I partnered with Life of Dad and Beautyrest for this campaign, but my opinions are my own. Enjoy it while you can. That’s what many people joking said about sleep before we had children. It was a glib comment for sure, but it was true and more accurate when the kids are younger. Now that our kids are marginally older (see: out of diapers and the crib) our night time sleep habits have somewhat returned to normal. That fact has been brought to the forefront since we started using the Beautyrest Sleeptracker Monitor.
To the new parents I say to them, enjoy those naps and relish that REM sleep. Rapid Eye Movement, I remember an interview from the early 80’s from Michael Stipe when he said that he knew REM made it big time when people stopped asking him what the band’s name stood for. For the first couple of years some parents might also forget what REM stands for.
Now that our children are consistently sleeping through the night, in their own bed’s no less, we’ve become associated with our old friend REM. The nightly readout from the Beautyrest Sleeptracker monitor breaks down your awake time, REM sleep, as well as light and deep sleep.
On this particular day I remember my dream from the fourth episode of REM sleep, about 30 minutes before I woke up. I was a shoe store with my wife and she was helping me pick out work shoes. In this case, work shoes mean those junky shoes that you wear around the yard when you’re in the mud, painting or mowing the yard. Apparently I feel guilty about the state of my current work shoes.
It’s also incredible to see how quickly I go to sleep. My wife has always said that I zonk out as soon as my head hits the pillow and the Beautyrest Sleeptracker monitor confirms that about five minutes after I lay down I go to sleep. Apparently I need to believe my wife when she says things.
Our kids go to sleep at 7PM. That’s crazy talk to some parents. However, my wife and I have been those parents ever since they were born. Our 7 year old can stay up later, but he’s in his room reading or doing something calm from 7. His younger brother is in bed at that time already asleep.
As parents it was great getting the kids into that routine from an early age. It was beneficial for them because they got the sleep that they needed (even when they said they didn’t) and gave my wife and I time to relax, work or actually eat dinner together. Our bedtime routine is the same now as it has been since they were babies. Get them to bed, read a couple stories and then start the process of us relaxing.
Unless work is especially backed up I stop writing at least one hour before bed. My mind is always working; sometimes I like that, sometimes not. That means that some of my ideas go down the rabbit hole, but others latch onto an element of my consciousness to allow it to become an idea, instead of just some crazy thought.
What the Beautyrest Sleeptracker monitor does for me is reinforce our good habits. When I see that a certain night has less deep or REM sleep then I think about what happened to cause that. Recently it was an unavoidable thunderstorm and two small people who came into our bed for shelter from the lightning and thunder.
Let’s assume that you don’t sleep well. What’s the use in a device that affirms what you already know? The Beautyrest Sleeptracker monitor gives you hints on how to be a more efficient sleeper.
I can tell when I don’t get to sleep on time because the next day I’m dragging. I also see a display that shows a later time, less sleep and more light sleep. The app also has hints to help you sleep such as avoiding computer screens, even your phone at least half an hour before bed.
You can also do a sleep analysis that looks at things in detail for the night, week or month. Set white noise, it has a Smart Alarm and is very simple to set up. That last part is key because set up is where most things get complicated. It also works without being worn. That’s important to us because we haven’t worn something on our wrist in more than a decade.
Our kids still sleep well. Part of that is the schedule that they’ve been on since birth. We’re sleeping better too, since sticking firm to our bedtime habits and that’s a good thing. Many a parent is restless and might not get the needed sleep that they need for the most important job of all.
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