Introducing Our Sleep Saviours!

Introducing the everyday heroes of baby bedtimes, The Snuz Sleep Saviours. Meet the real mums and dads jumping online to share their experiences of parenthood and baby sleep with our community each week this month!

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I am 34, married, and a mum of three. A few years ago, my husband and I decided to sell everything we own and travel the world with our (at the time) two children, sharing our journey on Instagram. It was such an incredible experience, so we decided to keep going and have since turned it into our business!

Introduce us to your little one!

Abel is nearly five months old, he has big blue eyes and I call him Smiler, because he is always smiling! He was born in lockdown, so naturally, he hasn't been out much. At the moment he is at his happiest when he is in his stroller nosing at the world go by, BUT his passport has arrived and he is officially ready for his first trip as part of Travel The World Family.

What made you want to get involved with Snuz Saviours?

Being a mum to three, I’ve got so much experience. I'm passionate about helping others and am so in love with Snuz products!

Do you have any nightmare bedtime stories to share involving your little one?

I have three children aged 9 years to 4 months, so I have plenty! The worst is when you’ve barely slept the night before, had no time to nap in the day, and then one of them becomes ill, you know you’re in for a night of no sleep when you’re already super tired!

With my little boy, he had digestive issues after switching from breast to bottle, he was clearly in a lot of discomfort and struggled to sleep. We had to take him out in the car for a little drive to get him off to sleep and when he woke early hours in the morning, we used to take it in turns to sit in the lounge watching his favourite show with him whilst stroking his hair, which is the only thing that would settle him!

My little girl used to sleep so well and then one night she discovered that she could stand in her cot and scream bloody murder. She has been a nightmare to get to bed ever since, she is now 7! My 4-month-old is an absolute dream, but even he has his bad nights.

What advice would you give to first time parents struggling with their little one’s sleep

Try not to stress. I know it's easier said than done, but it will only make things worse. If they are struggling to sleep at night, it is even more important that you are resting during those daytime or evening naps. With two other children and work, I don’t get time to nap so it's bed by 8 or 9pm when the kids go to sleep for me. While I would love to stay up and have some me time, I really appreciate that early night when the baby wakes for a three-hour chat at 1am.

Lean on your support network. Get your partner to help around the house or take the baby for a walk if you need a break during the day. I find the night feeding and waking less overwhelming if I've got some balance and breaks during the day.

Remember babies go through phases, what works one night to settle them, might not work the next. Sometimes they sleep through and sometimes they don’t, and they are all different! All you can do is be there for them, comfort, love them and trust your instincts.

Tell us a bit about yourself!

Hi, I’m Naomi, Mum to Alfie and Darcie, and we all live in Leicestershire. I have a degree in fashion design and have worked for UK high street retailers designing childrenswear and ladieswear. More recently I have partnered with an award-winning beauty brand as a network marketer.

Introduce us to your little ones!

Alfie is our newest addition to the family who is nearly 3 months old. He was diagnosed with talipes when he was born which is a condition that causes his feet to turn inwards. He has been in and out of hospital quite a bit recently getting treatment with a series of plaster casts that manipulate his feet into the correct position. He is now on the second stage of his treatment which is a boot and bar brace that he has to wear for 23 hours a day for 3 months, and then at naps and night time until he is 5 years old. He’s progressing really well, I couldn’t be prouder.

What made you want to get involved with Snuz Saviours?

I wanted to get involved with Snuz Saviours because I am a huge fan of the brand, and I love sharing my experiences as a mum and talking to like-minded ladies, especially on Instagram which I have found to be such a supportive community. I’ve found there is always someone going through something similar and it’s nice to know you're not alone. We are all in it together, and as mums, we all have the same worries and are basically winging it ha!

Do you have any nightmare bedtime stories to share involving your little one?

I don't think I’m alone in the nightmare of when you’ve done the twilight feed, changed their bum, successfully put them down asleep, and just when you’ve got back into bed and closed your eyes you hear the dreaded poo or grunt! Back up you get, ha! My husband has paced the kitchen island downstairs for an hour and a half before to get Alfie to sleep. Another time we woke him up to change him rather than waiting until he woke up and then we couldn’t get him back down for 3 hours. You know that saying never wake a sleeping baby, lesson learned, ha!

What advice would you give to first time parents struggling with their little one’s sleep?

I’ve never been too strict with sleep and nap routines as I like to be flexible especially at such a young age when babies are so temperamental. I keep it bright and loud in the day and dark and quiet at night so that Alfie can learn to differentiate between day and night. Tips for sleep time include a bath or massage before bed, a sensory white noise machine, and swaddling in the early days to stop them from waking themselves up with their arms when they are startled. Sometimes there’s absolutely nothing you can do as they as going through a sleep regression or a leap, so don’t be too hard on yourself and remember everything is a phase.

Tell us a bit about yourself! 

My name is Gina and I work as a welcome host at a train station (loving maternity break at the moment haha). I have been with my partner for 8 long years. We were due to get married last year but Covid decided differently.

Introduce us to your little ones!

I am a mummy to two! A 3-year-old sass Queen, Bella, and 5-week-old Brody.

What made you want to get involved with Snuz Saviours?

I really wanted to get involved with Snuz Saviours as I really can appreciate how tough, but also how amazing becoming a parent can be. When I had my daughter 3 years ago, I didn’t realise how much support from other parents there was out there. So this time around, the sleepless nights don’t seem anywhere near as hard when I have a network of others in the same boat. You can catch up in those early hours!

Do you have any nightmare bedtime stories to share involving your little one?

We had a little mad-tired moment at 2am last week when I removed Brody's old nappy and was too slow replacing it with the new one and...Yep. He pooped absolutely everywhere. Luckily Bella slept through all the commotion.

What advice would you give to first time parents struggling with their little one’s sleep?

My advice would purely be just to go with the flow of your baby. Learn the leap years when they have growth spurts as this helps you to remember that those long nights don’t last. These sleepless nights become a lot easier soon enough!

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I'm a 31-year-old Dad of 2. My wife and I live in Cheshire, but also really enjoy traveling. We enjoy showing our children new places, people, and cultures  — though, this has been slightly dampened by COVID-19.

Introduce us to your little ones!

We have a 2-and-a-half-month-old baby girl, and a 2-year-old boy.

What made you want to get involved with Snuz Saviours?

We purchased a Snuzpod, Snuzpouch, and Snuzcloud Sleep Aid for our son and they worked a dream. When this collaboration came up in time for our baby girl’s arrival, it was a no-brainer for us. Snuz is a great brand to work with, and provides great products for parents. I also think it’s really important to show some of the realities of parenthood, and sleep deprivation is very much a real thing! If by doing this I can help another parent understand there are others in the same position as them, it might offer them some comfort and reassurance that they are not alone.

Do you have any nightmare bedtime stories to share involving your little one?

Aside from the usual poonamis in the middle of the night that require a full nappy and clothes change, we had one particularly bad night in the first few weeks of our daughter being born. She struggled to settle one night and at the precise moment she did settle our 2 year old boy then woke up crying. It felt like an endless night of juggling both children and trying to get them both to sleep. I think in total I managed about 2-3 hours sleep, and my wife managed about 1 hour. Needless to say, we're now changing our birthday present requests from friends and family to night creams, oils and serums to keep our faces looking somewhat youthful.

What advice would you give to first time parents struggling with their little one’s sleep?

Take it one day at a time and don’t be so hard on yourself or your child. With the amount of developmental leaps little ones go through during their first few years, on top of physically growing and teething — it was endless with our little boy! — of course sleep is going to be disrupted in some way. We are only getting to a point now where our boy is just about sleeping through the night from about 7pm – 5:30/6am.

Be patient and kind with yourself, your partner, and your child. Use your friends and family network to support you. Our support bubble includes my parents, so on occasion on a Sunday afternoon we could get a quick nap in whilst they looked after our children downstairs. Also, seek additional help and support where you feel you need it. Just like you might seek a PT to get fit in a gym, we started following a baby sleep specialist on Instagram and completed one of her mini online courses which had some great tips for helping babies/toddlers to sleep.