Slumberkins

My son turned 22 months old and a MAJOR sleep regression hit. I genuinely thought that this child was done with any sleep training at 6 months, with the occasional teething night where a dose of Motrin was enough to soothe him. To say sleep is important to this child is an understatement. So when he woke up at 3 am, screaming, crying for us to come get him, I was shocked. 

That night, I went in to soothe him since it was so out of character and ended up spending the entire night soothing him, putting him in his crib, listening to him scream, going back in, repeat. It was exhausting. I wrote it off as a one time thing and began our day at 6 and hoped that was it. But the next night, same problem. 

To make a long story short, I was able to rule out pain and fears and came to the conclusion that this was some form of separation anxiety or fear of missing out. I did some research for ways to reassure him that I'd be back and that he wasn't alone. My cousin sent me a link to Slumberkins and here we are...

The main purpose of these little creatures is to support emotional learning. The owners of this company have put in the legwork on researching ways that teach social-emotional skills and it shows in the product. Everything is thought out and explains emotions in an easy to understand way for a child.

They have 13 different creatures with different purposes. I got their newest creature for Lincoln which was an IBEX that supports emotional courage since the story felt like it would work best with his current situation. I got the OTTER that supports family bonding for Layla since she's our newest little girl. ​

Each lovey comes with an affirmation card and a book. Each book has a little chant at the end for you to say with your child. Overall, the books are good length for the 22 month old and really uplifting. I enjoyed reading both as a family and my toddler loved saying the words after me like a song. It's a board book and amazing quality. ​

When I presented the Ibex to Lincoln, I couldn't believe how quickly he took to it. He immediately hugged it as I was telling him that it's my friend who will help him feel safe at nighttime. He then took it back a bit and looked at the face and said "wake up!" because the eyes are shut. He kept saying "awwww" and hugging it. The morning he brought it with him all around our living room, put it in trucks, and put it to bed on the couch. It was really sweet. 

With Layla since she's still little, I put the Otter in my shirt for about an hour to help it smell like me and then when I breastfed her after her last nap, I put it between us. When I was feeding her, she was stroking the Otter and rubbing it on her face. When I put her down for the night, I laid it in the crib and she gravitated right toward it and put it in her hand. Instant LOVE!

If you can't tell by my high praises, I highly recommend these intelligent, positive, beautiful little creatures. I would say that my older son, 22 months, appreciated and understood it more than my daughter, 7 months, but with time I think my daughter will bond with it more. ​