our third I already had three years of sleep deprivation behind me. Again, as a teeny tot she slept all night long, but her sleep got worse as she got bigger.

Now, it’s probably a good eight years since I slept all through the night, on the rare occasion that all three kiddos {or papa} don’t wake me up, you can guarantee I’ll be awake in the early hours anyway. A tired Polly is not a happy Polly. I need sleep, and lots of it. I turn into an emotional wreck if I don’t get a good nights sleep.

I decided it was time to tackle my bad sleeping once and for all. Web-blinds.com have published a guide to getting a good nights sleep. It’s full of great advice and suggestions to help you get a better nights sleep, and sleep for longer.

After reading, we decided that we needed to purchase a mattress topper. Our mattress is quite old, and not always that comfortable, so we hoped adding a mattress topper would help! We picked a memory foam one, which also came with two memory foam pillows. I wasn’t too sure it would make much difference as it was pretty thin, but when I got in bed I was actually really surprised at to how much more comfortable the bed felt, and the pillows were amazing! I’ve also started using some sleep balm on my temples at bedtime to help me relax and unwind. Add to that a ban on me playing on my phone in bed and I have been falling asleep easier. I still get disturbed in the night, but I think the time I’m actually asleep is a better quality.

sleep balm

What are your top tips for getting a good nights sleep? {Other than not having any kiddos ;)}

9 Comments

  1. Eleanor (thebristolparent)

    April 2, 2014 at 14:19

    I can’t believe I’m saying this, but (for someone who used to be able to drink a LOT of vodka and diet coke and still sleep), the best thing to try is to cut out caffeine and sweets as early in the day as you can feasibly stand it. Which for me is about 3pm on the former and probably never on the latter. I also use yoga breathing when I can’t get to sleep, which seems to help a bit.

  2. Jess @ Along Came Cherry

    April 2, 2014 at 19:38

    I’m so bad without sleep too, it makes me so moody and horrible. I definitely can’t drink any caffeine in the late afternoon / evening if I want to get to sleep well and chocolate too late at night gives me nightmares! x

  3. Adele @ Circus Queen

    April 2, 2014 at 20:32

    After having a baby who did. not. sleep, I am enjoying having one who does (at least for now). That said, I have so much trouble switching off. I’m going to sleep at stupid o’clock and finding myself up for ages if she wakes even though she falls straight off. I didn’t really appreciate what a problem this was until my driving lesson today where I made dumb mistakes and spent the whole hour thinking, ” Gosh, I’m tired!” So, it’s timely for me to be reading this!

  4. Laura

    April 3, 2014 at 01:46

    Ooh this sleep balm sounds amazing – my mind is always racing with things I need to do so I may need to try this – other option is to have one or two glasses of wine that usually helps (perhaps not the best idea though by hey it works :)

    Laura x

  5. Fritha

    April 3, 2014 at 10:55

    I was going to say don’t have kids ha! The sleep balm sounds wonderful though, I often wake up in the middle of the night with my head buzzing with things I need to do! x

  6. Fiona

    April 3, 2014 at 18:55

    I’m awful without sleep. I was woken at 6 this morning, and had to have a nap at 8 because I’m just exhausted at the moment. Uch, stupid sunlight waking up the toddler. x

  7. Rachel

    April 3, 2014 at 21:40

    Setting up a sleeping routine always helps. Cut out the caffeine hours before you plan to go to sleep. If sleeping with the TV on keeps you awake, turn it off. And make sure your sleeping environment is dark and cool.

  8. laura redburn

    April 4, 2014 at 19:48

    i don’t have any tips as i don’t sleep well myself. i don’t even drink any caffeine, or..any of those other things. saying that, a good pillow REALLY helps!

  9. get more info at my site

    April 18, 2014 at 16:56

    I love this interesting page. I presume this is the site of a sports fan. I love sports since I can remember, in particular football but I am truly in love with carp fishing. Are you interested in fishing? If so please pop over to my site

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.