Disclaimer – This is a sponsored post brought to you by SleepNumber®. All opinions are 100% my own.
The number one question I get is….how do you guys get it all done?
How do we manage to do DIY projects, watch four little ones and a puppy, and take care of a house? It’s overwhelming! It’s exhausting! It’s basically impossible with toddlers and babies! And we always say that it’s because we don’t sleep. In reality, we do. We must. We all must sleep. It’s absolutely necessary and it’s even a safety concern when it comes to parenting. Sound dramatic? Because it is.
A few months ago, a friend referenced Kirk Parsley’s TEDtalk on Instagram and I checked it out. He said that chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk for almost every disease and that sleeping only 6 hours (vs 8) results in a performance on par of having a shot of whiskey. Sleeping only 6 hours a night for 11 nights in a row? Basically like being legally drunk. Yeah. I mean…would you let a babysitter watch your kids if they showed up sloshed? I don’t think so. Not even if you really needed that date night!
Sleep deprivation can ruin our health, relationships, finances and LIFE in general. So sleep is super important. Good sleep is even more important. Sleep makes us get more done…that applies to everyone. And that is why we decided to talk about how TERRIBLE our sleep habits are. It’s weird to think that a TEDtalk convinced us but it was the number one reason why Jeremy and I decided that we needed to INVEST in sleep.
So how does one invest in sleep? Well first, we sat down and figured out a super simple plan for us…it’s not perfect, it probably (definitely) will need tweaking in the future…but for now, these baby steps allow us to get more shut eye:
- No TV after midnight (I know this sounds crazy but we are both night owls so this is HARD!)
- Figure out a mattress solution so that we are BOTH comfortable
- Establish a bedtime and a wakeup time (this is super difficult for me…because I’m not schedule oriented. At all.)
I know what you are thinking…”this doesn’t sound too hard.” But for us, we have struggled with all those things. We still struggle. The hardest part is that we value our down time…the time without kids. Some nights we can get them all down by 9pm and settle in for a show and a decent bedtime. Other nights it is hard to get through one episode of Big Brother without multiple kid wake ups. All of the sudden, midnight is creeping up on us.
The easiest way for us to invest in sleep was actually step two. We had always bought mattresses from discount places….you know the ones….where the sales people don’t really know a thing about mattresses but they are happy to let you explore all the styles until you are ready to purchase. The problem was, Jeremy likes a soft mattress and I like a firmer one. He likes this weird flat feather pillow and I like my bamboo memory foam one. He is a back sleeper, while I like to sleep on my stomach or my side. And then on top of that are the pregnancy woes. I swell. I’m a sweller. Like edema and I are BFFs by second trimester. So finding a mattress has always been a point of contention.
After several visits to lots of mattress stores, we found out that the options were super limited to have custom side by side solutions (him soft and me firm). And it was even more limited to have the option to have elevated feet. My doctor said that I need to have my feet above my heart. The one place that had everything we wanted was SleepNumber. We went in several times and did a test with their knowledgeable salesperson to find out our individual sleep numbers (you did a Facebook Live video of it here if you wanna see how awkward I am rolling around in a bed!).
They walked us through all the ins and outs of their mattresses and we actually got answers to our questions. They showed us how easy it was to use the control to raise and lower the head and feet! The remote was super simple to use (like my mother could do this!) and feeling the mattress respond and the effects on your body was crazy. There was literally a moment when my feet went up and the pressure in my lower back was gone! I was DONE. I told Jeremy that I would need to be pulled from the mattress!
In the end, we got their i8 mattress with the adjustable base and we could not be happier! Our test at the store indicated that Jeremy and I both liked the same firmness (weird!) but once we got home and slept a few nights, I decided that I needed it to be even firmer. The store salesperson told us that if we felt like it was too soft or firm, adjust it by 10 and give it at least four days to test. I went from an initial 35 to a 55 in one week! Now I am completely used to the setting and LOVE it.
As for my swelling, I take periodic breaks throughout the day and put my feet up. I’ve already noticed a difference. My risk is really high for developing DVT (my dad has it) and being pregnant, swelling, having knee injuries, etc…it all contributes. So, exercising and getting that blood back to my heart is super important for me long-term. This isn’t something I take lightly!
The other great part about this mattress is that they have SleepIQ™ technology. It’s like a FitBit but for your sleep(in fact, SleepIQ technology actually syncs with FitBit!)! It measures everything – when you go to sleep, how much restful sleep you are getting, your heart rate, when you get up…the whole shebang! Jeremy and I are totally addicted to it.
Its an app you download onto your phone and it communicates with your mattress. I know. Sounds totally like something out of the future. In the morning, you wake up and check out how you slept….and it gives you tips on how to improve your quality of sleep! Here’s how Jeremy’s sleep IQ stacked up…
Jeremy is a notoriously bad sleeper. He tries….but he will sit in bed and not go to sleep. But with the sleep IQ, we figured out that he needs to start his bedtime routine earlier…that would allow for him to have more ‘fall asleep’ time.
Here is mine…
I always joke that I go to bed late…yup…2:22 am. And so I definitely need to start my bed time routine earlier…and stick to a more defined wakeup time. Yes…confession, I will let the kids play in the room while I lay in bed in the morning…and there may be a big bowl of cereal down on the table that they can help themselves to if they get hungry. WHY ARE YOU JUDGING ME!?
Obviously the SleepIQ technology is teaching us A LOT about our sleep and what we are doing wrong and right and how we can improve the quality of our life. And as someone who is about to have a newborn in the mix…I’m excited to use it as a reminder of when the baby nurses! Since we use a bassinet and nurse in bed most nights, it will be a tracker of sorts for eating!
That is…if I can convince this dude that the bed isn’t his….he is trying to claim it as MINE!
And yes, I have made everyone that comes over lay down and find out their own individual Sleep Number settings…so consider yourself warned family and friends and UPS delivery man. We may not have all the answers, but we do really believe that sleep is going to better our lives and help us get more done (on top of all the other benefits). Investing in sleep isn’t ever a bad idea…whether it’s baby steps, getting a new mattress or doing it for your overall wellness. And that is what we are looking for right?! Awareness that we are sleep-deprived is the first step. If you want to find out more about how important sleep is to wellness, here is a Great post about how to sleep better.
And now for the most amazing part…Sleep Number is giving a mattress away to one of you! Today, right here, we are hosting a giveaway for a queen sized P5 Mattress. Follow the directions below to enter!
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to eligible legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C. at least the age of majority in their jurisdiction. Begins: July 12, 2017 at 8:00:00 AM ET. Ends: July 22, 2017 at 7:59:59 AM ET. Subject to Official Rules available at http://mediakix.com/