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It is no lie that sleep is some what of an issue in the Constant household and when I was challenged to take part in the sleep challenge from Web Blinds I was very hopeful that it would help me, but at the same time I was a little unconvinced that little Isla would play ball. Here is what we did as part of our sleep challenge, in an attempt to get a good nights sleep!
The guide is fantastic, it really hones in on certain elements of life that you just do not associate with getting a better nights sleep and it really makes you think about how you would use these elements to make your home environment better – ultimately leading to a better nights sleep. Some of the topics raised I simply could not try, for instance going to sleep without any noise – unfortunately if the children wake up and cry I have to deal with them. I love the sleep calculator on the sleep challenge, Isla is up at 6am (most mornings) on the dot, she is a great alarm clock and when I typed in 6am for a time to get up it came up with 4 different times I should go to bed: 8:46pm, 10:16pm, 11:46pm and 1:16am – I have to admit I tend to go to bed between 10:30 and midnight most nights so I will start aiming for those times hoping to reduce this to 10:16pm eventually. I was given a ยฃ50 budget and a target to help the Constants, or more so me to get a better nights sleep using the sleep guide as a way of getting ideas on what I can do to make sleep better for me:
The perfect nights sleep – it is good to know there is no such thing as the perfect nights sleep as I most certainly do not get this any night of the week and I was shocked to see 4 different going to bed times when I tried the sleep calculator, I was expecting it to say 8 hours before 6am would be the optimum time to go to bed. Knowing that I could go to bed when I needed to sleep and making it a comfortable nights sleep was important for me, so I brought memory foam pillows which are really comfortable and help me get into my the first stages of sleep easier. It is amazing to think our brain goes through all of these stages every 90 minutes when we sleep and yet we still wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead.
Eat sleep, eat right – eating healthy is a big must for us and recently we have been eating a lot better than we would normally, so eating a lot of fruit smoothies, salads for lunch instead of sandwich’s and reducing the amount of food we snack on throughout the day by having a proper breakfast. One of the main concerns that I have is that some nights we eat really late, anywhere between 8pm and 10pm depending on children, work commitments and other obstacles that get in the way. So we are trying to eat earlier, being more prepared for our dinner times and making sure we eat our salads and healthy foods. If I do snack in the day time it will be one of the foods that improves our sleep, like bananas and milk which I am finding is really helping.
Breathe the sweet smell of sleep – I love the smell of lavender and it hadn’t occurred to me until I read the sleep guide that it would really help me to sleep better if I put a lavender scent around the house. So I purchased an ambi-pur plug in air freshener with one of the new night time lavender fragrances and this has really helped to make the house smell nice and makes me feel more relaxed at night time. I have also started using a lavender scented bubble bath and I make sure I have a bath before bed and try to relax.
Exercise your way to a healthy sleep – I went out and brought myself some lovely bright pink trainers and I have been getting out and doing a lot more exercise than I used to. Exercise helps when the kids have gone to bed and I can do a little bit before dinner, half an hour run or a ride out on my bike has been calming and making me feel a lot more positive about myself, which has ultimately led to a better nights sleep.
What do you think?