Listen to Lena

Perfecting the Art of Conversuasion

When They Sleep Better, I Sleep Better.

By

NOTE: The following giveaway is open to Canadians only.

This post was sponsored by the makers of BENADRYL®. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s a warm summer night, and the day has been long. Play dates, splash pads, dining out, oh my! I’m just about ready to put my feet up and relax, when my husband gives me “that look”.

Oh no, I think to myself. Not tonight.

Sensing my hesitation, he raises his eyebrows and nods solemnly. “Yes”, he says before I can turn away. “You can’t avoid it tonight. Come on, Lena, no excuses.” I flinch. “It’s your turn to put the boys to bed.”

Ugh! Bedtime at my house is the worst. thing. ever. Sometimes it’s cute – tiny feet padding into our room after lights out; a tiny figure climbing onto our bed. But it’s endearing for about five minutes… and then the screaming begins.

“Get back to bed!”
“No more water! Time to sleep!”
“I’ve already read three stories! Go to bed!”
“Stop fighting! You’re supposed to be sleeping!”

Benadryl Sleep(Captioned Above: “Can’t trust my boys to actually go to bed. Found Ryder sitting in a bucket reading a book to Reid, who somehow got his hands on two cookies – WTH?”)

I could go on, but I won’t. I’m not sure why my boys are so opposed to bedtime – to tell the truth, if this is foreshadowing into their teen years for curfews, I am downright terrified. But even though I hate the ongoing fight, I really do have their best interests at heart. 

I want them to have a restful sleep, free of the troubles and stress that they’ll have to shoulder one day. I want them to snuggle under the warm covers, secure in the knowledge that they have a roof over their heads and loving hands to tuck them in. And most of all, I want them to enter the world of dreams, where anything is possible and their imaginations can soar freely.

In short, when they sleep better, I sleep better.

Benadryl Itch SpraySo, I do everything in my power to give them the best possible start. A warm bath; cuddles at bedtime. A whimsical story, an extra kiss good night. And during the summer months, I make sure to treat bug bites with the help of BENADRYL® Itch Relief Spray. It helps relieve my boys’ itching, so they can sleep tight… even if the bugs bite!

Non-stinging BENADRYL® Itch Relief Spray contains a topical antihistamine/ analgesic and a skin protectant to provide fast, effective relief at the source from itchiness and pain due to allergic itches, poison ivy, insect bites, mild sunburn or minor skin irritations. I’ve trusted BENADRYL® Allergy liquid for my boys’ skin irritations and allergic reactions for years, and now I’m happy to have an easy-to-apply, fast-acting anti-itch spray that can target the problem at the source.

And, an itch-less sleep is a good sleep.

Best of all, it’s portable – so it’s perfect for tropical vacations, camping,  late evening sports, and all the other activities that leave us exposed to bug bites.

Bedtime at my house is really hard. REALLY hard. I challenge anyone to a battle of wills with my two boys! (I often say they’re like Voltron – separated, I can handle them, but together, their power becomes insurmountable.) However, if I can send them off to slumber feeling loved, content, and of course, comfortable, I feel like my work is done.

BENADRYL® doesn’t want itching to get in the way of a good night’s sleep! So, they’re offering one lucky reader the chance to win a $150 Walmart gift card! To enter, fill the form below with your qualifying entries. Good luck!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. I don’t miss those days at all fighting with the girls to get to bed, aren’t they lots of fun..lol, now a days it’s my own body that keeps me awake with being in so much pain it’s hard to get comfy and sleep

  6. It’s the only me time I have when the kids are sleeping! So the only time motivates me to stay up.. LoL

  9. well right now i am 36 weeks pregnant so the fact that i gotta wake up every couple hours to pee lol

  12. Well, my son now comes into my room at the same time every night and just crawls under the blanket and passes out…He has autism and has a routine, and I assumed that when it happened the first time at 12:20 am, he made it his routine to do it…until he explained to me that every night at the same time he rolls over in his sleep and the spring in his mattress pokes him and he can’t get comfy…so now each night I lay awake wondering what exactly I’m supposed to do with a situation that I can’t currently fix….

    • Could you turn the mattress over? Or buy a foam to go on top of the annoying spring? Yncomfortable mattresses are tricky!

  14. The only thing that can keep me up at night now is having a mosquito buzzing around my room – UGH.
    My daughter is all grown up now – so I have done my time with the “bedtime bounce” and I can SO relate to your story Lena LOL

  16. EEEEKKKK I have been a night crawler all my life, Usually up until around 3am and back up at 7am. horrible, Just cant turn my brain off lol

  18. Itchy mosquito bites and my 3 cats sleeping in my room every night, one cat sleeps on the floor near some bags and ends up chewing the bags around 3 am, the second one sleeps on either my computer chair or sometimes on the floor beside my bed (and purrs really loud), and the third one likes to sleep on my bed next to my feet and everytime i try to move my leg he’ll chase after my leg to go back to sleep on it.

  19. I’ve had several rounds of mosquito bites this summer. Hard to sleep when you’re itching all over!

  24. thinking about school starting in a few weeks keeps me awake!! oh,and 5 cats doesnt help ;)

  30. The past few nights – breaking Bad, I’m binge watching all the seasons. Well that and my husband snores.

  36. I am entering your giveaway.
    It would be awesome to win a $150 Walmart gift card.
    In response to your question of What keeps you up at night?
    There are different things that keep me up at night sometimes it’s noisy neighbors,
    a thunderstorm,a good movie on television
    or just wanting to get my blog tweets done for the day.
    Thank you for having this giveaway!!!!!!!!!

  43. My mind wandering keeps me up at night. I replay my entire day, imagine scenarios that may happen tomorrow, make to-do lists in my head and pretty much anything else that you can imagine!

  47. My allergies often keep me up at night when I am really congested and if it is to hot that keeps me up too

  53. Worry sometimes keeps me up at night! Worry about my kids, money or about the state of the world. We can’t fix it all! But we can do what we can. I find writing a list for the next day to get things out of my mind works.

  54. Well… let me tell you. This year has been the worst for bites!!!Thanks for sharing… I didn’t know about Benadryl spray… I would love to try this product.

  55. I have been so sleep deprived this summer because of the bites…. this is what keeps me up at night!!!
    itch itch itch!!!!

  57. My two year old takes bad reactions every time she gets an insect bite. Didn’t know this product existed, but will definitely be trying it now!

  62. My active brain keeps me awake or worry ….
    Some nights I just can’t shut down my brain so I can sleep

  72. I’m a light sleeper so just about everything keeps me up. Outside noises, the neighbors partying all night, the tenant who lives below me yelling and swearing at his pets….just to name a few lol. I’m not sure the neighborhood is ever quiet and peaceful night or day so sleep can be hard to come by.

  81. I always have a problem falling asleep,,not sure why,,and of course,,my hubbys outrageous SNORING keeps me up as well.

  82. Stress has been keeping up at night for months now. It drives me nuts when I am dead tired and try to go to sleep only to have my brain to kick into high gear and me end up laying there for hours on end with everything goring through my mind.

  84. The inability to shut my mind down and to stop it from continually going over all the things I need to accomplish :)

  87. anything that bothers me or if I have to go somewhere I toss and turn. so I guess stress.

  107. Stress from work and family member health , stuffy nose. I love my work but my group leader is getting to me lately, seem my tolerance level is getting low.

  118. Stress keeps me up at night. I’ve had so much on my plate lately, I’m really beginning to wonder when this madness will end!

  119. Anxietied thoughts about something important coming up, turning different scenarios around in my brain until I have full-out insomnia.

  120. I have so many things that keep me up at night, allergies in the summer, migraines most of all restless leg syndrome, even stress. When I get hives that is the worst.

  131. If I can’t sleep at night, it is usually about what has happened earlier that day.

  134. I was bitten by mosquitos over 12 times at the Oak Bay Marina a few weeks ago. I have used Benadryl for allergies and allergic reactions for years. I did see the spray recently and plan to pick it up…Benadryl tablets were the only thing that helped me through 4 days of wanting to desperately scratch!

  139. Overactive brain cells keeps me up – young son/family commitments/job search….*LIFE*

    Eva Mitton-Urban

  149. Quiet time to myself keeps me up. The temptation to stay up to the wee hours is very strong.

  159. It’s hard to shut my brain off at night sometimes …I often get up again and have a cup of tea and then I’m good to go..

  167. Personal and random thoughts that I didn’t have time during the day to think about. For example, back in college during exam “season”, I would only think and stress about school/exam related issues during the whole day. This left me the night time – when I’m about to sleep- to think about stuff like, what I need to buy my mom for her birthday day next week. Sigh.

  173. My child keeps me up at night… sometimes I wonder how they can function on little sleep

  178. My thoughts keep me up at night from ruminations about the days events to the thoughts of what I should or need to do the next day.

  180. Studying (cause I’m older than my fellow classmates and it takes longer to absorb) and tea now keeps me up.

  190. Sometimes too much coffee but more often it is just one of the things that go with being post-menopausal

  193. Worrying about what kind of work a crippled person can do to support his family, that’s what does it for me.

  200. Insomnia! I try to dim the lights & not use electronics at least an hour before bed.

  216. my kids keep me up (and repeatedly wake me up) at night. my youngest wakes up a few times wanting a drink/snack, my oldest wakes up in his bed and climbs into ours then kicks me until he wakes up in the morning

  230. Worrying about things mostly. I’m starting school next week, and I have one kid at home, and one in school and I’m worried I’m taking on too much. And of course paying for it all!

  231. My toddler waking up, my dog asking to be let out or my husband snoring mostly. Once in awhile I had a night or worry but not too often thank goodness.

  238. stress – if i had a bad day or if i have alot going on in my mind, i need to go for a walk right before bed in order to sleep well.

  239. Everything keeps me awake. I need to turn my brain off and can’t! My son! My husband! And I live near a train track. The 2a.m. Train wakes me every night!

  243. My Husband and I are expecting our first baby boy in November and this being my first pregnancy, I’m finding it more difficult to sleep than ever. I don’t really feel like I sleep anymore, just more of a nap here and there. I know it will be worth it but oh how I used to love my sleep! Thanks for the wonderful Walmart giveaway from Listen to Lena and Benadryl :)

  249. I’m being honest, the kids, I’ve entered the night terror stage with my 2 yr old and she has moved into our room, lol

  250. Sleep..what’s that? I have insomnia in spurts. I’m currently in a ‘spurt’….sadly it’s been 5 days so far and I’ve had a combined 8 hours in the 5 days.

  251. Usually it’s stress and my mind racing that keep me up, but lately my arm has been falling asleep so badly that is causes extreme pain and keeps me up all night :-(

  252. I get my best ideas just as I am trying to fall asleep. I have to get up and write them down or it will drive me nuts.

  258. I have that things your mom may have told you about called “mother hearing”. I never feel refreshed after sleep and I also seem to have a lot of aches and pains. Maybe that’s why hubs calls me a pain in the neck! :)

  268. I have a few cats even though I’m mildly allergic and they like to sleep on the bed. So if they aren’t keeping me up by chasing each other over my sleeping body, they’re keeping me up by making my nose stuffy.

  269. I have restless legs syndrome and I dont sleep for more than 3-4 hrs. Thats what keeps me up at night, I just lay there and think.

  270. We live along a busy residential street so between vehicles and foot traffic there’s always noise of one kind of another that’s concerning.