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Nap-on-the-go and LIFE do co-exist

8/23/2013

My DS is currently 27 months old. We did sleep training when he was 9
months old. He was a stubborn little bugger (sometimes he still is) and it took him a little longer to accept the change and adapt to the new methods and sleep routine. He has been sleeping like a champ since he was 11 months old.

Whenever we plan family outings they are ALWAYS planned around my DS and his nap/bedtime routine because I am worried about him missing his naps or going to bed 30-60 minutes later then his usual time.  My husband probably thinks I am crazy at times because we would rush to get our three children ready to head out first thing in the morning and then we would
leave wherever we decided to go around 1:15/1:30pm so my DS could nap in the car AND....I ALWAYS made him drive the long way home!! My two daughters (ages 4 years and almost 6 years) have been VERY patient and understanding with their brother's routine, however, last weekend I decided enough is enough - why
should their fun always be cut short because of their brother's routine.  My next thought was "Am I ready to take the plunge and test my DS and his ability to nap on the go?"

Last weekend my husband and I decided to plan a family day at Port Dover. The drive from Hamilton to Port Dover was NOT relaxing at all...I kept visualizing the worst case scenario...an
overtired 2 year old having a never ending tantrum because he missed his afternoon nap, now his sisters have to suffer once again as another family day has come to an abrupt end...and now I have 3 kids with full blown temper tantrums and meltdowns happening. Much to my surprise this did NOT happen
at all!! In fact when I observed my DS and his actions I could tell that it must be around his nap time - how did I know this?   With no help from mommy he got his blow up raft, dragged it to the shoreline and climbed onto it and laid down...5 minutes later he was out like a light!!! I check the time and it was 1:15pm (close enough to his routine nap time of 1:30pm).  HE SLEPT FOR ONE HOUR!!! He made his mommy proud!!

We put my DS to the test once again this past weekend...we decided to plan a family day at Bissells. I prayed that my DS napping in Port Dover last weekend wasn't a fluke! Sure enough I see my DS starting to slow down and unwind. He says "All done" and walks out of the splash pad area, lays down on the lounge chair and puts a towel over himself...he falls asleep in about 6-7 minutes. I check the time and it's 1:35pm. HE SLEPT FOR 1HR 40MIN!!!

As I write this I am wondering: "Why did I doubt my DS all summer?", "Why did I think he would NOT nap if we spent a whole
day out?", "Why was I worried about him missing a nap if that did
happen?"

The past few weeks I have realized that sometimes life intervenes and naps get missed or bedtime doesn't happen when it should.
I have realized that sleep is all my DS knows!!  Next week we will
be away at to a cottage for the whole week. I feel so much more relaxed about going because I know that if my DS is tired while we
are at the beach then he will nap (hopefully I haven't jinxed myself).

I do believe that....Naps on the go and life co-exist!!
Carla Underhill

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One moms take of the Snooze Shade for on-the-go sleeping!

8/19/2013

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I am a first time mom of a beautiful 13 month old baby girl. Since her
birth I have put her sleep in the hands of my beloved sleep trainer, Sabrina from Precious Moments Babeez. Sabrina was able to teach me how to get my daughter to take excellent naps & sleep 11 hours overnight with no issues! But one of Sabrina's sayings always stuck in my head -- "you are not a prisoner to your house during naps". Sounded easy enough, but how was I going to recreate my daughter's sleeping environment in a stroller? In her bedroom she has a blackout blind on her window, and a white noise machine going.

I received the Snooze Shade Deluxe edition, and figured we were
ready to do naps on the go! This became especially important when we wanted to go to Marineland for my daughter's 1st birthday. The first time we were going to try out our new blackout blind! It was a beautiful hot, sunny day, so I was weary on how this nap was going to go - especially with it being her longer afternoon nap. But I was confident in my new Snooze Shade.

We had a wonderful lunch, was able to watch the show at 11:45 and see all of the exhibits Marineland had to offer. But now it was time for my daughter's 2-4pm nap. Where my husband and I could walk around the beautiful park and relax. So, we got her ready, let her have some milk, turned her portable white noise machine on and put it at the top of the stroller, gave her blankie, and attached the Snooze Shade to her stroller. Now, if it's the first time you actually open the Snooze Shade and attach it to your stroller, yes it can seem a bit confusing. But lucky me, I had opened it at home first and taken a quick look at how it was going to attach to the actual stroller.

With six easy snaps, we were able to get the Snooze Shade in place on our stroller before our daughter realized what was really going on! It is black on the inside, and silver on the outside which I loved because I find most blackout blinds or shades tend to attract the sun. The silver outside lining helped with this issue. There is also a small zipper on the front of the Snooze Shade that you can quickly unzip to see your babe fast asleep. I didn't find myself using the zipper option to take a look if she was sleeping, because well let's face it, she'll wake up to any noise, and that zipper being right on top of her face was a danger to me in waking her up! Instead I lifted the side a little to take a quick peak, which worked just as well. The Snooze Shade created the PERFECT blackout environment for my daughter's nap - much darker than any other blackout shade I've used on her stroller. It blocked out 97% of
the UV rays and was still breathable which my husband loved! OH and it folds up into a tiny little bag which is a MUST! The only true con I have about this Snooze Shade is the size. Well the packaging shows you can put it on any type of stroller or bassinet, I found it only fit one of my strollers very well. It is on the smaller size - and while we like to use our travel stroller for outings like this, I opted to bring my larger stroller because the seat portion of it was much smaller than our travel stroller where the shade would have to
go from top to almost bottom of the stroller, and it didn't fit very
well.

All in all, this is a GREAT product to have! My daughter ended up napping a full 1.5hours, which I was truly impressed by being in the stroller! She did wake up after the 45min mark, but with the help of the blackout and white noise, she went right back to sleep. I will definitely continue to use this blackout shade, especially with our future trip to Florida around the corner. A great buy!

Sylvia C

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Counting Fingerprints and Blessings

8/16/2013

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Raising kids is difficult. Maintaining a household with kids is difficult. Balancing work and a home life with
kids is difficult. Today, it got a little easier.

I am a mom of a 2.5 year-old little man and a 13 month-old little lady. They are awesome kids with stellar personalities.  I've always said, "I know how lucky I am". It's one of those things I would say, but not really process. I processed it
today.

You can see my patio doors from the counter in my kitchen. Making lunch today, I looked out and couldn't even see outside,
the fingerprints were so dense. Tiny little fingerprints, handprints, and yes, a couple of mouth prints (courtesy of my little lady). I thought, "Oh my goodness, I JUST cleaned this window yesterday and it's covered again!".  I grabbed my Windex (eeshk, I know, chemicals...but I like my Windex!) and paper towels and headed to the door. It seems like I clean that window daily (don't even get me started on how much I vacuum...I swear there is more food on the floor than in their mouths) As I was cleaning my children's DNA off the window, I began to think. I began to think and I
began to process that statement that I mentioned that flies off my tongue without thought.

I am lucky to have little fingerprints to wipe off patio doors. I am lucky to have to vacuum crumbs off the floor 3 times a day. I am lucky to pick up toys off the floor. I am lucky to do multiple loads of laundry filled with little clothes each day. Lucky is not a strong enough word. I am thankful, I am blessed, I am loved.

Too many people in this world do not have what I have. Too many people are dealing with infertility. I have close friends who have struggled for years trying to conceive. Fertility drugs, IUI, IVF, miscarriages. I have seen these friends give up, defeated by
their own bodies.  I couldn't imagine wanting a baby so badly, trying everything to make it happen, and be forced to accept that it's never going to happen. I cry for my friends and their struggles. I, myself, didn't have to deal with infertility. I was able to get pregnant easily both times. I know how lucky I was.

Today, while looking at those fingerprints on the patio door, I realized how truly blessed I am to have tiny fingerprints to wipe
off. To have crumbs to vacuum up multiple times each day. And to do countless loads of laundry each day ( Seriously, I could laundry in the Olympics). There are too many people out there who would give ANYTHING to wipe fingerprints, vacuum constantly and wash tiny outfits. I need to remember this. I need to remind myself of the blessings that I have created that cause my daily chores. I no longer look at them as chores.

So today, I am thankful for little handprints on patio doors. And it is now that I truly know how lucky I am.

Meagan Duetta

Blessed mother of two little blessings who teach me more than I could ever teach them.

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Nap-on-the-go and LIFE do co-exist

One moms take of the Snooze Shade for on-the-go sleeping!

Counting Fingerprints and Blessings

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