The Newhouse Family Blog

I have 3 children, and 2 of them have been relatively good sleepers. They went to bed (or co-slept with us) with minimal battles. BUT, my 2 year old has been on a battle against sleep for months. She’s still young but after weaning her from the breast and trying to reduce the hours we spend co-sleeping (in preparation for our next baby due in September) we have spent most nights loosing sleep. Last weekend, when attending The Baby Show at Birmingham NEC, we found a solution and it’s worked 100% so far. Welcome to my Ewan The Dream Sheep blog review.

ewanthedreamsheep

Hours rocking, driving her around town in the car, putting her in the ring sling and going for late night walks, laying in her bed, singing and generally begging her to sleep has resulted in months going to bed late, and waking up tired. It would then be 3 am where she would wake up and climb into bed with us until 6:30am when my family then start our day.

I wanted to buy a Ewan The Dream Sheep for a while, but never got around to it. At The Baby Show at Birmingham NEC last weekend, I decided that was my chance to purchase a Ewan for our new baby. Most of the items for baby are second hand and I really wanted to buy something nice and new for them- and to see if the rumours surrounding Ewan were correct. Apparently this cuddly sheep can get kids of all ages to fall asleep, in their own beds… with ease.

Our newest baby, due in September, was who Ewan was originally bought for!

I originally planned on keeping Ewan pristine, kept within his secure and clean packaging until baby arrived. We joked with the lovely lady on the Ewan The Dream sheep stand that my toddler would probably steal Ewan before her sibling has a chance to use it. I wasn’t wrong. We got home from The Baby Show with an exhausted toddler, who was over tired and refusing sleep, and screaming LOUDLY. 3 AAA batteries later (and around 15 minutes) and our nightmare sleeper was… A-F*****G-SLEEP. OK, first night, she was tired anyway, it could have been a fluke.

Second night, she went to bed with a bottle and she fell asleep in 5 minutes. She didn’t finish her bottle.

Third night, she brushed her teeth and I asked her to get Ewan. She took herself off to bed ON HER OWN with Ewan, and fell asleep ON HER OWN.

*continue the epic pattern of easy bedtimes*

OH. MY. GOD. IT. WORKED.

A post shared by The Newhouse Family blog (@thenewhousefamily) on May 21, 2017 at 12:30pm PDT

Who Is Ewan The Dream Sheep?

So, you know that it works but what exactly is Ewan The Dream Sheep? Ewan is a soft cuddly toy with a Grey or Purple head and legs. He’s fluffy, cuddly and freakin’ adorable. Look at his eyes… Awee!

What Does Ewan The Dream Sheep Do?

Well obviously he helps your little sleep-dodger get the F to sleep. But this only works due to some clever little features. The sheep glows a gorgeous deep pink colour, plays white noise and slowly lulls your child off into a peaceful slumber. Ewan softly plays sounds of real womb recordings, which makes him perfect for babies from newborn. A mothers heartbeat can be played, as can the sound of a fetal heartbeat (like what you hear when your midwife puts a Doppler to your bump), gentle music, vacuum cleaner and rainfall- all real life recordings, and not computer generated!

Ewan has a gentle red glow to help babies sleep, as well as various sounds too.

The combination of sounds are activated by pressing buttons situated in Ewan’s legs and plays for 20 minutes. The actual recordings are all recorded at a low base frequency which babies hear in the womb, which is why Ewan works so well at getting babies and toddlers (older kids and even adults too) off to sleep so well.

Ewan has even been proven to help babies who suffer from colic to be relieved of their pain, and fall into a gentle pain-free sleep. Something I am sure all parents of babies who have had colic would have loved to see to help their babies sleep.

Ewan has a Velcro tail to easy attach Ewan to cot bars, moses baskets, prams etc. It is recommended that Ewan is attached safely out of babies way until baby is 12 months of age, this is for safety reasons.

Ewan has a handy velcro tail. Perfect for attaching him to cots and prams.

Where to buy a Ewan from

You can buy Ewan The Dream Sheep from the SweetDreamers website, for £29.99. Ewan comes in purple or grey, I have also spotted Ewan’s in John Lewis, Argos, Boots and Tescos (all online).

I purchased our Ewan at The Baby Show, so if you plan on attending any of the shows keep your eyes peeled for the Ewan The Dream Sheep stand.

Loft

Most lofts in the UK have a pitched roof. Unfortunately, this means that head height is low and almost completely restricted in places. Still, there are opportunities for conversion. Take a look at the roofs of the houses nearby. If anyone else has popped a window up there, then there is a precedent for you to apply for the same. This doesn’t come cheap, and planning permission could take ages. You’ll also need to consider escape routes, and stair cases. A loft conversion though means you could gain an extra bedroom or office (and value to your home!)

Garage

Converting your garage can be a fun project to take on, and may offer you an annexe that suits an older teen. A closed friend of ours converted their garage into an annexe for an older family relative. We used to use the garage as a hide out when we were kids, but now it is a gorgeous whole extra living space. Of course, the trouble with garages is that they can become the general junk storage facility for the family! Tidying up and keeping it clear will be a bit of a challenge if you’re not providing somewhere to store the things you need to keep. But, why hold onto junk that you’re not using? It could be a good excuse to declutter and make use of all that extra space. The building itself may need to undergo a lot of changes to be fit for a living or sleeping space too. Speak to your local building regs department about what can be done.

Basement

As with the loft, you’re looking for precedent here. I would absolutely LOVE a basement. A friend has one as has turned it into a man cave (complete with miniature railway) and I admit that I am very jealous. Not all basements can successfully be converted into bedrooms, but they may make a second living space or home classroom, play den (clearing toys from my lounge sounds very appealing) or extra office space. Again, it’s expensive because access is so restricted. However, like the loft, it could be a huge space that you’re freeing up to become some sort of living or working space. Most basements already have electrics installed, and basement conversions can be achieved for less than loft conversions. The basement would be perfect for teens to move into- I would have jumped at the chance to live in a basement, when I was a sulky teenager!

Extension

Now regulations are more relaxed, you can build an extension without all the red tape of planning permission in some cases. You can even build it yourself if you’re up to the challenge. Plumbing and electrics will still need to be certificated by a qualified engineer. The entire project will also need to be signed off by Building Regs. You can install a flat roof with materials from a roofing superstore without the need for much specialist equipment. You will likely need a digger, though to prepare the plot. If you have a garage attached to the side of your property, you could consider building an extra room above it, that’s joined to the upstairs of your house (something that we actually plan on doing one day!), A conservatory can make a gorgeous extra living space- such as a dining area.

Interior Reconfiguration

Most interior walls of your home are not load bearing. That means they could come down. If your dining space simply isn’t big enough for another high chair at the table, then why not go open plan? Even if the wall is load bearing, you may be able to find a builder to install a supporting joist or pillar so you can still open the space up. You can do the same with bedrooms. Of course, upstairs, you may need to create more rooms. Changing the dimensions of each room could be possible.

How will you create your space?