Toddler Can’t Get to Sleep—Mom Unprepared For What Eventually ‘Soothes’ Him - Newsweek

A toddler struggling to drift off to sleep one night left his mom baffled when he made an unusual bedtime request: he wanted his leaf blower.

The first few years of parenthood can be tough for moms and dads, not least when it comes to sleep deprivation.

In 2019, a study published in the scientific journal Sleep, based on data collected from 4,659 parents, found that having a child can disrupt parents' sleep for far longer than many might expect.

In the initial period, moms were hit hardest, losing an average of about an hour of sleep per night during the first three months after birth, compared to fathers, who lost around 15 minutes.

More concerning still, the study found that sleep duration and sleep quality did not fully return to pre-pregnancy levels even when children were between 4 and 6 years old.

Anne-Maree Leonard, from Perth, Australia, is a mother of two boys under the age of 2 and very much in the trenches of parenthood and sleep deprivation.

Recently, however, she found herself fielding an unusual request from her eldest son, Angus, who will soon turn 2, while he was struggling to get to sleep one night.

"It was around two months ago," Leonard told Newsweek. "He wouldn't go to sleep and kept requesting his 'blower.'"

Though it was about as bizarre a bedtime request as you're likely to get from a toddler, Leonard knew exactly what her son was referring to.

"Angus loves using the leaf blower with his dad every Saturday to blow leaves away from the front of our house," she said. "We got him a toy leaf blower, and it's his favorite toy."

It's important to note that the toy emits a noise not entirely dissimilar to that of a real leaf blower, minus the blowing capabilities, of course.

Turning it on would be noisy, but by that point it was already getting late and, having run out of options, Leonard was willing to try just about anything.

"It was honestly like, 'If you want it and you'll go to sleep, we don't care. Take the blower to sleep, please,'" she said.

To their surprise, however, the toy blower did the trick, with Angus falling asleep soon after.

"It was mind-blowing to us that this toy would become his comfort toy," Leonard said.

"Now he cuddles it to sleep and soothes himself with the noise every night."

Angus loves his leaf blower, but he's also a fan of his toy chainsaw, toy toolbox, and toy drill. Leonard suspects a career in the skilled trades may await him. For now, she's just happy he's taken such a shine to the blower.

After weeks of difficulty getting him down, Leonard and her husband can now watch Angus on the baby monitor drifting off while the low, blaring noise of the toy blower fills the air.

"He just puts the noise on for a few minutes and then he's sound asleep," she said. "When I first heard it going off on the baby monitor, I was sitting on the couch, and both his dad and I absolutely lost it laughing."

Leonard ended up posting footage of Angus fast asleep with the blower switched on to social media, where it immediately resonated with other moms willing to do whatever it takes to get their young kids down for the night.

Quite why the noise the toy makes is so effective remains unclear.

Research has previously indicated that background noise may help young children sleep.

A study published in Archives of Disease in Childhood found that 80 percent of newborns fell asleep within five minutes when exposed to white noise, compared with just 25 percent of those in a control group.

Researchers concluded that steady sounds can be soothing for young children because they mask sudden noises and recreate the constant sound environment babies experience before birth.

Leonard is simply happy that Angus is getting some rest and that the family can laugh about it.

"I'm a very sleep-deprived mom, but it's little funny moments like these that make it all worth it," she said.