A fortnight ago I completed a questionnaire for Silent night about sleep and sleep aids. With four young children I rarely get a full night’s sleep and tend to have my sleep broken at various times throughout the night. So I was very interested to take part and see if my sleep could be improved.
Last year Silent night carried out research that showed 75% of adults were not getting a good night’s sleep. So they are currently trying to find out if sleep aids like hot water bottles, bed socks, pillow sprays etc make a difference to obtaining a good night’s sleep. I’ve tried things like bed socks before but ended up waking because my feet were too warm. Hot water bottles work to a degree and pillow sprays have helped me fall asleep but I’ve still woken throughout the night.
I’ve always tried to implement a good bedtime routine and try to stick to it as much as possible but it does not always help either my own sleep or that of the children. My sleep is mainly disturbed by the children while Dad of 3 seems to be able to sleep through anything and everything! quite annoying at times. Trystan is a particularly bad sleeper and nothing seems to help, I have to admit I have gone to sleep and left him awake in his room when all else fails. I think he is just like his dad, a night owl! Rowan still wakes at at least once in the night and more so if his asthma is playing up. Thankfully both Erin and Luc are good sleepers, Luc once in bed tends to fall asleep straight away but then is an early riser while Erin tends to wake for a feed throughout the night a few times (something I am working on cutting down as it’s mainly comfort!) or if she’s teething.
By the time I have sorted out the children and done what ever I need to do I’m exhausted so you’d think I’d sleep well but it’s not always the case. Based on the answers I provided to the questionnaire, Silent night sent me a Chillow to try and see if it helped improve my sleep.
I’d never heard of chillow before so was intrigued to give it a go. When the Chillow arrived a few days later I sat down and read through the instructions. It looked quite straight forward but would need several hours carrying out the steps until it would be ready to use. So wasting no time I unpacked the chillow and lay it on the kitchen table. Following the instructions I smoothed the chillow out and then careful filled it with 4 pints of warm tap water using a jug. Then replaced the stopper and left it alone to rest for four hours.
After four hours I went back to check the chillow and following the instructions released the air bubbles. Then again left it to rest again. By the time I went back it was about 8.30pm and when I checked for air bubbles a second time there seemed to be now. So securing the cap I took the chillow upstairs to use. Dad of 3 was sceptical about the effects of the chillow but was interested to see how it worked. I placed the chillow on top of my pillow to start with and settled down for the night.
That first night it felt a bit strange sleeping on the chillow and I was anxious about Erin or Rowan puncturing it. So I didn’t feel I had slept any better. The second night I decided to put the chillow inside a pillow case just to give it a little protection and myself peace of mind. I also explained to Rowan and the older two that they must not mess with the chillow for safety reasons. The second night I actually seemed to sleep a bit better apart from being woken by Erin. The next couple of nights I continued to sleep quite well apart from waking with Erin.
By the morning of day four I was actually feeling quite refreshed then I usually do first thing. Maybe there was something to the chillow after all. Then the fifth night was bad night, Erin woke more frequently for feeds and Rowan was up and down with his asthma so not much sleep was had at all. Why do you always feel worse when you have had a night or two’s good sleep then to have a nights disturbed sleep!
Having used the chillow for a week now I can definitely say it has helped me sleep better although it hasn’t obviously solved all the issues surrounding my poor sleep but it has helped. So I would defiantly say it is well worth considering using sleep aids if you suffer from poor sleep.
Disclaimer: I was sent a Chillow for the purpose of this post however the content of the post is 100% my own.