Episode 180: The Baby Shusher Story & Why You Will Love It Too

Disclaimer: Transcripts were generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies and errors.

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Welcome to The Kids Sleep Show podcast, where we dive into the magical world of sleep and all things parenting. Join us as we embark on a journey filled with expert advice, practical tips, and heartwarming stories that will transform your little ones into sleep superheroes and empower you to navigate the beautiful chaos of parenting. I’m your host, Courtney Zents, and I’m on a mission to change how the world views sleep and provide accessible sleep coaching resources for all families to build healthy sleep habits in their home for children and adults of all ages. As an award winning speaker, author, and pediatric sleep expert, myself and my team of consultants work intimately with families around the world to teach healthy sleep habits to children and adults. I believe wholeheartedly that sleep is the foundation for which a happy home is built, so let’s sleep together.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to this week’s episode of the Kids Sleep Show podcast. I am joined by the general manager from NEO, miss Charlotte Wenham, and we are gonna talk all about a couple of our favorite baby products that you either have already in your house, or if you don’t, you’re gonna jump out and grab it because they are so awesome. The first and foremost is the baby shusher, so I’m very excited to chat about that and some of the new offerings in the product line at Neo. Welcome, Charlotte.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey from across the globe here to the lovely Dallas Metro Area. Hey. Nice to meet you, Courtney. And, really excited to be talking with you about baby Shusher and what we have. By way of background, first and foremost, I am a mom of two boys.

So they’re a little older now, but I definitely remember those early days, tearing my hair out, trying to get to sleep, trying to get them to sleep, trying to figure out who I was, what I was doing, why I was doing it. My background, is in emergency nursing. So, you know, I went into parenting thinking that, you know, I can deal with traumas and sick people and chaos and everything. How hard can parenting be? Right?

Well, much much more difficult than I had anticipated. So, first and foremost, my biggest challenge was sleep for myself. My first birth in particular was very, very long and a little complex, took me a little while to physically get over and, you know, just just struggling, adapting to a new human who couldn’t really communicate with me was probably the biggest challenge that I came across. But, you know, roll forward a few years, and, you know, we came came in contact with the voice behind baby Shusher, Chad. So baby Shusher is a real human voice.

He’s he’s real. He lives in Austin. But we we got together with him. We have a business that we, assist with manufacturing different products, and they needed some help to take baby shusher, which they had been using at home and made a few recordings for friends going really well, but taking it to a real life product, and out into the marketplace. And so, you know, we joined forces with them and, you know, ten, eleven years on, we’ve now had, a couple million baby shushes sold, at least as many families helped.

We’re being, you know, helping out in hospitals and all sorts of different places, and it’s it’s been a really exciting but kinda weird ride as well. Right? Yeah. That’s so fun. I know.

I saw, you know, just in, the number wise. Right? Like, you’ve got shushers all over the world. Chad’s voice is in random nurseries around the world. But I think you do a lot with, like, the NICUs.

Right? So talk a little bit about it. And for people who don’t know, the shusher is exactly what it sounds like, shushing. Right? So you have this voice that is which is soothing to babies.

Right? Very soothing. And I don’t know how Chad did it, but he found just the right tone, just the right pace, the right length, the right everything. But in terms of what we’re doing with hospitals, we’ve donated, thousands of baby shushes to NICUs across the country. They’re being used, for premature babies, babies who are born, opioid addicted, who have cardiac conditions, who have issues with their their gut and all sorts of things.

And the surprising thing for us is that the feedback we’ve gotten from clinicians is that they actually need less sedation for these young, little, frail babies when they’re using the baby shusher compared to when they’re not, which obviously has some huge benefits for these babies who are already in a really difficult situation to be able to, you know, not give them these drugs that are affecting them is is phenomenal. Like, it it’s an unexpected benefit for us and for me as, you know, having the the nursing background that I have, I understand how challenging these situations are, but it’s also really great, not just for the clinicians and for the babies, but for the families. You know, all of this, this focus and attention is on the babies, but there’s whole families that are going through this extremely difficult life situation. And to be able to do something that helps them with their baby, with the baby’s care, is is gratifying in a different kind of way. Yeah.

Absolutely. And, I mean, I could even extend that into just coming home from the hospital. You know, I am a very type a person, and I love really just being on top of things. Right? Like, I’ve always worked really hard.

I’ve always done my best and given my best effort for things. Right? And I was so naive coming into motherhood that, like, it’s gonna come home, and this baby’s gonna milk food feed. It’s gonna you know, milk’s gonna flow from my breast. Mhmm.

And I just thought I was like, I’ll be Betsy the cow, and I’m gonna have this kid who sleeps well. And I’m gonna sit and work with my team of 40 while I’m on maternity leave, and I’m gonna slam milk into a freezer. And I had just grandiose dreams, and my husband went back to work the second day I was home. He it was month end. He was the, you know, controller at eBay at the time internationally.

And so he’s like, it’s month end. I gotta go to work. And that was, like, April 30, ‘2 days after our son was born. And I was thrust into the world of, like, this is crazy. I don’t know what I’m doing.

All you did was check that he was strapped into a car seat properly, and you sent me home with a living human being who just cries and poops and may or may not be hungry because nobody told me my milk didn’t come in yet. You know? I’m not trying to or some, and I don’t know what I’m doing. And I will say, I mean, it is that sleep deprivation that just compounds those first six to twelve weeks while you’re, like, learning each other. Yeah.

Having a product like the baby shusher that can help. Like, I remember the first night I was walking around, like, he’s just screaming, and I’m like, I just fed you. I just changed you. My husband’s sound asleep upstairs in our little split level house. And I’m like, what do we do?

Why did I do this? You know? And it’s like and my husband had the shush and the swizzle. Right? Like so I kinda joke because I couldn’t swizzle my arm like he could.

Uh-huh. I couldn’t shush like he could, and that was probably because I was crying all the time because I was so overwhelmed. Yeah. But there is something soothing about the noise. And so if you’re listening to this at the end of the podcast, I’ll play the shusher for a few minutes so I don’t interrupt it right now.

Just so you can hear it, or I’ll pause the recording here and just play it for a second, and then we’ll come back to keep chatting, you know, when I make the the podcast live because it’s just so incredibly calming even as an adult to listen to a noise like that in the background today. So I can imagine, you know, just the fact that it’s so popular and has sold so many millions of shish shish. Like, the the calmness that it brings to not only a baby who doesn’t really wanna be crying all the time, but also to the parents. You know? I mean, it just compounds those first weeks for sure.

Absolutely. And I can so relate to the the crying all the time. I don’t know how many times my husband came home from work to find me crying and the baby crying just, you know, sitting together on the couch or in a corner. I remember one time I I lost my phone down the back of a chair in the lounge, and it was on silent because you don’t want anything to wake that baby once they’re asleep. He came home.

I couldn’t find my phone. I was crying. He was crying. It was just a whole deal, and it is just overwhelming on a whole new level. And I don’t think that anyone can really prepare you for it because it’s not just the fact that your child is crying and you don’t know how to deal with it.

You are dealing with that sleep deprivation. You have just come out of, you know, hopefully nine months of pregnancy and a birth and you’ve got the sleep deprivation plus all of the hormones stacked in on top. And it is just sometimes it just feels earth shattering. Yeah. You know?

It feels like someone’s just pulled the rug out from underneath you. I, you know, I would talk with my husband, and we’re very good, you know, communicating wise, which I’m blessed for because I know not everyone, you know, is is lucky in that. You know? I don’t take it for granted. And at eight weeks, we were driving to the beach, and Max was in the back, and he was crying.

And I’m like, I can’t wait to go back to work. I cannot wait to go back to work. Like, I just feel like I’m failing at this, and it’s the only job I’ve ever failed at. And it’s hard. You know?

It was, like, heartbreaking for me because I was really trying to do my best, but, internally, I was, like, crumbling. And he said something to me at the time, Charlotte, which you can probably appreciate. He says, just get a whiteboard. And I was like, okay. What what am I gonna do with the whiteboard?

So in my passive aggressive, you know, shotgun sitting in front of my Chevy Malibu at the time, I ordered, like, the biggest whiteboard, put it on the fridge. He’s like, just tell me what I need to do. And I will say he is an accountant. So if you, you know, know anyone or you’re listening to this and your spouse or partner is an accountant, it’s very, like, even more so red rigid than I am. But it saved our marriage as far as, like, the stress that gets added on when you have a baby, you know, and it turned into a product we now sell called the tiny task board, that is exactly that.

It’s like a board when you come home that you put on your fridge. You know? But it was like, okay. You know? Change the diaper pail.

Sterilize the bottles or the breast pump parts. You know, go do the baby’s laundry and stuff just because it is so overwhelming or and I think they wanna know how they can help too. And so, you know, it’s just so interesting in that, like, overwhelm that you feel. And I think it’s at any age and stage. You know?

Chronic sleep deprivation for parents and kids isn’t good, but then you have a toddler. And then you have a new baby and a toddler if you decide to have more than one. And, right, you go through all these different stages. And I you know, sleep gets better. It depends on the age and kinda what the unique situation is with each family, but there’s things that still constantly will come up.

Like, our clients are clients at tiny transitions for years, not because sleep stinks for years, but because things are going great. And then, like, at, you know, seven years old, all of a sudden, like, they get, they you know, I saw son saw Toy Story four of all things and was, like, totally freaked out. You know? And then it was that night. I’m like, oh, we’re not doing this, man.

You know? And luckily, in my career, I kind of see that, you know, is this a challenge, or is this you trying to get into, like, our room or something? You know? I’m probably a little colder than most parents, but, when it comes to that stuff, you know? But I know you, have a lot of different products that, like, sort of started with the baby shusher and then have evolved in support of parenting, which I think is so cool.

So tell me a little bit about the sloth because it’s sort of the next evolution, in the product offering, in the product suite. I know you’ve also sold several million of them. So tell me a little bit about the the the baby sloth. Yeah. So the sloth, is a soft plush that has a sound module inside it that has the original baby shush shush.

And the the idea behind that one is really for an older child. So baby shusher is one that, you know, you can stick in your diaper bag, you can stick in the handbag, really easy to take somewhere. But the sloth is designed for an older child, who might want a a companion in bed with them at night. Obviously, you can’t put a soft plush or anything in the crib with a young baby. But with a toddler or older, it’s it’s it’s a little more appropriate if they want that.

So our sloth is super, super soft. That was very, very important, very tactile. Mhmm. But that one is is really it has that shush, but it’s one that, you know, you can take out to, you know, a friend’s place or wherever. You can take the modular.

You can put the sloth in the washing machine so it can be laundered normally. But it also one of the things that we got from, parents and and consumers was that a lot of children who were on the spectrum found that shush really great for focusing them, but they didn’t want to send their child to school with something that said baby shusher on it. So, you know, they can put this sloth on the school bag or whatever. It’s got little hook and loop arms so they can take it with them, and they’re not using a a baby shusher. They’ve got this sloth that just happens to make a sound that helps them to focus.

So a few different user uses for that product, but, of course, you know, really great for that sleep routine. It’s the same trigger that, you know, if you’ve had the baby shusher earlier, you can carry that slip trigger all the way through, you know, to them being an an older child. And I think what’s cool too, just in the space of, like, from a toddler sleep coach or a baby sleep coach standpoint. Right? Like, I see a lot of kids that will grow, you know, out of sleep training, if you will.

Right? And that term can get overused as they get older, and what it ends up becoming around eighteen to twenty four months is toddler behavior modification. So it’s not sleep training. Your toddler knows how to sleep. They’re not deficient in the skill of independent sleep.

It’s usually that a preference happens or a life event happens or, you know, something triggers like, oh, wait a minute. We’re on vacation, and I just coslept for a week at Disney with you. I kinda like that. I don’t really wanna go back to my bed. Right?

And so, you know, when you have a product like the sloth, which I think is so cool, I’m a huge proponent of, like, comfort and then consistency in the routine, which I’m sure you can appreciate. You know? And that consistency and repetition, it’s like the sloth and the noise can be the the the trigger that the bedtime routine is starting and that it’s time to unwind. And, you know, I I talked to a mom this morning actually who called us for, you know, a discovery call. She’s like, I really don’t wanna give up cuddling with the twins.

I’m like, you don’t have to give up cuddling with the twins. You can’t cuddle for seven hours. Like, you know, your bedtime machine shouldn’t be going till 11:00 at night. That’s not good for either of you. And we were talking about it.

I’m like, you still do things that are consistent in the routine. Maybe it’s the bath. If it’s not a bath, you wash your face. That’s the trigger that bedtime is starting. And then after that, you read a book or you say your prayers.

Our family, we do three awesomes and one not awesome during the bedtime routine. So Mhmm. We all go. We share something positive about our day, something that wasn’t awesome. And I’m always surprised at what my kids will pick.

They’re eight and 10 now, but my son still sleeps with Bobby d. That has been his lovey since he was a brand new baby. He has not somehow lost either of them. And my daughter has Lucy, which is similar to the sloth, but is, you know, this little plush. And, I put a little drop of lavender on hers, but, like, they they become comfort objects.

But it still becomes, I think, part of that routine to your point where it’s like, if you wake in the middle of the night, let me show you how to turn it on. And sometimes I think kids, Charlotte, are probably resistant to wanting to turn it on. Like, no, mommy. You turn it on. Right?

But it’s like, well, if you just turn it into a game where you’re like, who can turn the shusher sloth on fastest? Yeah. And then all of a sudden do it, then that night at bedtime, you’re like, no. No. You did it before.

You beat mommy. Remember? You can actually do it faster than me. And you turn it into a part of the routine that’s also fun, but it drives independence. It’s a comfort object.

You know, I’ve gone as far as to, like, have families take little photos of their family. And I’m, like, laminated if you have a laminator. Not everybody’s as type a as me, but I like laminating everything. But I’m, like, just have a picture of your family, and you can, like, tape it on the back of your stuffed animal. So when they wake in the middle of the night, it’s like, grab your shusher.

You can look at mommy and daddy, and then turn it on. You know? So it’s like, you you kind of create these routines with products like the slot that are also portable to your point and, and durable. You know? You can wash.

You know, I had a client. I was like, you know, you’re worried about losing it. You guys travel a lot. Put an air tag in it. And then you know where it is.

You know? So I air tag everything. I’m like, oh, where’s my kids? Where’s their book bags? You know?

So because they, like, ride around the neighborhood and do stuff, and I’m like, where where are you? Because we’re, like, anti phone people for as long as we can hold out. But I just Yeah. I, you know, I just slide tags into everything. Sometimes they know, sometimes they don’t.

But, you know, with the with the sloth, it’s just such a cool way to kinda grow to your point. There’s the trigger of the sound and then, you know, the offering of, you know, the shusher aspect within the sloth, which I think is cool. And we were talking, I was at mass this morning at dash, Wednesday when we’re recording this, and my children were, they were given an award today for, like, a charity, which I’m excited about because, you know, I like my kids to understand not everybody’s got what we have. But, in the in the mass, everybody was coughing. And my husband was sitting there, and he’s like, I’m gonna get sick.

And the kid behind us was like, and he’s and the mom’s like, cover your mouth. And we’re both just sitting there, like, trying not to twitch. You know? I’m like, okay. Take a deep breath.

Please don’t get sick because, like, everybody’s been sick, you know, it seems like everywhere. Which brings me to the next product that you guys have, which I wanna talk a little bit about because this you know, as we were talking before we started recording, the Shusher nebulizer. Yes. Which is, like, just, in the heart of hearts, Saline is, like, my favorite little friend. And as a nurse, I’m sure you can appreciate it, but you can also appreciate the noise of a traditional nebulizer.

My kids are eight and 10, and we still rock that thing, like, all year when colds happen because the salt from the saline neb helps break up the mucus. You guys created such the perfect product that blends the people who don’t actually have a nebulizer. We had one because my son had viral induced asthma, and we did get it, you know, from the pharmacy and the pediatrician, but not everybody has that. So I wanna talk a few minutes about the SUSURE nebulizer and what it does for people that are unfamiliar. Because this is a really good product.

It’s not medicine, which I think is nice from, like, a baby standpoint, toddler school age, you know. So let’s take a few minutes, if you don’t mind, Charlotte, and tell people about, what you have created with the Shusher nebulizer. Yeah. Of course. Well, I mean, like you were alluding to before, and I think everybody can can relate to, when you’re congested, it’s difficult to breathe.

You can’t sleep properly. It’s just another disruption that you’re trying to deal with. Right? And another thing that I don’t think a lot of new parents understand is I’m gonna throw in a a medical ish term here, is that babies are obligate nose breathers, which means that they breathe only through their nose. They eat through their mouth or feed through their mouth and breathe through their nose.

So while as an adult or even as an older child or young adult, we have the luxury when we’re congested that we just open our mouth and breathe through our mouth. Babies don’t have that luxury. So when they’re congested, it can be pretty serious, but also very very uncomfortable. So with the nebulizer as you said that saline can help break up the mucus, it thins it out, makes it easier for babies to breathe. So with the nebulizer, the things that I noticed working in ER is babies, children, pretty much everyone really hates nebulizers.

They are noisy. They splutter. They spit out, you know, fluid, and it’s it can be quite distressing, very helpful, but it’s not the most pleasant experience. So what we did with the nebulizer is we were very, very deliberate in how it creates that atomization. So it’s a very fine mist.

It’s almost like a cloud. It’s USB c charged, so, you know, you could even have it while you’re traveling, plug it in as as you’re driving around. So we’ve purposefully made it nice and small, very portable. It makes that nice gentle mist. It’s quiet.

It’s just a really nice experience. And then, of course, with the saline, having that ability to break up the mucus and make it so much easier for babies to breathe, ultimately has a really positive benefit for their sleep. And I’m sure you’ve probably discussed this as well, but sleep is so important for children’s growth and brain development. So as much as you can avoid those disruptions, you’re you’re helping them to heal faster, to grow faster, to you know, as a parent, you want the best for your child, and it seems like a a little thing breathing. Right?

Everyone does it, but it’s critical because it has such an impact on everything. So that’s, you know, that’s a long way of saying we were really deliberate about making a nebulizer that was pleasant to use for babies, for for everybody. Well, and I think to your point, you know, I did not ever I mean, we had the saline drops and we registered for the nasal mist and the sprays and stuff. But, like, sometimes pinning a kid down, like a stage four clinger situation. You know what I mean?

Exactly. And and sometimes you can sort of distract them a bit with a nebulizer, and and it makes it a little easier. But, like, I didn’t even know that you could do that with a nebulizer until we were, you know, kinda knee deep in viral induced asthma when the pediatrician was like, oh, just use the saline. I’ll send it into the script. And then, you know, I’m like, well, where the heck was this three years ago, man?

We’ve been Mhmm. We didn’t We just battled through. I know, but we didn’t know what we didn’t know as new pair. And it’s like, there’s little things. Like, I think everybody okay.

I’m gonna register for diapers, and I’m gonna get, get, you know, the crib and all that stuff. But it’s like, man, I wish I went back and knew about Triple Paste and Aquaphor. I wish I knew about the Shusher nebulizer because you like, you don’t know what you don’t know until you have these products, and you’re like, oh my gosh. Such a game changer. Because to your point, like, sleep you know, I say it all the time.

Sleep is the foundation for which the house is built. Right? And and I think the first thing to go as adults when we’re stressed or we’re trying to do things or we have work commitments or we’re, you know, heading to the airport or doing something is sleep. Like, I will sacrifice sleep for insert whatever the thing is. Right?

Like, I’m a night owl. My kids are asleep, and then I stay up till 2AM, but then you’re up at six for the day. So it’s like, alright. Well, you only got four hours of sleep. Right?

So I think as adults, the first thing we sacrifice is sleep by choice. Not me. I’m like a nine to five every night type of person, but, you know, I blame the day job. But for kids, like, that’s when you had kind of already alluded to it. Right?

Like, your body grows. I always say you’re recording during the day, and you’re editing at night. And when it’s chronically broken like that, how you feel in the morning after a night with your kid who’s been up all night is how your kid feels. They just express it. And I don’t think people ever look at it that way because they’re like, well, they’re just a baby.

They’re not supposed to sleep. I’m like, no. No. They can sleep through the night. They can nap well.

We just have to set them up for success. I’m sure you’re gonna have times where it’s cold and flu season or a a molar’s popping in or they got, you know, stomach bug or they’re hungry, and that all that all is great, and it all makes sense. You all should be responding to your child then, but there’s a point where you you kinda move from, you know, a wanting and needing. Right? Like, do I need you for something, or do I just want you for something?

And I think it gets blurry with parents because you’re just in this dumpster fire of tired for so many years that you start to just go, it is what it is. This is just my life, you know, and it doesn’t have to be. And sometimes it feels easier to take the path of least resistance. So if if your child wants you and will be calm through that, it’s often easier just to sacrifice for yourself and do what makes it easier in that moment. But, unfortunately, you’re not you’re not helping yourself or your child because you’re setting up a pattern that I mean, think about when you’ve had a great night’s sleep.

Right? That whole next day is fabulous. You can achieve what you need to. You can learn. You’ve got energy.

You’ve you can really enjoy that day. And for for me, I think, you know, you can you can take that moment that you think, yep. This is good. I’ll just go in. It they’ll be fine.

When they go to sleep, I’ll go back. But you’re actually setting a pattern where they will wake up, and you’re disrupting their sleep just to try and get through the moment. Yeah. And I I don’t have a good solution as to how to get through that, but something like baby shusher, and the sloth or firefly, if they can activate that and help themselves resettle when they’ve got the the tools to do so, I think that’s a a gift that you’re giving to your child. Well, let’s talk a little bit about the firefly because I I’m pulling it out now, and I’ll do some videos on, you know, on the Instagram over at tiny transitions and tag you guys so folks listening can check it out.

But, you know, my son is 10. He still sleeps with the night light on until he falls asleep, and then we turn it off. But if I try to creep in there early and turn the the light off, he’s like, yep. Turn it back on. You know?

Meanwhile, my daughter is, like, total opposite. She has blackout curtains, blackout blinds. Mhmm. Came down the hallway last night. She’s like, could you guys please be a little more quiet and close your door?

I’m like, girlfriend, I you are four bedrooms away. Like, I will pound you to Punta Cana. And, so she was laughing because she comes in all, like, you know, it’s gotta be I mean, when we stay at hotels, she’s like, can you please put a towel in front of the door? Because the hallway light is bright. You know?

So it’s just funny. Like, they’ve both been raised the same, but they have totally different sleep personalities. Yep. The firefly, you know, as I was thinking about it, you know, in just seeing how tiny it is, and I’ll let you talk about it in a minute. I was like, I could hang this from the bunk bed, and it can sound like a cute fun thing.

You know, right now, we just have three d printed little men hanging all over because he shoots them with the Nerf gun. But the Firefly is like this perfect compact little like, you could travel with this. You could use it in the bedroom, and it’s not this crazy bright light. Like, I buy the least voltage possible light for his, like, lamp, and I have the old he has bump it. So he has, like, an old school clip lamp.

Yeah. That he wants because he reads a little bit, and then when he falls asleep, we turn it off. But I, you know, I buy, like, the dimmest possible light for it that still fits in, like, a normal light bulb size. Talk about the the firefly for a minute. And, like, what is it?

What is the purpose of it? Kinda how did, you know, some of these come to life? Well, one of the things that I think the beauty of Shusher is is that it is simple. So we’ve we’ve tried really hard to remove that burden of decision making. The shusher is the sound that works.

We’ve proven that. And with Firefly, we did get a lot of feedback that people wanted a nightlight with it. So we had a really good look at the research around sleep. There at the time we were developing this, there was a lot of research around blue light and how it impacts sleep. So we’ve actually incorporated just a single light.

It’s called sunset orange, and that particular shade is, according to the research, the best shade for sleep. So, we we didn’t want any blue light. It seemed counterproductive to us to put in something that’s gonna destroy your sleep when you want to sleep. So the firefly, the light is dimmable, so you can have it as bright or as dim as you choose. You can use it without the light or without the light.

You can have the sound or not have the sound, but that’s the extent of the choices that have been incorporated into that. So we’ve got a sound that works and, what current knowledge says is the best shade for sleep. So perfect for at the bedside. Like you said, you can take it traveling. You can even use it internationally because it’s got the USB c charging cable with it.

So you don’t have to worry about plug packs or, you know, power conversions or any of that kind of thing as well. So me obviously not being, a a local American, that’s that’s something that I do think about. You know, if I’m going if I’m going back home, you know, back to New Zealand, I want something that I can take with me and use anywhere. Yeah. Absolutely.

And it it you know, I think it’s so interesting too because the color is such a big proponent of it. You know? I see a lot of night lights in their blue light. Mhmm. I see a lot of brands that have adjustable lights, and they still make blue an option.

I’m like, can you just take that out of your you know what I mean? I’m like, please turn the blue off. You know? I, I have a Himalayan sea salt lamp that I keep in the office here because I’m like, it is a soft pink light. Mhmm.

And it’s just bright enough that and it’s dimmable. You know what I mean? And I think to your point, the firefly is dimmable, which I love. And the red is, like, that soft glow of, like I mean, warm the color of the, you know, the firefly. But it is dimmable, which I think is great, and you still have the beauty of the shusher.

You know, especially when you start to travel. Like, as kids grow, things like the shusher don’t outgrow. Right? Like, when they get used to a noise, it is something that travels with them. And then, you know, you’re not taking 95 different things when you go to a hotel for the weekend.

It’s like, give me this. It checks the box of the nightlight. It checks the box of the shusher. Right? And so, excuse me, you’re not, you know, having to kinda carry all the stuff with you in in bags.

I was talking to, the founder of OtterSpace last week, Melissa, and she has, you know, blackout curtains. And we were just talking about an idea where I was like, here’s you know, I’ll check this out with these portable things. You know? Because nobody’s gonna, you know, travel with all this stuff when it like, you only have so much space. And I live in Philly.

Our airport is not good, and they lose everything. So I’m like, I will check a bag to go to New Zealand for a month, and I could live out of a carry on. Whereas my husband, you know, he’s like the bougie sleeper with, like, the pillow, and he brings the full dome, and he brings his full Naturepedic pillow, and then he has the full size fan. My dude, we’re going to the Poconos for two days, but he’s very regimented in what he wants in his environment. Yeah.

So he travels with these. Like, I don’t really care because I’m gonna sleep good or I’m not going. And I was like, okay. Touche. You know?

But it is interesting. And, like, that portability of it is sometimes, you know, with babies, like, you might be going to grandma’s house for the weekend or you’re, you know, you’re traveling with older kids somewhere and the kid’s kinda coming along for the ride and you try to make it as comfortable as possible for them. Yeah. And if you have a sleep routine that you’re doing at home, Shusher is something that you can take with you. So you have that consistency regardless of the physical space you’re in.

You’ve still got something that your your child can dial into and oh, it’s sleep time now. I know it’s Yeah. Absolutely. Like, those sleep triggers wherever you are. Absolutely.

You know, I have so many clients I talk about. I’m like, it’s consistency. Now are there times where it’s not gonna work out because you’d rather stay at the barbecue than go home and do the thing? Yes. Fine.

Give your kids the choice though and say, look. Alright. Well, if we stay here for another twenty minutes, then we’re not gonna read a book tonight. Okay. Fine.

And they agree there it’s their choice. Right? We know they’re gonna say yes, but it’s their choice. And then when you come home, it’s like, okay, buddy. We’re gonna skip the book tonight, but turn your shusher on, and then let me come for a minute.

And then it’s time to go to bed. It’s like that repetition. You know? Now what if you go, oh my gosh. I just got to New Zealand, and I forgot my Shusher.

Talk to me a little bit about from an app standpoint. Yes. So we do have the Shusher app. It’s available on both Apple and Android. So nice quick download, $5.

It’s yours. You can take it wherever you like. It’s set up for family sharing and and all of that as well, but it’s a really great backup. I have it on my smartphone, and I have actually pulled it out on an international flight before. You know, when you’re 40,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean and there is a distressed child, you wanna try and help out.

So, you know, you can use it anywhere you like. Now it is not set up to go through Bluetooth speakers or anything like that, and we’ve done that purposefully because we don’t want people using it in the car while they’re driving. The last thing you want is to be driving along with something that’ll put you to sleep. But, you know, it’s it’s a really great easy backup, just to have. Turn it on, press the start button, and off you go.

Yeah. I love it. I think that’s so great. So it’s just consistency in I wanna say, like, the routine. I mean, it’s just my number one word for new parents is consistency, which seems like an oxymoron when you bring a baby home, you know, because nothing in your day is consistent.

But I think as parents come home from the hospital and, you know, perhaps you start with the shusher, just see how you can start to incorporate these things. So my best piece of advice, and then I’ll ask you for your Charlotte for parents who are listening, is create consistency where you can without it becoming overwhelming or paralyzing because it can. It can be very much paralyzing. So, you know, what things can you do that can start to create a little bit of consistency for your child and also help support them through whatever it is they’re going through. And the Shusher is a great addition to that, whether you have a newborn or whether you have a toddler and, you know, you look at something like the sloth or the firefly or even the traditional shusher that, you know, they have.

But, you’ve got such great products that incorporate other parts of the toddler lifestyle that, you know, that those are great. So I think in the in the midst of the chaos of parenting, some aspect of consistency and and controlling what you can would be my best advice in using products that are out there like the Shusher to do that. So what would be a piece of advice that you could give to some parents who are listening? Just having two of your own and, you know, managing these amazing products. Yeah.

Well, to be honest, mine’s not that far different than yours. You know, mine was you know, when I was really thinking about this is just embrace the routine. And so this doesn’t this doesn’t mean that, you know, at 06:45, we are going and we are brushing our teeth and we are doing this and we sit down as a family at 06:00 for dinner and but embracing those patterns of life. You know, we we all have our patterns. Right?

So if if we’re working out of home, you know, we tend to get up at the same time. We tend to, you know, have the the same cup of coffee. We have our little morning routine. We get in the car. We drive the same way to work.

We we have those patterns. Right? And so I think with children, finding those patterns that work for you and your child and being consistent with them, I think sets everyone up for success in the long term. Because, you know, it’s it’s not it’s not necessarily for me about controlling your child or controlling what happens. It’s about developing sustainable patterns and predictability, which is really important for children.

Children do need consistency. They need to know that you are the adult, that you are responsible, that you are trustworthy. And having those things that they can depend on builds the relationship between you and your children so that, you know, when they they are leaving high school, they’re starting university, they’re starting working as an adult, you’re still important and safe. Yeah. I think is probably the biggest thing and, you know, my myself and my husband, we really focused on, you know, how do we how do we give our children the tools that can sustain them, not just through childhood, but into the rest of their life?

And it’s it’s it’s so confining in those early days. You know? The the days are long, but the years are short. Yeah. You know?

So for us, we took the time to think about what kind of adults do we want to gift the world, you know, when they go out into it. So yeah. Yeah. Do with that what you will. No.

It’s good. You know, it’s just I think I think we’re all so hard on ourselves. You know, Charlotte? And, you know, I I talk to parents every single day in the in the capacity of sleep and sleep training or, you know, their kid’s still not sleeping through the night. And the first thing they do is just knock themselves down.

And and it’s like, stop. Stop. Like, it’s okay. Like, give yourself permission to know that not every day is gonna be perfect. And, like, you know, we’re so hard on ourselves as parents, and I think we are trying to raise good humans, most people.

You know? That it’s so easy to just not your knock yourself down, but it’s like, okay. This is the stage. And I tell parents all the time. I’m like, what in this can you control, and what in it can’t you control?

Like, control the things you can Yeah. And then manage to the things that you can’t. And with that, you will have a very balanced sort of day. You know? So you’re not gonna be able to control everything, but if you can kind of take a look and go, alright.

Can I control this? Right? Even with kids coming into the room, like, it’s you know, it’s such a common challenge where kids aren’t sleeping through the night, and the parents are like, well, they just come in four or six times, then I finally just let them come in my bed at three in the morning because I just need to get some sleep for work the next day. And I’m like, okay. Well, there’s a boundary there.

How about you’re welcome in my room. If you’re scared and I don’t wanna deal with the whole rigmarole of getting you back to sleep in your own bed, fine. You’re not welcome in my bed. But you can happily lay on the floor in a sleeping bag, and that could be your bed. Guess what?

After a couple days, that floor sucks. And guess where they go? Back to their room. But if all of a sudden, they’re, like, in your bed and then they kick, you know, your spouse or partner out and then they’re cuddling all with you, like, why would they wanna leave? You know what I mean?

So it’s like, well, they’re gonna keep coming in, but it’s like, if you kinda set that boundary that says you are always welcome here. Right? But you are not welcome in my bed. That’s our place, but here is a nice hard you don’t wanna make it too you. Right?

But, like, here’s a sleeping bag on the floor. You’re welcome to sleep in here if you’re more comfortable, or you can go back to your room. Your choice. You’re empowering kids with the choice, Mhmm. But you’re also setting a boundary that says, this is my space to sleep, and that’s yours.

And it’s okay to have boundaries. And I think sometimes I have to have conversations with parents where I’m like, it’s okay to say no. They’re full. And they thrive on as much as they push the boundaries because that’s our child’s job as they’re learning independence, it’s okay that you have boundaries because it does create a safe space, and it lessens the anxiety. You know?

Mhmm. %. So it’s good. Well, I’m excited. So how can people find the shusher?

I’m gonna obviously put everything in the show notes here and link out to all the great social areas, across the myriad of platforms that there are today. Yeah. But tell people how they can find you and, you know, learn a little bit more about this shushing that we’re talking about. Yeah. Well, we’re on all of the socials, of course.

So Facebook, IG, TikTok, our website shusher.com. Jump on there. All the products are there. Available at your, you know, whichever your preferred outlet is to purchase from, be it Amazon, Target, Walmart, your your local, friendly retailer, pop in. If they don’t have it, make sure they get it.

But, yeah, shusher.com and it’ll direct you out from there. Awesome. Thanks so much for coming on, Charlotte. I’m excited to share all about what y’all are doing and I’m glad you could join us on the kids sleep show. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Courtney. It’s been fun. One more thing before you go. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share this episode with someone you know who could use a little more sleep in their life. For tips and resources, be sure visit us at tinytransitions.com or follow us across social media.

Here’s to better sleep, brighter days, and healthier, happier families.