We love to eat in our house. And sleep. Eating and sleeping are near and dear to our hearts. And we passed that on to Sawyer. He’s been a great sleeper since he was 6 weeks old. A few times a month he still has his off nights where he’s up all night, but 85% of the time he sleeps a solid 12 hours at night with a 2+ hour nap during the day!
There are some tricks I’ve picked up for getting him to take god naps and sleep through the night. When he was younger, he was a horrible napper. And I mean horrible. He would only nap if I was holding him and as soon as I set him down, I was lucky if he would stay asleep for 20 minutes. Luckily, when he was around 9 months old, I finally got the hang of things, and now, he consistently naps for 2+ (sometimes even a full 3) hours! Here are my not-so-secrets:
Use a noise machine
Getting a noise machine was a complete game changer for getting him to nap well and sleep through the night. We got ours for like $14 on amazon and it does the trick just fine! In the summer, we also use a fan to keep him cool and the extra sound really blocks out any outside noises!
Diffuse Lavender!
For every nap and bedtime, we have lavender essential oil in the diffuser. Studies show that you sleep longer and more peacefully when you use lavender. We make sure to have it on hand for every sleep in our house!
Use a ZipadeeZip
You can read all about our experience with the ZipadeeZip here. We love ours! Basically, it helps your child transition out of the swaddle easier, by limiting their arm movements, so they can’t flail and wake themselves up. However, they still have full range of motion to be able to roll over, so it is completely safe for sleeping. We’ve been using them since he was 6 months old. I don’t know what we’ll do when he outgrows their biggest size!
(I can’t believe he was ever this small!)
Put them down full!
We put Sawyer down for naptime right after lunch, and for bedtime right after dinner, with a sippy cup full of milk. He usually drifts off to sleep once he’s finished his milk and then he’s nice and full for a few hours and shouldn’t wake up due to hunger.
Get a Latchy-Catchy
You can read all about Latchy Catchy here, but it essentially makes opening and closing a door silent so you can check on your little one as much as you want and not wake them up!
With these few easy tips, Sawyer has picked up some pretty great sleeping habits!
And his eating habits are going pretty well too. He eats just about anything and loves pasta, sandwiches, yogurt, puffs, crackers, fruits, veggies, etc. I did, however, have some trouble getting him to eat meat, but I persisted and he will eat chicken now (phew). But I still worry about making sure he’s getting enough protein. I try to make sure his snacks are protein packed!
Some of our favorite toddler snacks are from Gerber. We love their Lil’ Beanies! Lil’ Beanies are made with navy beans which provide lots of protein for your little one. They are also non-GMO, and have no artificial flavors, colors, or ingredients. They come in 2 flavors, original, and cheddar and broccoli. Believe it or not, Sawyer actually likes the broccoli flavor best!
These are great for keeping in the diaper bag or munching on during movie time. We get them at our local Target, Sawyer even reaches for them from the cart! He loves them. We give them to him at lunctime and snacktime to ensure he’s full and he’s getting some extra protein.
Deal Alert! When you buy Lil’ Beanies at Target, get a $0.75 rebate with ibotta! Head here!
How do you make sure your little one is sleeping and eating well? Comment below!
xoxo.
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