After a quick dip into some recent reviews, we talk about Chris’s process for the planning and building parts of projects. We share some of the thoughts that have gone into our outdoor cooking area and then jump head first into the topic of sleeping babies. While every kid is different, Chris & Julia are 3 for 3 on solid sleepers despite crankiness and tummy troubles, so Preston is interested in learning more. We wind it all down with a game of Fake or Real on Amazon’s worst products.
Listen to the latest episodes on: iTunes, GooglePlay, Stitcher.
This Episode is Sponsored By Grove Collaborative
Grove Collaborative is an online marketplace for all of your favorite natural home & personal care products. We signed up a few months ago and set all of our favorites products on a subscription to arrive automatically, right when we need them. Visit www.grove.co/chrislovesjulia to sign up, spend your first $20 and they will throw in a FREEÂ set of Mrs. Meyers Cleaning Products. No code required, but you do need to sign up at www.grove.co/chrislovesjulia.
Opening Discussion
• Reviews and “getting used to” us
• Details on the outdoor kitchen
Warm Topic: Getting Babies to Sleep Through the Night
On a whim, Preston asks about Chris & Julia’s tactics for getting their kids to sleep through the night, and it turns into what could be viewed as a somewhat hot topic, depending on how you feel about the subject. Chris & Julia have gotten their first two daughters to sleep 12 hours through the night by 4 and 6 months old, and Polly is already making 8 hour stretches at less than 2 months. Some would call it luck, but Chris & Julia talk about the things they’re doing, and why they think “the routine” is the key.
Game: Spotted on Amazon – Real or Fake?
Julia combed through Amazon to find some… interesting products, we’ll say, and mixed them in with others that she made up. Chris & Preston take turns describing each one and try to guess whether they’re real or fake.
Can’t Get You Outta My Mind
Chris:Â Chris recently started doing SmileDirect (not a sponsor), and he talks about how the process has been. And though his teeth are hurting and he has a slight lisp, he’s still pretty excited about the progress thus far and hopeful that he may have straight teeth for the first time in his life.
Preston:Â Preston has been listening to The Lively Show on and off, but recently has been all-in. Preston loves personal improvement stuff, so he feels that connection already, but has loved everything she’s doing lately.
Julia:Â One thing that many guests in our home comment on is the amount of art we have. And a lot of people ask Julia where she buys art, and she shares one of the more reasonably-priced options, Jenny’s Print Shop. She sells digital prints you receive immediately and can print wherever is most convenient for you.
Links:
• SmileDirect
• The Lively Show
• Jenny’s Print Shop
• “Wipe Your Bum” Sign
• 50 Shades of Grey Outlet Cover
• Woman with Inhaler Decal
• Maryland Cutting Board
• Nick Cage Lifesize (or mini) Cutout
Totally agree about the sleeping! We did the exact same thing and our little one didn’t have any issues either and when teething rolled around no issues either! 2 1/2 years old and we have had a minimum 8 hour sleeper and 3-4 hour napper a day! Keep Calm and Sleep On. Hope this helps other families out there.
Thank you for sharing your sleep routine. Your podcast was suggested to me by a friend as I have a 12 week old. We have been doing a routine for about ten days and the first few days were a bit bumpy but the past three night she has gone down like an angel. She wakes up twice to eat but sleeps for 12 hrs in total. Thank you so much! I know I sleep solution is one size fits all but what worked for you worked for us and I’m very grateful.
Sorry is not* one size fits all!
so happy!!!
Telling parents it is their fault, if a baby doesn’t do X or Y is really toxic. You like to think it’s not true, but you ARE simply lucky. Every child has different sleep requirements. Just look at the charts. Some newborns sleep 10 hours a day (my first born) some sleep 20 hours a day (my second born). All of them perfectly healthy, happy and responsive during their awake time. Telling parents about averages does no one justice. Sleep is such a personal topic. Telling people you have a magic trick, which works for everyone is nuts. Even only implying it. It all depends on so many little factors. Not only health issues.
One personal example: I tried everything with my one year old. Lights out, quiet time, massage, calming story, not looking at him, nice warm room, cold room, singing, his bed, my bed, cuddling him, holding hands, not touching him at all. For days and weeks. And you know what. His bed time is simply 9:15 pm, no matter what. It’s driving me nuts, but that’s the way it is. Sitting in a dark room with a happy, bubbling, awake toddler for hours and not talking is worse. Listing to his crying from the door is much worse. Tried it all and never did he sleep before 9:30.
Please parents, listen to your guts and not to some people on the internet. You will try and fail and be miserable. Don’t do that to yourself.
They’re saying what has worked with their daughters, sharing their experience that might be helpful too many. I swear by these methods, too. They’re not at any point telling any other parents off! And you are being really unfair and indelicate saying they “are simply lucky”. It’s not like they just put their children in their rooms and they fall asleep just like that, or have been since birth! It’s all hard work, with the routines, discipline, cooperation between parents, staying calm and consistent, and the sacrifices they mentioned.
Maryland cutting board……I almost peed my pants laughing! And the first thing I did was look it up. haha! Thanks for the entertainment :)
I’m obsessed every time you talk about baby sleep ours was born aug 2nd so we are the same age as Polly. And we want to know what does she sleep in at night? Rock and play ? Mamaroo? Crib? White noise? Is it the same for naps? What is your nap schedule? Do you worry about her in her own room – lately all the sids advice says they should be in our bedroom for at least six months if not a year but I think I’m ready to transition ours to his nursery but also obviously want to do what’s safest for my child. Can you tell it my first lol any way thanks for sharing and any and all additional info no matter how tiny the detail is very appreciated!
She sleeps in the rock and play in her own room with white noise. During the day, she’s never awake longer than 60-90 minutes and then naps. She is still taking relatively short naps (around 60-90 minutes) but slept a 10 hour stretch at night this week!
I’ve heard you mention night and nap sleep in baby gear like the Rock‘n Play, Dock-a-Tot and Mama-Roo a few different places now on the blog and podcast and wanted to mention that we drastically reduced our use of these kinds of baby holding devices with our second baby after reading about the risks. The blog candokiddo.com (written by a pediatric occupational therapist) was really enlightening to me when I was learning about issues with head-flattening, neck tightening, and SIDS and I hope these links can be helpful to others:
http://www.candokiddo.com/news/2014/7/18/baby-holding-devices-bhd
http://www.candokiddo.com/news/rocknplay
http://www.candokiddo.com/news/is-dockatot-safe
I hope the tone of this comment is coming across more “mom sharing with other moms what she’s learned” and not harsh or critical. Thanks for a great blog and podcast!