Miami with the Fam – Sunscreen and Molly’s Sleep Schedule

Hey guys as many of you know Kevin, Molly and I were in Miami a few weekends ago. It was such a nice little family trip. Honestly, it’s the first time we’ve been able to go somewhere with Molly and actually feel like we were able to relax a little bit. Normally we are just stressed out because she’s in a new environment and we’re worried about her sleep training getting all messed up. Well, on this trip we didn’t let it stress out too much. Did she get off her schedule? Absolutely. But we just went with the flow and we were even able to enjoy a little time poolside! I mean, how adorable is Molly in her swimsuit?

We were in Miami because I was moderating an event that my friend Sarah’s company Simply Stylist put on at Eden Roc Hotel. I’m so proud of Sarah because when I met her 7 years ago she was busting her butt in the fashion industry. She was in an industry she loved, but she wasn’t doing what she loved. So she left her job 5 years ago to start Simply Stylist and never looked back! Such a boss babe! She inspires me to expand Ali Luvs!

So anyway, Sarah asked me to team up with Coppertone & Simply Stylist to moderate the event and it was pretty awesome. I learned SO much about skincare and sunscreen. For example, I used to think makeup would make my skin look healthy, but just looking healthy isn’t enough. So, the beauty products I’m using may fluctuate day to day, but I now know sunscreen will  always be a must-have in my makeup bag. So thank you Coppertone for the info (and for the Coppertone Whipped!) – I think you may have saved my skin! Ha!

1. DRESS | 2. EARRINGS

I met a bunch of other cool beauty and fashion bloggers when I was at the event (btw – my outfit details are above. Love my floral dress!). It’s always fun to connect with other women who enjoy the same things you do and share tips and advice with each other. I really feel that’s how we as women can all grow and make each other better! By sharing and learning from each other. Here is a fun video from the pop up beauty event and all the rad women I met:

I also feel like the day was a good reminder to take better care of myself. As you can see in the picture of Molly above, her skin is completely lathered in sunscreen. So why am I not doing the same for myself everyday? I should! It’s always funny to me how I go to such great lengths to make sure Molly is eating the healthiest food possible and protecting every little inch of her skin with sunscreen, but when it comes to myself, I will eat so unhealthy and barely ever put on sunscreen. I need to change that! It’s time to start taking better care of myself! Starting TODAY!

Also, a lot of you asked about how Molly’s sleep training schedule worked when we were traveling. Our plan was to keep her on the same schedule that she was on in LA. So because she went to bed between 6 and 7PM in Los Angeles, then we would have her go to bed between 9 and 10PM in Miami (That’s what we normally do when we travel to my hometown in Massachusetts). It worked the very first night; however, the shades in our room didn’t completely black out the room so Molly woke up with the sun while there. Which means she was up at 7AM. Normally 7AM would be totally fine but 7 AM Miami time was 4 AM Los Angeles time. So as you can see, she definitely got off track. But after a few days of keeping her on a strict schedule she is back to normal now! Her naps are back on schedule and she’s going to bed between 6 and 7PM again.

Anyway, hope this blog post encourages you guys to protect your skin this summer! It’s SO important!. Big thanks to Coppertone for teaming up with Simply and for sponsoring this post. And a even more massive thanks to all of you for reading Ali Luvs! You guys mean so much to me and you support is what keeps me motivated to keep doing what I love everyday! Luv you guys!

 

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33 Thoughts

33 thoughts on “Miami with the Fam – Sunscreen and Molly’s Sleep Schedule

  1. Thanks for sharing this! Do you still think it was worth Sleep training Molly with weesleep? I want to do it too but am trying to decide if it’s worth the money. I know babies aren’t perfect, but is it worth it anyway?

    1. Alyssa,

      I just signed up for sleep training with WeeSleep. It is expensive, but I can tell you that on Night 1, our daughter cried for 70 minutes and it was BRUTAL, but she slept through the night without waking up once. We just completed Night 6 and she has slept anywhere from 10-12 hours each night and we haven’t had to go in once. A couple of the days she woke up earlier than she should (Wee Sleep will tell you to not get them up before 6am), but it was still a 10 hour night. She doesn’t go down that easily yet…..she still cries each time – night 1 was 70 min, night 2 was 3 min, night 3 was 8 min, night 4 was 50 min, night 5 was 30 seconds and night 6 was 30 min. I’m hoping that gets easier and her naps still aren’t on schedule for us, so I’m hoping that changes as well, but WeeSleep said naps ARE HARD and can take up to 4 weeks to get the hang of. And for our daughter, she’s fighting them so we’re still working through that. Every child is different. I was hoping for Molly’s success as Ali touted how she took a 2 hr nap the next day! As I said, we’re still struggling with naps, but I’m amazed at her night time sleeping. I still have some reservations, which I think Ali just confirmed – such as will she ever be able to sleep in a room that doesn’t have blackout curtains, or no white noise? Will we ever be able to spend the day away from home without messing up her naps. But I’m only in the middle, so I’m hoping its worth it.

      Prior to this, she would wake up a few hours after I put her down and would only go back to sleep if she was in my arms or in bed with me. And even in bed with me, she woke up several times crying and uncomfortable, so that improvement itself has been worth it!!

    2. We used Weesleep back when my son was 5.5 months (he’s almost 11 months old, 6 days younger than Molly). First night he cried for 40 minutes, by the third night he was sleeping 12 hours! It has been amazing. We live in Vancouver, Canada (so same time zone as Ali), and we travelled to Hawaii (3 hours behind), then to Toronto (3 hours ahead), and my son adapted to the time zones quickly. He still slept on average 11 hours, and took two 1.5 hour naps. Since hiring Weesleep, I found my life back, and am able to enjoy me and hubby time, while my son gets so much rest and is pretty much a happy little guy. In short, so worth it!

    3. It was soooo worth it for me too! It’s an investment for sure but the results are PRICELESS in my mind!

  2. Molly always looks so cute!! Her swimsuit is absolutely adorable! I love to see families travel with their little ones. I know it isn’t easy but it is such great memories. Do you keep her on her same nap schedule when you travel? Do you find it hard to do that with all the activities going on when out of town?

    1. it’s hard to keep her on the nap schedule, but we try our best. But even when she doesn’t stick to her nap schedule, she still sleeps through the night!

      1. That’s amazing! Thanks for that little nugget of advice. We have a trip coming up so I was wondering what to do about that. 🙂

    1. Just happened to jump in the blog. So niceAli. Please young ladies~ Use that sunscreen in yourselves and your babies. I was a sungoddess when I was young and now I am seeing my (55-yr old) skin getting aged with brown spots, pre-cancer spots, wrinkles and things I never thought my skin would do at this age.
      And if you can do a sleep program that works and are willing to do it, it is WORTH IT! ????I let my babies cry and taught them a sleep/nap schedule years ago by a book. Moms thought I was insensitive~ but a happier Mom is better Mom. Not cranky, more loving, nurturing, healthier. Everyone benefits! Go for it and stick out those first few nights of crying. And stick with the naps…??

  3. You are doing such a great job with sleep training! It really changed our lives when we decided to sleep train our kids. So worth it. I also have an 11 month old daughter. Where did you get Molly’s swimsuit? What kind of sunscreen do you use on her?

  4. I’m so tired of hearing you young moms talking about sleep training, the “when do I stop breast feeding” and “when will my child start crawling” plus a whole lot of issues regarding motherhood. Oh, and “I’m not fun anymore”. Really??? It just tells me that none of you are/were ready for motherhood. You all should have given it a lot more thought beforehand. I raised two beautiful daughters but never whined or complained about my duties as a Mom. Why all the fuss?? Grow up!

    1. Wow! What ever happened to “if you don’t have something nice to say…”? So what happens if an older mom says that stuff?? I’m 40 and just had my baby girl last September after years of infertility, IVF & miscarriage, so trust me when I tell you that I gave it A LOT of thought beforehand. And I love my daughter more than I ever thought it was possible to love another human being, but that doesn’t make it easy. I don’t see anything in this blog or on the comments in which anyone was whining or complaining about their duties as a mom.

      We also decided to sleep training based on Ali’s success with it. We are in the middle of it right now and last night was our 5 year anniversary in which we simply ordered takeout due to the training. So yeah, in some situations, I feel a little less fun. But I also feel that the sleep training investment, regardless of how strict the schedule may feel, is worth it not only for my daughter but also for me. Babies don’t come with a book. Both my mother and my mother in law have passed away and my closest family member is 4 hours away, so I get help, advise, opinions and ideas from blogs, friends and professionals. This does not make me less of a mom – this makes me concerned for the well being of my daughter and venturing into a territory unknown. Maybe if people like you quit judging those of us trying to figure it out, the world would be a nicer place. It takes a village….right?

      1. Well said, Angel. Women and moms need to be supporting each other – not tearing each other down and judging. It truly does take a village, and that includes a virtual village!
        I’m so glad you have your daughter now, Angel! And congrats on your 5 year anniversary.

      1. I get PLENTY of hugs and lots of love every day…just so glad the hugs are not from you! Have a great day and enjoy caring for your child cause obviously she still needs you. ?

          1. Wow!! That’s real class! What a mouth….hope you don’t use that kind of language in the presence of your child…pretty sad

  5. We did sleep training as well as it’s worked really well for the night. Naps are still a mess. Ali have you heard of snooze shade ? They have a cover for a crib or a play pen that is suppose to help block out light

  6. You may have answered this but what sunscreen have you been using on Molly? I’m in New York & it is the beginning of summer. I have been using babyganics but I find it really thick. Just wasn’t sure which to switch to.

    1. She didn’t say, but I think that’s probably because she was just at a Coppertone event ? You should check out EWG.org where they have a great article about top rated & safe sunscreens for kids & adults too!

      1. Thanks so much. I’m going to check out that site. I actually just purchased the coopertone water babies pure and simple spray and regular lotion. Spray I would say is not best for a 10 month old but the lotion is pretty nice. I’m going to try the whipped version of it next.

  7. Leila
    You should stay off this blog. These day’s nobody needs your negative attitude. Everyone else is friendly and informative everyone enjoys each others information and gets to compare their babies and motherhood all stories help with the right up bringing in this world. Have a nice day everyone!

    1. Obviously you haven’t heard of “freedom of speech”. It’s my first amendment right….I suggest you read up on it…you may learn something ?

      1. ? Why is it always the trolls who bring up the first amendment? It’s obvious that you were raised by wolves.. troll wolves.. FYI As you can tell by the state of our country.. our constitution needs a lot of updating!

        1. The state of our country today is due to lack of respect for our constitution, especially by the previous administration…..and NO, the constitution cannot be updated, changed in any way, shape or form, that’s a fact, so you do have alot to learn. You can’t silence the majority, as it has been proven in the last election. End of story. Have a nice day?

          1. I understand if you disagree with something that is your prerogative. Speaking in a negative manner towards Ali and other moms who may or may not be struggling was unnecessary. And I would say the same about anyone who lashed out at you. Free speech is a wonderful thing until it starts causing harm to others. Thanks for reading this 🙂 Wish you well.

  8. Any new updates on Molly’s Sleep now that she’s over one?! Our son is similar in age and we did sleep training at 7 months and now he’s regressing and we’re having trouble getting him back on track. Wondering if anyone else has issues!?

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