*AD Gifted for review. Please note – Sleepy Feet has been rebranded to Shhleepies Feet – the product is the same*
I’ve not been slow in coming forward when it comes to moaning about my lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation has become a pretty constant right of passage in this house, with my youngest waking regularly through the night (for both milk and cuddles) and my eldest struggling to switch off and settle at bedtime. As a breast fed baby, I failed to teach Neve how to self settle, and as a result, bedtime is a long hard slog, and whenever she wakes during the night she wants me (and ultimately the breast!) to help get her back to sleep. Now that I am back at work, the lack of sleep is really starting to take it’s toll, and I’ve even gone so far as to say that I hate bedtime.
When I was approached by Mummy Loves Organics about their new range of sleep inducing essential oil products designed to help relax and calm children to help them fall asleep quicker – and stay asleep – I have to admit I was mostly sceptical. I’d attempted a few other ‘miracle sleep cures’ in the past, and none have made much of a difference. That said, never one to form an opinion before I’ve explored something myself, I was happy to put it to the test. It had to be worth a try right?
We have now been using Mummy Loves Organic’s Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet now with both girls for a number of weeks – here’s how we got on.
About Mummy Loves Organics Sleepy Feet Oil / Shhleepies Feet Oil
Mummy Loves Organics Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet is an organic foot oil created from a blend of natural Manderin, Frankincense, English Lavender and Roman Chamomile essential oils.
Designed for babies and children, the product claims that the combination of scents help a child to feel safe, secure and calm, helping them feel more content in their environments, and helping establish a healthy sleep pattern. It is recommended to help prevent the dreaded night terrors, and help little ones sleep through the night.
To use, you simply apply a small amount of oil to the soles of your child’s feet, temples, and behind the ears and allow to dry.
Parents can also use Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet too – the product is completely organic, hand poured, and contain no nasties, making them 100% safe to be used during pregnancy.
Mummy Loves Organics Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet costs £12 for an 8ml bottle which is estimated to last approximately 2 months (or less when used with multiple children.)
Our Experience
We have been using Mummy Loves Organic’s Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet with both girls for almost 3 weeks now – For context, and in case you aren’t a regular reader of my blog – Erin is nearly 5 and Neve is 18 months old.
Erin generally sleeps well (at last!) however she does take a long time to settle at night, often with her mind racing about the things she has learned at school or things she is looking forward to. As a result, bedtime can take a while! She occasionally wakes with nightmares although thankfully this isn’t a common occurrence.
Neve is a terrible sleeper. Really really terrible. She wakes multiple times a night and wants milk to get her back to sleep. At 18 months old, and now that I am back at work, this is quite hard on me both physically and mentally. She is however also under a dietitian as doesn’t eat very much at all, so unfortunately some of this waking may also be down to hunger – it’s hard to know for sure.
We started incorporating Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet into both of the girl’s bedtime routine, applying it to their feet, temples and behind their ears after bathtime and before we got them into their pyjamas for bed. There is an element of adding a step to a bedtime routine here in that children (particularly younger babies) may come to associate the smells and process of oil application to being part of their steps to bedtime. I can totally see why this would work – making the scent become something familiar and reassuring for them no matter where they are being put to bed.
Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet really does smell lovely, with the lavender scents being easy to pick out. It is not an overpowering or particularly strong scent, but enough that you can smell it when you walk into the girl’s rooms. The bottle comes with a small roller on the top to help apply the product, and Neve giggled contentedly as it tickled the souls of her feet.
Like I stated above, I wasn’t expecting miracles, and the first few nights had absolutely no impact what so ever, to the point that I actually doubted whether it was going to make any difference at all. I had been warned however that as with most things in life, these things take time, so continue to use it I did – I am glad that we persisted!
Three weeks later and I have to admit I have seen some subtle changes in both of them. I wish I could say that both now fall asleep in minutes and that I don’t hear a peep out of them till 7am – but sadly it wasn’t a complete miracle cure. However here’s what we have noticed in terms of improvements…
- Whilst Neve does still wake up reguarly during the night, we do get the odd night during the week now where she wakes up much less than she has done before. It’s not yet consistent, and there doesn’t appear to be any rhyme nor reason as to why she’s awake more some nights than others, but when it comes to sleep, any progress is progress.
- When she does wake in the night, whereas before she would cry immediately, sometimes I can now see her sit up, rub her eyes, look around the room and stay calm, before flopping back down and drifting back off to sleep. As above, this doesn’t happen every time she wakes, but again, some progress on the self settling front is far better than none!
- By incorporating the sleepy feet oil into the bedtime routine, Neve does seem to have more of an awareness of bedtime, and seems a lot calmer and quieter before bed. Before using the oil she would quite often want to have a bit of a chat (babble) or wave at me at bedtime, which whilst cute, could be very frustrating when I’d been sat in the nursery for almost an hour!
- With Erin, being that little bit older, she enjoys applying the oil to her own feet, and we have told her that it’s magic oil to help her sleep. I have seen a DEFINITE improvement in the time it takes Erin to drift off at bedtime. Last week Mike was out with work meaning I had to put both girls to bed simultaneously, and when I went back into Erin’s room after putting Neve to sleep, she had drifted off to sleep contentedly on her own – whereas I would normally expect her to be sat up wide awake waiting for me to return.
With Erin, its hard to know whether the process of applying Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet is having a placebo effect or whether the essential oils really are having an impact but either way, £12 is a small price to pay!
Overall Verdict of Mummy Loves Organics Slepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet
Overall if you’re going to give Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet a try, there’s an element of not expecting miracles overnight. With Neve, it may have been just a step too far. That said, she is not your average 18 month old, in that her dietitian journey and feeding issues may mean she wakes due to hunger – something that with all the will in the world the Sleepy Feet is unlikely to be able to overcome.
I think introducing Sleepyfeet to the bedtime routine early with younger babies could definitely have a positive impact on sleep – largely due to the bonding moment between parent and child and it becoming a recogniseable indication that bedtime is on it’s way – reinforcing the message that it is time to go to sleep. I think the longer you use the Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet, the more benefits you can see, and as such, you have to give the product time.
I have no idea how Sleepyfeet / Shhleepies Feet works, but with Erin in particular, she did seem to be a lot calmer and nod off much faster on the nights I used it than on the nights I didn’t. Whist I appreciate this isn’t a scientific experiment, this has been enough for me to want to continue using it, as anything that makes my life even a little easier gets my vote.
You can learn more about Mummy Loves Organics, Sleepy Feet / Shhleepies Feet and their full range of sleep inducing products on the Mummy Loves Organics website.
*This is a collaborative post. I was sent some Sleepy Feet for the purpose of this review and compensated for my time, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
