Perfect recipe for a great nights sleep.

I went through a period since Christmas of sleepless nights. After almost 3 years of dreaming (or should I say day-dreaming) for a baby to sleep, when she finally does I am the one lying awake.

I knew it was due to my mind racing and the inability to switch off at night. I was using all the time from the girls going to bed until close to midnight to catch up on the things I was unable to get completed in work and then blog emails/ instagram DM's. I started to realise how unhealthy it was. Sleep is directly linked to good wellbeing. I have written last month about the feeling of too many tabs being open and getting to the burn out stage. I needed to let both my mind and body rest and renew.

I was on instagram stories saying about how bad my skin had gotten and that I was going that day to invest in new products. One lady sent me a message with some very wise words. She told me to focus less on the cover up of the problem and look at the source, she told me I looked tired and dehydrated and the impact this has on my skin more so than what products I put on it. It was thought provoking, honest and constructive. She suggested I detoxed my environment and system first and then spend the money on products after.

The same day I had a new mattress arriving, I thought this was the perfect time to then focus on the source of the issue. Before I could take any picture of it in the small box before it expanded open my overexcited husband had it opened and lying in the centre of our room.

I put on fresh white sheets, tidied the mess and fuss that was around the room (yes, it was there I just don't instagram them bits 😉), brought out the lavender pillow spray I would have used when Annie wasn't sleeping and removed my phone charger from beside the bed to remove the desire to keep checking my phone, email, online shopping, DMs and the how the girl that I've never even met cat is doing on instagram.

This was the start of the detoxing of our bedroom but the hard part was when I needed to 'switch off' from looking at devices at a certain time. I made it realistic as I still have work to do and deadlines to meet and completing these when I had the evening with the kids was not an option so I decided to consciously set down devices by 10pm and relax for 30 minutes before going to bed at a decent time (that's even too late for the days my alarm goes off at 5am or before).

Our previous mattress had a huge dent in Colin's side, we have a few jokes about this and he would say it's doing twice the work as I'm always over there but it was like falling into a pit with him. I can't blame his over excited reaction when the new mattress arrived.

When the Team at Emma's Mattress got in touch to try out their products it couldn't have come at a better time. A new mattress was on our plan, we got new mattresses for the girls at Christmas and ours was next on the list.

Before I decided this mattress was right for us I did a little research as a poor quality mattress can have further issues than just loss of sleep and after paying out a small fortune on a chiropractor for my back it wasn't something I wanted to risk.

With Emma mattress there is only one type you can choose but described as a 'Mattress for everyone' and rated Which? Best Buy 2017 with 4.69 out of 5 in the reviews. It was described as having maximum adaptability through the optimised combination of decompressing Airgocell Layer, pressure reliving pocket springs, visco- elastic memory foam and supporting layer of cold foam. After having it now for almost a month and also making the conscious changes I can say that I've noticed a huge difference. This isn't in a 'create a great review' way, this is in a 'I am less grumpy and irritable' way for getting proper, comfortable rest. Colin however is really enjoying the new mattress and even commented that it felt warmer and that his body weight felt properly distributed due to the memory foam, unfortunately his memory wasn't great at remembering we were reviewing so I have no images to show how the full mattress is delivered in a box. (Nil points for the blogger)

I still miss some ingredients for the perfect night sleep many nights but it's a positive step in the right direction and I'm grateful for the reminder to detox the environment and go right back to the basics when things need improving.

This blog post is a paid collaboration with Emma Mattress, the content is my own opinion and personal. All words, opinion, images are my own (my husband is even more excited than I am, as are the two bed snatchers that I'd find in beside us in 'the cuddle cuddle bed').

Anna xx