I’ve mentioned several times on this blog how my children aren’t exactly good sleepers. Barry and I joke around that we haven’t really slept in almost 6 years. My Annie didn’t sleep through the night until she was over 4 years old. Four. Years. Old. FOUR. YEARS. OLD. I hated getting all the “does she sleep all night” questions…because really it made me want to lash out irrationally and poke someone’s eyeballs out. I’m just sayin’.
I read every. single. book out there. Really. Every single one. I thought each one would be a magic pill for me. Guess what? There is no magic pill.
For every single child in the world, there should be a sleep book – because each child is different. And there isn’t a box you can put your kids into…because they bust out of there – I’ve tried. Even with duct tape. Okay, that was a joke (for those of you who are way too serious and were dialing the police).
Annie would have nightmares – she would wake up randomly – she would get up to pee – she would sing – she would talk in her sleep – she would walk in her sleep. It was as though she was afraid that by being asleep she would miss some great world event.
I felt like something was going on with Annie that I just couldn’t figure out – no matter how many sleep diaries or food diaries I kept. I hate diaries.
Then I heard someone mention in passing that bad sleep could be a sign of magnesium deficiency. In fact, there are lots of signs of magnesium deficiency. Our soils are depleted of this mineral – so most of us aren’t getting the levels we need. Could this be it?
I started all of us on magnesium immediately. I began using Magnesium Lotion for the kids from Real Traditions (sadly, no longer available, but there are still decent options on Amazon). Magnesium oil is more easily absorbed through the skin and leads to less digestive issues…aka, you shouldn’t get the runs/trots/etc.
If you take too much magnesium by mouth, you can totally spend a good part of the day in the bathroom emptying out. Or so I’ve heard from OTHER PEOPLE. *Cough*
I saw an immediate improvement with my kids. Immediately. Meaning, the same night. IMMEDIATELY, I SAID!!!! Can someone please PLEASE get excited that my kids are sleeping!? Thank you.
We love magnesium lotion so much that Barry says “Don’t you dare run out of that.” I won’t!
The magnesium lotion is really thin and almost clear, so I usually apply it to the bottom of my kids’ feet right before I put on their socks…because it would be dumb to do it afterwards – around a dime sized amount daily. The bottle of lotion will last me well over a month with all three of my children. I think two months is more like it. How’s that for frugal!? Sometimes I apply it to their bellies. Because then I get to tickle them. And I’ll be honest, I’m into the tickle torture.
Also, I’ve noted that once my kids build up a good supply in their system and they are sleeping well, I can back off and not apply it every day. If they have a couple of bad nights in a row, I’ll apply the lotion again for a week and then we are all good once more! Hooray!
So…my kids are sleeping. Did I mention that? This lotion has done the trick for us – and on Instagram I’ve heard from several of you that it’s done the same thing. I’m so glad!!! 🙂
If you’d like to try making your own lotion, Justyn offers a great tutorial on her blog for how to make your own magnesium lotion.
NOTE – this isn’t a cure all. It might not work for everyone. But it’s worked for us and I can’t keep it a secret! As a side note – I am normally good at keeping secrets…just so ya know.
I also use the Real Traditions Magnesium lotion but last year the website said they are temporarily not taking orders & would start back up soon. Today I tried going to website and get a host page with nothing to do with real traditions. I am just so sad if they are out of business. Do you have any more info about them and if they are under another name now or ??? Thanks for any input.
I wish! But I don’t believe she is selling the lotion anymore, but you can visit her website for the recipe to make your own. Creative Christian Mama
— Julie, HH Team
What age was your youngest when you started using this? I was wondering if it is safe for my 14 month old?
Depends on what your comfort level is, but I would feel comfortable using it on a 14 month old.
— Julie, HH Team
What are you currently using since Justine’s shop is currently closed? I ran out and I know it was helping my kids sleep better! I got life-flo brand off Amazon but I don’t believe it is helping. Would love to find something exactly like Justine’s!
I haven’t been using any of it since I started diffusing cedarwood + lavender at night. I was so sad she closed. 🙁
So happy you linked to that lotion. 🙂 Thanks.
I really, REALLY hope it helps.
Wow!!!!
I had liquid magnesium and coconut oil on hand so I just decided to use what I had abs mixed them together. Then I added a drop of lavender and a drop off lemon oil cuz my one son dislikes the coconut smell.
I put it on two of my boys feet before bed and really didn’t think it was going to work especially since I didn’t really follow your recipe. Well my almost 8 year old who usually wakes up several times through the night and wakes up before 6am 99% of the time, wow up at 7:20 this morning! And no big bags under his eyes (that is his normal look) and my 5 year old slept an extra 30 minutes too.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I hope you get repeats of that!!!
The RT magnesium lotion has worked wonders for us thanks to your post but the site says they are out of stock and I’m starting to panick because we are nearly out. Do you know what’s up? I tried contacting but it comes back with an error message. Help!
I know she’s been out of commission for a while, but I believe she said she was coming back in October? Try using this email address: realtraditions AT gmail DOT com
I’m VERY interested in trying this – have you started using it on the baby? My littlest is three months old and a pretty good sleeper at the moment, but you never know if that will last and I’m just curious what the youngest age you think it is appropriate and safe for would be. I’ll definitely try it with my son (2.5) because he’s NOT a good sleeper. Thanks for sharing!!
I do use it on Eli – I’ve read that any magnesium not absorbed/needed just comes out in the urine. He’s teething, so he’s not an accurate person to base sleep on right now. LOL 🙂
It still works great for Annie (6) and Andy (3) and we’ve used it well over a year now.
This is pure awesome. Thanks so much for sharing!!!
#CreativeBloggersNetwork
You’re most welcome!
This stuff is amazing! My husband and I have had no visitors in our bed for 10 days straight! My kids (ages 8, 6, 4) are finally sleeping all night, every night! Thank you so much for letting us know about this miracle cream!
Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!
I will definitely have to give it a try. We had been giving our kids melatonin (they call it their happy pill because it made mommy and daddy happy that they fell asleep so fast) but we started worrying about the long term effects of that. SO, they haven’t had their pill in a week now and I’m the one that is tired! I’ll let you know how it goes.
Yes! Please keep me posted.
Stacy!! I only recently discovered that you were back blogging, and I am so glad you are. My 14-month old started off as a wonderful sleeper, then BAM! became the worst sleeper of all time at about 3.5 months (I blame the rotavirus vaccine, but that’s another conspiracy theory for another time). We are desperate to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time, and I, too, have read every book hoping for a miracle cure and tried everything I can figure out to do. I have read about topical magnesium before relating to morning sickness, but I had no idea it might help with baby sleep issues. I ordered up a bottle right this minute, and I will say my prayers that it works for us. Thanks so much for sharing, and I am looking forward to catching up on/keeping up with all your new posts.
Yay!!! I sure hope it works – please keep me in the loop.
A deficiency in Vitamin D can also cause sleep problems. I have found that D and Magnesium work wonders for me and reducing my fibromyalgia symptoms.
Thanks for the info!
Given the advantages of topical absorption, why do you use the oral supplement for you and your husband instead of the lotion? I have insomnia issues and would love to try this.
I do use the lotion for myself sometimes. I got in the habit of taking the cal-mag supplement before I started the kids on the lotion, so I just never switched over for us yet. 🙂
Stacy, once again you kit a light bulb off in my head! I LOVE you! I was on up to 500 mg of Mag – ox while preggo with my third, also six months. About two months ago, he stopped sleeping through the night and is now waking me up every TWO. HOURS. think maybe the magnesium he built up in utero finally ran out and the lotion might help?
I use the lotion on Eli when I don’t forget – I’ve had him off of it for a while because of some other issues, but I started back on it today. From what I’ve read, it can’t hurt!
I misquoted myself, so to speak. I was on up to 750mg right before I delivered with him. I bought some lotion last night after reading all of this and will try it and let you know. I was also thinking of making a weighted sleeper sack; maybe that might help him fall BACK to sleep in the middle of the night. *shrug* Worst case is that he misses me while at daycare and is trying to get snuggles in at night. I shouldn’t complain yet because it’s really a five to ten minute feeding and he’s right back down. But then _I_ take longer to get back to sleep. Thanks for the light bulb moment; I’ll keep you posted!
Yep – been there, mama. Been. There. 🙂
Oh my goodness, my almost 4 year old doesn’t sleep through the night either and we have tried SO MANY things, but I’ve never considered a magnesium deficiency. I’m also a terrible sleeper. I can’t wait to read up more on this. Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh, I do so hope this fixes the problem!
Do you think it could help with growing pains?
Yes. I’ve heard that mentioned specifically.
Amazing how this stuff works isn’t it? We’ve had similar luck with coughs by diffusing essential oils:)
Eucalyptus, baby! 🙂
Yup! (and thieves)
My nearly three and a half year old doesn’t sleep. I am going to try this! Thank you for the tip!
I do SO hope it works for you too!
Huh, that’s crazy awesome for you and them! I can relate in the way my son (who sleeps with me due to his separation anxiety cause of autism. Go ahead and judge, I’m working on it.=) never slept through the night til somewhere around four and a half. Our schedule would then be all screwed up because he would stay up all night, sleep throughout or on and off the day. It was awful, I felt like I was going insane! And it was night terrors every time. He would scream and cry flip out, barely being able to be consoled. I didn’t think about a deficiency cause I already knew he was deficient because of the extreme lack of food he ate and because vitamins made him sick. So I assumed it might be spiritual. Some may still not really believe but that’s ok, you don’t have to. I bought a worship CD. One of those that just continue through each set, not a real specific start to finish. And guess what, THAT NIGHT the terrors stopped! That exact night! And, I wasn’t for 100% sure so I tested it and didn’t have it on random nights. He woke up every time, every time. So, even though mine may have been spiritual in nature, I still wanna try that lotion because I can’t sleep! Lol I’ve been conditioned and now I wake up every hour to couple hours when my son sleeps all night! Go figure!
That’s great! 🙂 I have some friends who play worship music for their kiddos. We use a sound machine. I hope the lotion works for you!
Hi Stacy- I’m at the Vitacost website now. Can you tell me which magnesium tablets you order? I am always confused with these: Citrate, Chelate, plus all the other different once offered. Many thanks for your response and this great post!
I use the calcium, magnesium and zinc combo. There are 300 tablets in the bottle. 🙂
As soon as it gets light out enough for me to see the numbers on my debit card, I am ordering a bottle of this for my serious sleep-confused 5 month old who has less of a sleep schedule now than she did as a newborn.
🙂 Ha ha! I use the flashlight on my phone. I really REALLY hope it works for you too!
Stacy, I’m wondering if this would work for our “big” kids. My daughter is 30, but has always had trouble going to sleep. I also have some nights where sleep eludes me. I use a trace minerals supplement from Vitacost. There are days when I am a little over zealous with it and I totally get your comment about an all day seating in the throne room.
Yes! That’s why I take magnesium too – to help with sleep and for various other reasons. I had my dad start taking it too and it’s helped him a LOT.
Thank you for sharing this Stacy-I think it will benefit alot of people! And, I love your sense of humor!! I had trouble with my kids sleeping. As I was reading your post I had this thought-I should tell Stacy about magnesium. Because that is what I should have tried with my kids years ago when they were having sleeping problems. But I didn’t find out about it till much later. I am so glad the magnesium worked so well for you!
Great minds!! 🙂
Thank you for the tip Stacy! I just ordered a bottle. I hope it works as well for me as it has for you!
I hope so too, Phoebe! I hope you’ll keep me posted.
Ha! More people should randomly announce in public that they have a four year old child who does not sleep through the night so that everyone else who feels like they are losing the biggest parenting contest ever can get some sense of relief and camaraderie. My littler ones are better sleepers, but it’s not much help when the oldest one (almost 5) is still keeping us up. His night terrors seem to be over and his eczema is generally healed so I think waking up may just be a bad habit at this point. Also, he sometimes really needs to tell us something about R2-D2 or a book he is reading. I just told my husband last night that we need to teach him to journal so he can remember things to tell us in the morning! I try not to complain about the kids too much since I probably haven’t slept through the night more than a few time in my life . . . I remember raiding the kitchen every night around 4:am as a teenager. My dad was usually up too. Maybe I will carry on that tradition with my son 😛
Glad you found some help. I may need to add magnesium to my kid’s new nightly herbal calcium and milk routine.
Did his eczema just go away on its own?
No. We took eggs out of his diet after an allergy test and he takes cod liver oil and probiotics every day. Switching to raw milk seemed to be the final piece of the puzzle for us though. He still has flare ups (especially when the pollen count is high or we run out of CLO or raw milk) but we can get them under control quicker. I am also using vitamin c to get the chlorine out of his bath water and adding Epsom salts. It’s always hard to know exactly what is helping or if he is just getting better. But that is the story of eczema, I guess. Lots of prayer too. It was so bad for a while that it still makes me cry to look at the pictures.
I hate eczema. Battling it with Eli. Working with his awesome pediatrician. So glad you’ve found the answer!!
It’s rough. When my son was 2-3 it was really awful. No one was getting any sleep and it seemed like our whole life revolved around his itchy, bleeding legs. One of my daughter’s first phrases was “No scratching yours legs, Gideon!” Hope you guys get some relief soon!
I hope so too! It helps to have an awesome doctor.
Oh, also, my littlest hasn’t had it very bad but I did notice improvement in him when I started taking cod liver oil regularly. We have also delayed solid food longer with the younger kids after the first had so many allergies.
He’s 6 months and still no food yet – Annie and Andy were around 9 months before I started them on food. 🙂 We don’t have a family history of allergies.
OH. MY. WORD. I have to buy this. Like today. Cuz 2 of my kids were up before 5 a.m. this morning. NOT pretty. And I laughed reading through this whole post. Partly hysteria – partly enjoying your great sense of humor. Partly from trying this almost-miracle cure…
Oh Debbie, I hope it works for you too. I pray so.
Magnesium also works for growing pains. Best applied before going to bed since growing pains have a bad habit of attacking in the middle of the night when I might spray it in their eye instead of on their leg. I usually let my littles take a bath with Epsom salt once a week or so, just for good measure. Throw some lavender and lemon essential oil in, and you’ve got yourself a sleeping potion.
Makes me sleepy just reading it.
a calcium magnesium supplement was the one thing that got Claire to sleep when she was younger. Later, when she was still having bad dreams more often than not, I suspected her polyester blanket, and hid it in the closet. Nightmares gone. Coincidence? I think not. I’m not a fan of polyester, and don’t do polyester pj’s, so it was only her that had polyester in her bed, and only her that’s struggled with night terrors. They say it causes static electricity, and I see the sparks when the lights are out! I tell everyone about cal/mag and avoiding polyester in bed. I ran out of my supplement this month, but I have a bottle of magnesium spray–maybe I should try that. I get leg cramps when I’m preggo and don’t take my supplements.
Man – so what you’re saying is, polyester pants and disco are dead?!
I love that you’re preggo again. 🙂 🙂
Good detective work there! Do you use wool or heavy cotton now for warmth..or something else? I would like to replace our poly as well.