Raise your hand if you have a kid who sleeps in bed with you, even for part of the night.
:::RAISES HAND:::
yawn
OK, to be totally honest, I don’t really mind Claire crawling into bed next to me in the middle of the night. Most of my attempts to get her to sleep in her own bed all night have been inconsistent and half-hearted at best (although I was serious when it came time to teaching her to fall asleep on her own, and that was a real sanity-saver).
But what if you DO want or need your kiddo to sleep in their own bed all night long?
I mean, there will definitely be a time when you know that it’s TIME, you know?
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Marcia G. Riley sent me a copy of her book, The Pillow Fairy, to read to my youngest about sleeping in her own bed.
The Pillow Fairy shares the story of three-year-old Matt, who, like certain kids I know, would prefer the warm comfort of his parents’ bed to his own! To encourage him to sleep in his own bed all night long, Matt’s mom shares the story of The Pillow Fairy, a magical fairy who rewards kids for sleeping in their beds all night.
Full of adorable illustrations (seriously, they’re great – Claire loved them!) and a sweet, easy-to-follow story (perfect for little kids), both of my kids were engaged and interested in this book. The author has done a great job of creating a fun story that kids and adults will love.
I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet. We’ve had a bunch of unexpected events happen this month (and it’s only the first week of the month), and honestly? Sleeping in our own beds has been the last thing on my mind. All I care about right now is sleep, and I don’t care where she is when she’s getting it! But when things settle down, we’re going to try this.
As long as my oldest, Jack, doesn’t ruin it. He sat quietly behind me when I read this story and then said,”Claire. There is NO pillow fairy. If there was, she would have come when I was learning to fall asleep! The only real fairy is the TOOTH FAIRY.”
SIGH. Leave it a seven-year-old to dash my dreams!
So, we’ll see. If I can’t get her on board with the Pillow Fairy (thanks, big brother…), I’ll take the concept of this story and work it a little differently but keep the same angle. I’ll definitely be reading this to her again when it comes time to sleep in her own bed (January, most likely).
If you have a kid who won’t sleep in their own bed, I think this is a good place to start. I love the conversation it started (we ended up talking about sleeping in our own beds for a long time, actually), and I think the concept is great.
This would make a fantastic read for your own little non-sleeper.
You can buy The Pillow Fairy here. You can find hard cover, soft cover and fairy dust at the author’s website here.
Beautiful little girl! This is a genius idea! Our little girl is in our room during part of the night most of the night, and we bought her a huge fuzzy pillow in her favorite color. That has helped. I am going to start calling it her pillow fairy! 🙂
Thank you Kristin!
I love the idea of calling her pillow the pillow fairy! <3
Hmmmm I might have to give this a try with Nick. He started sleeping with me last fall when we were both sick. He was calling for me all night long and I was too sick to keep running upstairs. We’re going to get him a new bed first though so the blankets stop falling off while he’s sleeping.
I think he would like it. It’s definitely a story kids can relate to.
OMG i love this idea.. I may try to do this with my daughter!
RIght?! It’s SUCH a cute story, too.
Hey, Thanks for your tips.
I like to think of pillows as the ‘jewelry’ of your bed.
You can make almost any drab outfit look stylish with the well thought-out addition to some pretty jewelry as well, just like you can make plain bedding look fabulous by choosing the right pillows and arranging them to compliment one another. by the way good article.
Such a good story. I have to try this with my daughter!