SleepBuddy Review + Sleep Tip for Traveling with Kids!
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I am so happy to have received the SleepBuddy Complete Sleep System to facilitate this review. It has been the perfect addition to our nightly routine, and has now become a part of our travels as well.
Please keep reading below for my SleepBuddy review and my newest sleep tip for traveling with kids!
Every time I travel with my daughter, I worry about disturbing her sleep habits. The National Sleep Foundation suggests that the # 1 tip for good sleep habits in children is to follow a nightly routine.
Our nightly routine makes it easier for my daughter to relax, fall asleep and sleep through the night. This is especially true after a long day of travel!
I want to be sure to maintain her healthy sleep habits while on vacation. That’s why my new buddy, the SleepBuddy Complete Sleep System, is traveling with us right now.
The concept of the SleepBuddy is simple:
Lights ON: Kids stay in bed.
Lights OFF: Kids can get up.
SleepBuddy Review: What does the SleepBuddy Complete Sleep System Include?
The SleepBuddy Complete Sleep System is designed to teach children when to stay in bed and when to get up. It uses a programmable blue or amber sleep light, a children’s book and a reward chart with stickers to create reasonable boundaries and put healthy sleep habits in place.
It also includes a Parent’s Guide, which is not an average informational guide. It is chock-full of strategies and advice from pediatric sleep expert, Laura Swartz, for making the SleepBuddy work for us. Yes, I said us. Because when my daughter rests well, so do I.
The SleepBuddy Complete Sleep System Includes:
- The SleepBuddy with Soft Interchangeable Light
- A Children’s Book
- A Reward Chart with Stickers
- A Handy Parent’s Guide
- Charging Cable and Cord
I am pleasantly surprised by how great the children’s book, A Bedtime Surprise, is.
A Bedtime Surprise helps introduce the SleepBuddy to your child. It is engaging, colorful, encouraging, and very easy to understand.
My daughter absolutely loves the book and has asked me to read it to her multiple times now.
Reading at bedtime has been a part of our nightly routine since she was a newborn, and I love finding new books to add to our bedtime reading collection.
What child doesn’t love a reward system? One of the staples of my “Potty Train in 3 Days” program is a reward and sticker system!
The SleepBuddy Complete Sleep System includes a reward chart, stickers for your reward chart and information on how to use it. The reward chart can be used for immediate rewards, or your child can accumulate stickers over time to earn a predetermined reward.
The SleepBuddy itself is easy to set up and use. Basically, if you can use an alarm clock, you can use the SleepBuddy.
You simply set SleepBuddy’s start times and length of time for naps and bedtime, and the SleepBuddy does the rest for you. The times you set are stored in its internal memory until you change them!
If you need to start a nap or bedtime earlier or later than usual, like I have during our vacation, you can use the “Nap Now” or “Night Now” feature. These features allow you to quickly and easily begin a nap or bedtime immediately, overriding your current settings for that sleep period only. The next day your settings will resume as regularly scheduled. Easy-peasy!
The SleepBuddy can be used with a blue or amber color. My daughter loves the blue option, but I have heard that lights in the “amber” color family have been proven to be conducive to falling asleep and can bring a calming ambiance to a room. I may need a SleepBuddy for myself. I need all the calming I can get!
In all seriousness, I also love that the SleepBuddy has 7 different brightness options. I think you’ll find it easy to find the perfect “glow” for your child! My daughter loves a dark room, so we keep ours at the lowest setting.
The SleepBuddy includes a charging cable and plug. It can be kept plugged in at all times. However, its internal battery allows it to be unplugged for an entire weekend. Again, perfect for traveling!
Who is the SleepBuddy for?
Sleep Tip for Traveling With Kids
As I said earlier, maintaining my daughter’s healthy sleep habits while we travel is of utmost importance to me.
We are currently traveling with the SleepBuddy and I it has helped us get more rest and maintain our nighttime routine during our vacation! This will make easing back into our regular sleep schedule and early school mornings easier once we return home.
Being away from home can really mess with a child’s sleep habits. My daughter always struggles with sleeping long enough while on vacation. The combination of sleeping in a bed that is not her own, not having sufficient window coverings, and general vacation excitement makes her wake up even earlier than usual.
Having the SleepBuddy by her side helps her know when it’s time to get up and keeps her from constantly checking the time or asking me “can I get up now?” A MILLION TIMES.
If you have struggled with overtired kids on vacation, I definitely recommend traveling with something like the SleepBuddy Complete Sleep System
What is your child’s biggest “nighttime struggle”? Have you find a nighttime routine that works for you? How do you maintain your child’s bedtime routines while traveling? Let me know below!
