"Just as
your kids were getting back into the regular routine, here comes the end of daylight savings time! Although the
early arrival of darkness due to the time change on November 4 can often help
in getting children to settle into healthy sleep-time routines, there may still
be some transition time required. That’s
where THE PAJANIMALS can help.
PAJANIMALS features four loveable puppets -- Cowbella, Apollo, Sweetpea Sue and Squacky -- that have become so popular with children and
parents alike, their own television series airs nightly on 24-hour preschool
television channel Sprout ® during it’s The
Good Night Show and now also airs
on NBC on Saturday mornings as part of the NBC Kids programming block.
The series
follows this adorable quartet as they take young viewers on exciting imaginary adventures.
With music and new friends in every story, PAJANIMALS
teaches the skills that preschoolers need to move through their days
successfully, especially getting ready for and going to bed.
In regards
to transitioning your child through the time change, our PAJANIMALS’ sleep time experts, Jennifer Waldburger and Jill
Spivack from Sleepy Planet, offer these four simple steps:
Step One: It’s the
Clocks! On Saturday, November 3, put
your children to sleep at their normal bedtime. If it’s typically 7:30 p.m.,
stick with that. Then before you go to sleep, move every clock in your house
back one hour.
Step
Two: Early Wake Up – Your child will most likely wake up at the normal time, only you
and your clock know it’s an hour earlier.
No easy work-arounds here, so you’ll just have to take one for the team
and get up early with the kids. It’s not
realistic to ask them to stay in bed an extra hour so forget about going back
to sleep.
Step
Three: Stick to the Schedule – As difficult as it may seem, stay with your
regular schedule. If you normally serve
lunch at noon, then eat at noon. Your
child will likely be ready to eat earlier, at 11am, but a midmorning snack will
help stave off hunger. And the same goes
for naptime. Keep your child busy until
it’s time to nap, even if they start to slow down an hour earlier.
Step Four: Keep ‘em up - Bedtime
should
be at 7:30 p.m. as usual (or whatever time it is in your home),
eventhough your child may feel sleepy earlier. They may be cranky and
tired, but do
your best to go by the time on the clock.
And hopefully their little internal body clocks are adjusting to the time
difference without them even knowing it.
It may
take a couple of nights, but if you try to continue with your routine as usual,
you and your child should be enjoying regular sleep patterns in no time at all.
Another
valuable tool that might help at bedtime is to offer a transitional object and
a brief cuddle before leaving the room.
In childhood development, a transitional object is something, usually a
physical object, which takes the place of the mother-child bond. The transitional object enables the child to
have a fantasized bond with the mother when she separates for increasingly
longer periods of time, such as in the evening. This transitional object serves
as an important defense against fear and anxiety.
To thwart your child’s worries about
going to sleep alone, try using a transitional object, such as a small stuffed
animal, starting around the age of one. While what the child ends up choosing
is up to him or her, recognizable objects can help provide a high level of
comfort.
With a
suggested retail price of $29.99, the PANJANIMALS’ Snuggle Up Story Mat is a wonderful way to help your child transition from playtime to nap time. Featuring all of
your favorite, lovable PAJANIMALS characters, this mat includes a soft book that can be read to your child, which
also transforms into a pillow."
My Thoughts:
This snuggle up story mat couldn't have come at a better time, as Savannah came down with a nasty head cold the day before receiving the sample for review. We had picked up the cold while enjoying a day out at the pumpkin patch a few days prior. But, as soon as the cold hit, everyone in the house (except for my husband -- go figure) was affected. So, what do you do when you don't feel well? Lay around and rest, right? Well, that is what the girls and I did, as we sipped on soup and watched movies. When we weren't snuggling up together on the couch to keep warm, Savannah was using her new PANJANIMALS’ Snuggle Up Story Mat to stretch out on the floor.
Prior to receiving this new nap mat, I had purchased a few others, only to be disappointed with their quality, and ended up tossing or packing away. But, as soon as I took the PANJANIMALS’ Snuggle Up Story Mat out off the box, Savannah came over and asked me to lay it out on the floor for her. She loved the added bonus of the storybook, which doubles as the pillow when velcroed shut. As her and Arabella flipped through the pages, Savannah made up a story and shared with her little sister. Then, the girls took turns snuggling on the nap mat, and covering themselves with the attached blanket.
With frequent washing due to runny noses, and to prevent the spread of the germs, I was impressed with how well the nap mat is holding up. The fleece is staying intact and remains soft, while the rest of the mat looks like it did the day I took it out of the box for the girls to use.
If you have a Pajanimals fan in your house, this would be the perfect gift to surprise them with this upcoming holiday season. I will definitely be buying another nap mat for Arabella, so she will have her own and be able to camp out on the living room floor with Savannah, as they tune in daily to see their favorite Pajanimals characters on Sprout.
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"Also, a new super-plush line of cuddly stuffed
animals based on the beloved characters featured in the Pajanimals show may be the perfect
transitional object for your child, helping to make bedtime a calm and
comforting experience. PAJANIMALS plush
toys will be available in November, just in time for holiday, from TOMY. The 9” and 15” plush versions of Sweetpea,
Squacky, CowBella and Apollo, (with a SRP of $10.99 and $19.99 respectively),
have already met with rave reviews and demonstrated that their hardy
construction can stand up to the tugging, pulling and dragging of typical
preschoolers and still remain as soft and as cuddly as when they first come out
of the box.
Additionally, the MEET THE PAJANIMALS DVD (from NCircle Entertainment), PAJANIMALS’
may also be an asset for helping your preschoolers adjust to the time
change. The DVD debuted at retailers
nationwide on September 11 at a suggested price of $6.99.
And for more PAJANIMALS fun, you might want to
check out the recently released PAJANIMALS “Light in the Sky” app, priced at $4.99. Available
from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the “Light in the Sky” app
allows your children to play and sing along with this fully 3D, highly
interactive episode based on the actual THE
PAJANIMALS show. The PAJANIMALS “Light in the Sky” allows youngsters to blast off in a rocket ship
to visit the moon, set off fireworks and shooting stars in the night sky, play
kickball with the PAJANIMALS, make
their own melodies with musical stars and clouds; tickle the PAJANIMALS to make them laugh; and match
the PAJANIMALS with their favorite
toys. And of course they can help the PAJANIMALS “stick to the plan” by
brushing their teeth and getting ready for bed.
Other features include the ability to turn subtitles on to read along
with the story, and you can even gift the app to a friend from within the app."
And
just as a reminder, PAJANIMALS fans can access a number of fun and FREE ageappropriate activities and games on the Sprout® website, http://www.sproutonline.com/
Disclosure: I was sent a sample from the vendor in order to write up an honest review. The views above are mine and mine alone.
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