5 Ways To Upgrade Your Sleep (Parent Edition)
If you don’t have time for a 12-step night time skin care routine, here’s a few ideas to upgrade your sleep.
BY SHANNON SIRIANO GREENWOOD
Last week, I got an incredible night of sleep. Why? Because I wasn’t at my house. I was in a luxurious hotel with no children or animals, no snoring husband, no laundry downstairs or any of my usual night disturbances and distractions.
I am someone who really loves to sleep and while there are many articles about how to get better sleep and prioritize rest, it is clear that most of those articles are not written by professional women, working parents, or people who aren’t choosing to be awoken in the middle of the night by a yelling meow.
While I don’t have any ideas or answers on how to limit night time disturbances, and I sincerely do not have time for a 12-step night time skin care routine, I do have my own list of things I have done to upgrade my sleep even with other people around.
Upgrade your pajamas
Nothing makes me feel more like a grown up than my cozy, fitted pajamas. Once I stopped sleeping in oversized shirts or Christmas pajama bottoms from Old Navy, I never looked back. All my pjs are black, so I can always find a top and a bottom.
Night Time Playlist
I love listening to music and recently moved one of our speakers into my bedroom. Winding down with ambiance style music in the evening (even if my children are screaming from the bathtub two doorways away) makes the nighttime routine that much more enjoyable.
Aromatherapy
A friend of mine gifted me a lavender bed spray as a wedding gift and I swear I sleep better when I spritz. Lavender or another calming scent that gives a spa like feel and tells your brain it is time to relax.
Sound Machine
This is a new one for me, but it really does make you feel like you are someplace else. I prefer waves or white noise, not too loud, and not right in my ear.
Room Darkening
The true secret sauce to this hotel's best night sleep. We closed all the shades and room darkening curtains, so it literally felt like a cave. When I woke up in the night, I had no idea if it was 3am or 9am, which meant I fell back asleep much faster.
