Sshhhh … the sweet, sweet sound of baby sleeping
Just imagine. Your babe waking up after the sun rises and sleeping long restorative naps during the day. Nope, you’re not dreaming. It can really happen.
Born out of the many mornings Tamsin Glass and her little boy, Riley, beat the first rays of sun to a new day … she was determined to come up with a range of products that promote healthy sleep.
“A lack of sleep opens you up to physical and mental health problems, and like all new moms, I was running off love, little sleep, and 50 Shades of dark circles under my eyes. I was desperate for something that would keep Riley and me in sweet slumber a little longer and turn our home from a tired haze to a happy haven,” she says.
And what she came up with was Dreamy Days – a collection of carefully curated products, simplistic in design, functional, and tested by sleep consultants.
First up … the Dream Pod. It’s all about white noise … which helps babies fall asleep, and stay in that deep sleep state, by providing a comforting and soothing noise and masking the many sounds that can startle and wake a baby. The continuous calming sound helps babies drift off, but there are more benefits, too. It’s a sleep cue, so they know it’s nap time, it drowns out noise in the home allowing for uninterrupted peaceful sleep, it mimics the sound of the womb, which creates calmness and security, allows your baby or toddler to link sleep cycles and stay asleep and trains the brain to relax.
Also helping with sleep are the Dreamy Days 100 per cent Blackout Blinds. These help make sure your child is getting sufficient amounts of Melatonin (produced when in darkness) needed for a good night’s sleep. And get this … these Blackout Blind use electrostatic technology … you simply tear over a perforated line or cut to fit the size of the window and voila – 100 per cent blackout. Brilliant for when you travel or drop babe off with gran for the night.
There are loads more products for sleepy heads on the site … pop over and see. Details: Dreamy Days info …. dreamydays.co.za or instagram – dreamydays
When counting sheep just doesn’t help
Some of us are heavy sleepers and enjoy a good night’s rest no matter what. But for others … we struggle to fall asleep, or wake up a few times during the night or unreasonably early in morning. And that makes us tired, irritable and stressed the following day, which more often than not leads to further insomnia issues.
So while our genetic make-up may have a lot to do with the quality of sleep we can expect to have in our adult lives, there may be many other factors leading to insomnia and anxiety.
These can include:
- A stressful work, home life or situation
- Inability to switch off brain activity at the end of the day
- An excess of stimulants – we’re blaming you, coffee, but all caffeine, certain medications, rich food or sugary drinks as well as alcohol
- Eating food that is too spicy or acidic, which can lead to stomach pains that keep us awake
- Lack of exercise for de-stressing
- A noisy environment
- Not allowing ourselves enough time to sleep … setting the alarm for too early in the morning
- Using a mattress that is too soft or too hard
- A general sense of not feeling safe at night
- Unsuitable room temperature, leading to sweats or chills that wake us up or stop us falling asleep
- A sleep disorder such as sleep apnea (irregular breathing and oxygen-level issues)
- Excessive exposure to blue light before bedtime (such as a cellphone, tablet or any other electronic device), which blocks serotonin.
The cover may be new but it’s the same story that’s been told to sleepy children by hopeful parents since it was first written in 1962. It’s a case of the rhyming yawns in the 60th anniversary edition of the Dr Seuss’s Sleep Book. It starts with a very small bug who yawns a very big yawn, setting off (as yawns do) a chain reaction, until ninety-nine zillion, nine trillion and two creatures are sleeping! So … How about you? R185 from Exclusive Books.
Serenite Plus is a natural remedy from Feelgood Health, which you take a quarter of an hour or so before bedtime. It supports restful sleep and relaxation. R192 from feelgoodhealth.co.za
To sleep well you need to balance your mind, emotion and energy. This microwaveable acupressure Flaxi Weighted Eye Pillow has flaxseed infused with essential oils – grapefruit, lemon, bergamot, lavender and ylang ylang. Use hot or cold over your eyes and you should feel an improvement to your mood, and your heart rate may decrease, too. R129 from feelgoodhealth.co.za
While we obviously encourage trying to find natural ways to improve our sleeping habits, there’s nothing wrong with a little help. Like VitaminMe Sleep + Anxiety, which has been developed to address not only anxiety issues (which in turn can affect the quality of shut-eye) but also insomnia itself.
It includes L-theanine (an amino acid that reduces anxiety, calms the brain, and is said to help manage blood pressure levels); Chamomile (an age-old sleep remedy); Humulus lupulus (hops – a flowering plant well-known for its use in the brewing industry, which has also been used since time immemorial as a natural sleep aid and anxiety remedy), and Valerian root (used traditionally to treat anxiety and sleep problems, it has a soothing effect on the brain, and alleviates stress and insomnia.) You can buy online from VitaminMe.co.za. And if you think you need more help, a great service offered by VitaminMe is a free 20- minute online personal consultation with their in-house dietitian, who can advise you on the correct products to include in your daily wellness regime, as well as necessary dietary and lifestyle changes, to target a particular issue, such as insomnia and stress.
