Feature: Made for Parents

Ewan the Dream Sheep

Around a month old is a good time to start establishing a good bedtime routine, as this can help your new baby to begin to understand the difference between night and day. Even though in the early days, they will probably wake up three hours-ish after you’ve put them down, it is just about giving them cues as to when it is time to fall asleep. 

One sleep product that has been an absolute must have for our little tester, and has become an important part of his bedtime routine, since he was a newborn, is Ewan the Dream Sheep. As I mentioned in my Newborn Essentials, white noise seemed to help soothe and encourage the little one to fall asleep, especially in the early days.

How does it work?

Ewan the Dream Sheep is a white noise machine that has been specifically designed to help settle babies and toddlers to sleep. 

There are four different sounds, all of which have been combined with a resting heartbeat noise, to produce sounds which have been clinically proven to calm babies and naturally encourage them to sleep.

The sounds are:

• Heartbeat and Womb,
• Heartbeat and Vacuum Cleaner,
• Heartbeat and Harp Music,
• Heartbeat and Rain.

The heartbeat and womb sounds are actual recordings, rather than computer generated sounds, I think has been done to provide a softer more natural sound, which would remind babies of being back in the womb.

Our little tester loves the heartbeat and vacuum cleaner combination and when he was younger he would often fall asleep to the sound of the actual vacuum cleaner and the hairdryer.

Each of Ewan’s legs corresponds to a different sound and when pressed the sound comes on along with a soft pinky/red glow. There are no obvious markings on the legs to state which leg corresponds to which sound, so this can make it difficult to use at first, however, you do quickly get used to it and you’ll develop the ability to quickly press the leg with the preferred sound (even in the dark). 

The sound and glow then continue for 20 minutes, allowing your baby to hopefully drift into a deep sleep.

This product has also won the Mother and Baby Gold Award.

Review

Now on to our experience of using Ewan the Dream Sheep.

Ewan has been used since the little tester was first born and now he is two, it’s still a crucial part of his bedtime routine.

Just before the little one has a story, Ewan is turned on, providing a soft and subtle sound in the background. Once the story is finished, the lights are turned off and it is time for a cuddle before he is placed in his cot. The red glow also provides a slight night light which helps when transitioning from arms to cot.

This is the ideal bedtime routine…of course it doesn’t always end up like this.

 

As the little one is over one, Ewan is placed in the corner of his cot, however, when he was younger Ewan was fastened at the top of his cot, with his velcro tail. The idea of a Velcro tail was designed so you can attach it to a pushchair, if you want to take Ewan out with you. However, it is a little big (and it would be rather upsetting if you lost him) and if you find your baby needs white noise whilst out and about, you could use an app on your phone. 

It is important to have Ewan out of the cot when your baby is under the age of one, as it could be a sleeping risk.

As Ewan is easily put into a suitcase, he has been on a few holidays with our little tester to help ease the transition into a new sleeping place and to continue his routine.

The design is very aesthetically pleasing and would probably compliment any nursery. As you can see we have purple Ewan, however you can also buy a grey version.

One thing to note is that our first Ewan became faulty after one year of use and the sounds stopped working, even after batteries had been changed. However, after a lovely conversation with a customer service advisor, who was sorry to hear that our Ewan was no longer working, sent us a new one to replace the one we had.

Purchasing Ewan the Sheep

You can buy Ewan from most places, such as, Amazon, Mothercare, Mamas and Papas, Boots and John Lewis.

The average retail price is £29.99, but you might be able to find it on offer.

This would also be a great gift for any new parents. 

I would highly recommend this item, if your baby enjoys listening to white noise to relax and fall asleep.

Thanks for reading,

Alice (@Made for Parents)

To purchase Ewan from Amazon click here.