How to nail a good night's sleep (7 tips)

Sleep is such a big thing for me. 

I hate insomnia. I mean that in itself is the dumbest statement ever. I never heard someone they love insomnia. 

Lying in the darkness, ticking through conversations, your to-do list, and any other detritus lying about in your brain. You roll over and look at the clock. 2:21am. Surely you'll fall asleep soon. You lie there for what feels like forever. Toss, turn. Rearrange the covers. Toss, turn. Repeat. Look at the clock 2:26am. Ouch. You count sheep. Those sheep keep coming. Those sheep are not going to stop. 

You get up. Wander around the house. Find that the only movie on right now is Escape from Alcatraz. Not exactly the best sleep inducing fodder, but given your obsession with crime shows, it will have to do. At least the strolling and Clint Eastwood's hairline distracts you. Shakedown.  

After a while you think you'll test the waters and crawl back into bed. It's now 3:42am. Pretty soon the birds will start their morning song. The sun will start creeping it's way into the sky. Life outside your walls will become louder. But you just lie there. Blinking in the darkness. The frustration only works to further awaken you. 

You toss, you turn. Repeat. 

It's not until much later that your eyes become heavy. Your body starts to relax. And voomp. You're asleep. It's just flipped over to 5:16am. You're alarm goes off at 6:02am. 

Sleeplessness. Such a cruel beast. 

I've gathered seven tips to help make for a good night's sleep. Well here's hoping.

1. Don't go to bed with your phone: In fact, ban phones from the boudoir. You don't want your last waking hours to be staring at a lit up screen, being stimulated. Bedrooms are meant to be sanctuaries. Spaces of relaxation and rest. Research shows that you should have a full hour of screen-free time before you hit the sack. 

Oh but you use your phone as your morning alarm? Get a real clock and ditch your incessant social media check ins. Your sleeping self will thank you. 

2. Take a bath: It's science baby! Your body temperature naturally dips around 2 hours before sleep time and bottoms out at around 4am according to a 1997 study conducted by New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in White Plains, N.Y. When you soak in a hot bath your temperature rises, while the rapid cool-down afterwards relaxes you. A shower, though less effective, can work too.

3. Make a list: So often my mind is churning through the day that's been - and the day to come. I'm processing thoughts, to-do lists, and sometimes it won't stop. I'd love to be able to turn it off, but instead if your brain is busy, make a list. Keep a notebook and pen next to your bed so you can jot down anything that's keeping you up. There's a reason Santa makes lists and checks them twice. So he can sleep.

4. Routines aren't child's play: Get your mind into sleep mode with a routine. Putting out your pyjamas, brushing teeth, washing your face - it all helps your brain get prepared for sleep. 

5. Cut the caffeine: It's really a no-brainer, but try not to drink caffeine after 3pm, try a herbal tea instead.

6. Evict the electronics: By doing something relaxing, such as curling up in a comfy chair with a good book you'll be slowing down your brain. Try cutting out the tv and computer before bedtime so you can really relax. This will help melatonin production (a hormone that helps you get ready to sleep) - production of which is reduced when you're in bright light.

Which brings me to another point, dim the light in your bedroom, and use a small bedside light for reading and getting ready to tuck yourself in. 

7. Exercise: I find days when I exercise, sleeping can be a cinch. My body's worked hard, it's ready for a rest. And we've got the rhythm baby! But try not to exercise late. It brings your body temperature up, it stimulates you. And if you think you can't exercise because you're using the old "I'm too tired" line - that could be your problem. 

Research shows over and over that regular exercise improves heart health and blood pressure, builds bone and muscle and helps fight stress and muscle tension - and lifts your mood. 

Exercise can also help you sleep for longer and more soundly, and help you feel more awake during the day. WINNING!

Got any solid gold sleep tips to share?

Get In My Bedroom. Come to Scandinavia

Matt and I gave our bedroom a Summer make-over, Scandi style! You can read more about it over at the Adairs blog. 

I was pretty excited to have the opportunity to dream up My Perfect Escape. My destination escapes the stifling heat, and gives our space a new feel. It's fresh as a lemon! 

Don't just take my word for it though. Even our kitten (Happy - see top picture, exploring) is into it. 

If you're looking for some new boudoir inspiration, I implore you to check out Adairs ever evolving range. There are some really beautiful pieces - it's actually hard to choose. 

Anyway - what are you still doing here? Get over here and read about my complete bedroom make-over. Eradicating dust bunnies and freshening up spaces since… well since a little while ago. 



* Adairs gifted me a selection of bed linen as part of this bedroom make-over. I chose all the pieces. I wasn't paid. I love the product. I wanted to share. 

Favourite Find:: The Flower Drum Pillow PJs

It seems lately that sleep evades me. 

Frocktober has coincided with a zany, crazy, uber, super busy time at work, and I've been up late, and out of bed early to get work done. 

Which is part of the reason I adore these pillow slips. Or Pillow PJs as Holly Hipwell of The Flower Drum calls them. And who could resist these Pillow PJs when they're so hilariously awesome? 

Clearly not me. 

I can imagine these babies on my bed, but I don't know which side I'd sleep on. I think I'd have to switch sides when I was in a cranky mood. 

And if you don't know who Holly Hipwell is, well I have to say - where  the bloody hell have you been? Only Sydney's coolest cat and friend to flowers of the world - particularly peonies. 

The Flower Drum Club vs The Badass Club Pillow PJs - $45 for a set of two 

Winter Bedroom Makeover With Adairs

This is a sponsored post

Matt and I talk a lot about our bed. It's the source of marital unrest. No. Not that. 

It's the blankets. And the layers. And the sheets. Particularly in Winter. 

At the start of the Winter season I declared that we were on the hunt for a Winter weight quilt. Matt looked at me blankly. I don't think he realised there were different weights for quilts - and that our regular quilt was not going to cut the mustard this Winter. Particularly if we were to get through the big cold without major tussles in the sack. 

I know I've written about it before. I like lots of layers. Matt, not so much. I love snuggling down under a plethora of blankets. Matt is not into it. I like both sheets -  fitted and flat. Matt likes just a fitted and a quilt. I say tomato. He says tomatoe. Potato. Potatoe. Let's call the whole thing off. 

Or should we?

Adairs gave me the opportunity to make over our bedroom. Keen to eliminate any rising tensions in our boudoir, I accepted the challenge. 

This is how it played out:

I know you think I am some kind of nanna, but I defy you! I am truly, madly, deeply enamoured by cotton flannelette sheets. Our house is like living in an igloo, and flannel just makes edging those toes into the depths of the bed so much easier. Flannelette is my friend, and I have convinced Matt that yes, flannelette does very well in our bed (particularly since I am not such a fan of the sweaty electric blanket). 

A brand spanking new quilt. HELLLLLO wool quilt. This. Is. Bliss. Just as light as our regular quilt, but so much warmer - and it's machine-washable. Did I mention how warm this little baby is? We went for a King size so that it drapes over the sides of our queen size bed. This has also reduced the number of bedroom tussles we have - there's no sneaky quilt thief cocooning themselves at night. There's plenty of quilt for everyone! Well the two of us at least. And two squirming bodies in the mornings. And sometimes in the middle of the night. Yawn. 

And just like your favourite t-shirt we opted for this awesome jersey quilt cover - it's super comfortable! The grey marle is a win with both Matt and I (I've never met a man that doesn't love grey marle), and is the perfect muted tone for our Winter bedroom make-over. 

I switched the lamps around in our bedroom, tidied up (heck if only you'd seen the mess of the before shot - actually, let's rethink that, so glad you couldn't make it over to mine), commissioned a family portrait by Tiny, and tossed some fresh tulips in a vase - et voila! Bedroom make-over complete!

If you feel the urge to give your bedroom an overhaul - head over to Adairs right now! The Adairs Massive Mid Year Sale is on, and you can snaffle some very excellent deals.

Are you a massive fan of flannelette sheets? 

Three Of The Best:: Bedlinen

Sleep. It's one of my favourite things to do. Which is why I have a vested interest in bedlinen. I could go really nuts on bedlinen. Really. I love the feel of climbing into fresh bedlinen of a night. It just feels so darn good. But whether it's the crisp hotel bed sheets, flannelette for Winter, or a super soft set that's ideal for Summer, I think your bed needs at least a bit of a wardrobe to switch things up in the boudoir. 

This week I take a look at three of my favourites. Giddy up! 

Fairhaven quilt cover set from Freedom $79.95: Nothing says nautical by nature more to me than navy stripes. Classic style for the boudoir, that mixes and matches so well with stripes, spots, bold colours or neutrals. You could really go nuts with this cotton sateen (super soft) set, I'd be adding some citrus highlights, this velvet cushion and that luxe throw and crawling into bed pronto!

Home Republic Modal Jersey queen quilt cover from Adairs $229.95:: Have you ever slept in jersey bedlinen? It is, I swear, like sleeping in your favourite t-shirt. It's seriously good, and fancier than sleeping in flannelette (one of my favourite things to do mid-Winter, I know, I am mega unsexy). It's so soft, and another excuse to climb into bed early. This modal jersey quilt cover just lifts things to the next level, plus it doesn't crease, so your bed looks fresh and ready around the clock.

The Heath duvet cover (queen) from Citta Design $219:: There's something that appeals to me about this quilt cover. It's like a vintage book illustration, and then it's splashed onto a duvet cover - which means I would have totally excellent dreams. And I love the palette too - dreamlike and dialling up my childhood memories = WINNING!  

Which is your favourite? 

Behind Closed Doors: In My Bedroom

This is a sponsored post.

I love sleep. Being in bed is almost my favourite thing. I don't get enough sleep - therefore I covet it. And it's well-documented that I really love bed linen. It's even in my bio. Obviously sleep and bed linen go hand in hand. I love them both. 

So when Adairs asked me if I'd be interested in reviewing their bed linen - well I could hardly turn them down in the pursuit of a better night's sleep, right?! I even got to peruse their bed linen online and choose what I wanted - hello!

After spending most of my weekend tidying our bedroom, moving furniture (one of my favourite past times) and re-making our bed - this is the end result. I'm pretty chuffed with it - and so is Matt - and that's pretty important given we share the bedroom. 

And before you say - "Hey PottyMouth, you didn't iron the cover" - well let me just inform you that I like a relaxed look in the boudoir. I can assure you nothing matches in our home - and that's the way I like it. An eclectic patchwork of pieces we've found on the side of the road (actually, I've found, and Matt's begrudgingly helped me re-home), and pieces that have been passed on to us - mixed with a few newer pieces here and there. I like linen to look comfortable and lived in. And PS - I don't have time to iron my quilt cover - who does (however I DO iron my pillowcases - I know, go figure).

So the pieces I chose are:

Vintage Washed Linen quilt cover:: oh aye carumba! This Home Republic quilt cover feels and looks like luxury. I am SO in love with this - it's pure linen, lightweight (perfect for Summer), and will last a long time - the more you wash linen, the luminous and softer it becomes. FACT!

Hotel Royale Cotton Blanket:: Matt and I constantly tussle over bedcovers. I like layers. He doesn't. But a cotton blanket is mandatory in our household - and this one ups the stakes in luxe in high quality cotton. Plus it's oversized so it fits our queen bed generously. It washes well and the charcoal colour is lush! It's probably a little unhealthy just how much I really love this blanket. 

Stella Zig Zag 250tc cotton percale bed sheets:: I'm a little nutty about chevron - and what better way to bring it into the boudoir (they also come in aqua) than with these Mercer + Reid sheets?! You can mix them back with a block colour too to change the look.

Vintage Paris cushion:: Once upon a time Matt and I went to Paris. He spoke French. I did not. I loved this Mercer + Reid cushion for its simple graphic - and love that it works with our whole room.

It feels so good to go to bed! 

The good news for you is that Adairs is offering PottyMouthMama readers 10% off across the site (includes full price and discounted items). The offer is available online only - and valid until January 31, 2013. (Can only be used once per user and can not be used in conjunction with any other offer). Promotion code is MAMA10. 

Stuff. On My Bedside.

I have a mountain of stuff on my bedside table. Actually, a lot of it is Matt's stuff, because I decided we were swapping sides. Why? Because every single night one of the smalls would come in and wake me up. Every night. I got so exhaustipated that I said we had to do a "side exchange". Much like being an exchange student in a foreign land, I am now sampling the delights that are the other side of world bed. As part of this exchange I have inherited a whole stack of Matt's books, art catalogues and reading matter. 


On his side are some disinfectant wipes that are still there since Tiny had the vomiting lurgy. And another stack of books and some dust bunnies. It's a home interiors photographic dream, quite frankly. 


But back to my side. I have my nightly must-haves. Hand cream (this Aesop hand cream was gifted to me sometime again, and my goodness, it is certainly one of my favourites). And Blistex. I HAVE to have lip balm on before I go to sleep. Or I can not, will not go to sleep. I know. Go figure.


It's all part of my nightly ritual.


I also have a stack of newspapers next to my bed. I still read the news old school. I like the smell of newspaper, I love a broadsheet, and I keep those weekend papers there for the week so I can suck out the marrow of the news for the week. 


I am crazy like that.


What's on your bedside? 

Lo-Cal. So-Cal. De-Cal.

I'm all about making nests at the moment. As one of my favourite bloggers Two Tuesdays so aptly put it, I am busy 'feathering my nest'.

It's true. Despite the ever-looming presence of a few boxes containing crap, of which I have little or less than no urge to unpack, I'm starting to settle into small corners of our new abode.

I am loving this space. As I knelt in our bedroom the other night, tidying away shoes (what else would I rather be doing?) I thought - 'Why didn't we do this sooner?'

Right now, the Doctor's room is looking pretty cute (it's a mess, but it's his mess) - despite the absence of block out curtains which I am beating myself up about - because every morning at the spritely hour of 6am he's up. He's up! And calling out 'Someone come and get my breakfast!' at the top of his lungs. The only other someone's in the house are usually Tiny and myself, so unless Tiny gets some burst of domestic goddess about her, it's me, staggering out of bed. Oh how I wish I was one of those people who bound out of bed all peppy, wide-eyed and excited to launch into the day. Instead it's me, with huge bed hair, telling everyone to be quiet, and hitting the kettle for the third time because I forgot it had already boiled.

Tiny, however, is slower to settle in. She's still keeping us up 'til all hours, but we're getting a little more routine, and heck, she's even been in bed earlier than 9:30pm most nights this week. Small progresses, high fives, and she will be in bed (despite the first in bed call at 7pm) before 9pm this week.

I'm thinking of small ways to make her room, 'her room' without spending a bombfunk MC.

I love these decals. You can add to them as you go along. Aren't they the cutest?

Got any ways to freshen up a little space to make it more appealing?

Oh Sheet.

A quick update for anyone interested (Mum, hi!), we've put Tiny back into the cot as we've been hit with a lurgy that's making anything new abysmally difficult and woeful. I might even have a case of man flu. And I'm not even a man. Making it worse was Tiny night-waking, which is still occuring because she is so congested and just keeps saying 'nose, nose nose' while rubbing snot everywhere. It's days like these I wish I had a job to go to. Oh I do. As a mother to two children.

In my days as a Mum I can fill my time with all sorts of important stuff. Like picking up Lego. Like picking up nappies that have been tossed aside by the likes of Tiny. Like folding endless piles of washing. Like avoiding the ironing pile until it topples over and the smalls have to cross it like a small creek of crumpled clothes. Like I said, important.

As a distraction I've cast my mind on ways to keep Tiny in her bed - when she's actually in her bed. Inciting the excita-bugs. I cast my web out to the network that is the interwebs, googling 'til the cows came home. And when they didn't return, I cast out my call out to my Twitter pals who totally came to the rescue when it comes to ridiculously cool linen for a bed with cred.

Here are some of my favourites.

Castle Bedlinen: Holy smokes - I love hotel grade bedlinen, and I love yellow, and I love spots. This combines all three. That hand-printed cuff is divine to the power of divine.

Rosenberg single quilt set from Kido Store

Rosenberg single quilt set from Kido StoreBoodalee duvet & pillow set - City from Kido Store (I adore this print, so cool)

Jacob & Bonomi Lil' Apple Cot set

Tree of Life single quilt set from Jacob & Bonomi

I want this on my bed - so cute! Dwell Studio 'Gio Lemon' Duvet set

Who wouldn't want Dwell Studio's 'Dots Chocolate' duvet set (am setting myself up for chocolate dreams, baby!)

This is such an awesome idea - a waterproof fitted single bed sheet made from silky Australian Tencel fabric - mattress protector and sheet all-in-one. That is an awesome idea - don't you think? Especially in the middle of the night when you need to strip beds, why not make it all one thing! GENIUS! From Ecobabe and also available in white and blossom pink.
And Australian designed Kideko's Sunshine bed set. Bright and YELLOW! Me likey.

Because That Was Such a Great Idea

Who made the suggestion to move Tiny into a big girl's bed? Who? Raise your hand. Put your hand up and tell me who.

Oh. It was... me.

Whoa nelly. What kind of a weekend has this been?

It's been the kind of weekend when Tiny gets her big girl's bed. And subsequently climbs out of it. Fifty million times.

Saturday heralded a new beginning. The beginning of the end of my sanity, given she was awake until 12:30am getting in and out of her bed, wheeling a trolley around in her bedroom, in half darkness. Until finally I could take it no more. I told her gently it was bed time and she must stay in there. I played with her hair until she fell asleep.

Then she woke up at 3:30am crying. 'What the heck? Where am I? What is this?? A big girl's bed?!' And then woke again at 6:30am which for me is equally as rude as being woken at 3:30am.

Sunday night I hoped for better things to come. She was tired after her night out and about. But as my sister Choc has mentioned before, the girl has stamina.

She was awake again until 12:30am. And even then I think she was playing possum. She came pitter-pattering into our room at 1:30am. I was up and down, up and down like a jack-in-the-box. I tried hard to coax her back into her bed to no avail. She finally settled in our bed, and throughout the night I found her in different positions, including sitting on my head. If I so much as moved, she'd throw a huge spac attack.

I don't so much need a life buoy now as I need a nanny and a really good nap. Without small feet pattering in to see me and sit on my head every ten minutes.

Is it wrong, that right now I'd swap a little siesta with this little donkey for my cheeky mouse of a daughter?

Image found when googling images of a sleeping baby. Et voila - the image I never knew I wanted. A sleeping donkey and a baby. Google, you really are so good to me.

Big Girl's Bed

Tiny is playing acrobatics in her cot. Or her 'cage' as the Doctor calls it. She climbs up on to the rail, and then perches there precariously until someone happens to stroll past and rescue her. More than a couple of times she's fallen off, as small acrobats are prone to, and tumbles off.

I've put the side down in order to reduce the number of tumbles, but now it's time to make the transition to big girl's bed. Even if she does keep telling me 'no, no no'.

Here are some things I've seen around the traps that I know Tiny would dig to make her transition into big girl's bed even more exciting. Not that she's getting any of it. But mamas can dream. Right?

Love bed set - from Australian designers Kideko

we already own one of these beautiful blossom mobiles from Nina at Puka Puka - it is so, so pretty

super cute bear from super talented Jess at Teddy Bear's Wednesday

vintage heart box from The Red Thread

Beci Orpin cushion from Lark Handmadelittle blue and little yellow - at bordersCat Hat limited edition print from Georgie Love

do you think i could sneak this catty in? via the Selby

I Got A Little Dog

So he's not real, but I think he's cute. Right? He's ceramic. No need for walks. No picking up poopies. No brushing required. He's hanging in our bedroom and I think Matt is a little scared of him. Sorry Matt. Having a dog is a lifelong commitment.