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As Baby Sleep Trainer grows in influence, I’ve started to use our reach to compel companies to send me (or my team members) products to test. I am generally a minimalist type of shopper, so I loathe the idea of buying a product simply to test it out. But, I do want to know what works and what doesn’t, so I can share that with all of you. Let’s get into my favorite products for adult sleep.
Photo Credit: Yohann LIBOT
We all know there is a seemingly never ending list of products we can use to help us care for our babies. (You can find my favorites for babies here, and for newborns specifically here). But what about for adults? I myself am an incredibly sensitive sleeper. So much so that Baby Sleep Trainer was born out of the trauma that resulted in my own fractured sleep when I gave birth to my daughter. Below you will find my favorite products for adult sleep that actually help me get the best sleep possible.
Eye Covers and Ear Plugs
Hands down, these eye covers and ear plugs are the two most vital objects in my arsenal to block out the world and get more sleep. They are by far my favorite products for adult sleep. These help even if you are not easily disrupted by sound and lights. Why? Because the brain never stops taking in input! Even through closed eyelids your eyes still “see,” and your ears still “hear” while sleeping. If you can rely on your partner to listen for the cries of your children, blocking out errants sounds from the street, or house, or your partner can dramatically increase the duration and quality of your overnight sleep.
Likewise, molded eye covers block out practically any light that might cause your brain to think it’s time to wake up. These eye covers are my favorite because the molded section over the eyes makes it so that your eye movement (normal back and forth darting during REM sleep) doesn’t cause your eyelashes to run into the cover. Regular eye covers impede eye movement during REM sleep, and can be disruptive to your sleep cycles. The molded section over the nose eliminates light entering in through gaps around your face. And finally, the velcro straps means you can lightly strap it around your face. This helps to eliminate potential headaches.
Weighted Blanket
For quite some time I’d been curious if it was truly possible for a weighted blanket to make as much difference in sleep quality as I’d heard from so many of my peers. Further, I had also heard that these types of blankets could help settle toddlers. Along came Xalm, a UK based company that makes weighted blankets in 3 sizes.
I can’t express my gratitude enough to them for giving me a blanket to test. It’s hard to describe how a weighted blanket works, but the closest I can come is basically that using this blanket almost negates my desire to move around so much and get comfortable. Along with deep breathing exercises, it helps to simply calm me down, relax, and allow me to fall asleep. As alluded to before, I have a very hard time shutting off my mind and relaxing into the sleep state. The Xalm blanket (along with it’s extremely soft cover) has caused MASSIVE improvement in my ability to calm down quickly, and fall asleep.
Dodow
The Dodow is essentially a lightweight, circular, battery operated device (perhaps 3-4 inches in diameter) that projects a pulsating blue light on one’s ceiling. By timing your breathing to the light, you are able to more easily calm down and fall asleep. I was especially excited to test out the Dodow because I regularly use deep breathing exercises to assist myself to sleep. Even though deep breathing is extremely effective to calm down and focus your mind on breathing (instead of worrisome thoughts, it is quite easy to get distracted). The Dodow solves this issue!
(P.S. – I like to breathe in to the count of 5, and breathe out to the count of five, over and over again as my technique.)
Further, the pulsating light starts at what would be considered a shorter count, and slowly draws out one’s breathing. It’s truly incredible how helpful this tool is in focusing my breathing and attention. A bonus is that I am able to use it to fall back to sleep when I woke in the middle of the night. (Which is the time when I usually have an even harder time getting to sleep than I usually do a bedtime.) Finally, I was very impressed with the packaging and the quality of the device itself and its instructions.
Somnifix
Yes, I’m going to admit it. I reached out to Sominfix because the first several times I saw the product I was taken aback. Part of the reason I have such an incredibly hard time sleeping is because my spouse snores. Even after doctor’s visits and sleep studies, we haven’t been able to find a solution to this issue. After the 5 or 6th time I saw the Somnifix product come up on my feed (and after I’d read extensive reviews), I finally decided to have my husband test it out. I also gave several to a team member to have her spouse try as well.
It is highly effective in reducing or eliminating snoring, though there were some instances in which I (and my team member) could still detect light snoring. I think this product can really help resolve an ongoing issue between two partners where one’s sleep is consistently disrupted by the other’s snoring.
If you use any products that have drastically improved your sleep quality, please post about them in the comments. And if you want to receive more product recommendations, or sleep tips for your little one, sign up for my newsletter!
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