Marketing Sleep For Babies

Do you know what is the best time to shop at Wal-Mart? Yup, you guessed it, it's those magical hours anywhere between 10 pm and 6 am. Usually other night owls are there along with the diligent clerks busily stocking the shelves. It's a good time to wander through the baby section to find just the right present for a baby shower. Being in Sleep, the word itself always catches my eye and I saw a 'onesie' in bright yellow with the phrase 'Sleep is for the Weak' printed on the front.

What a poor message to be sending out! Having the baby wearing clothing with the warning 'this is what you have to look forward to for the next couple of months' or at least until they grow out of it! I walked away and came back to it 20 minutes later to see if I had over reacted and nope, it was just as much a bad jolt to the senses the second time around as it was the first.

Shaking my head in disgust as I headed for the bath supplies, I was again immediately drawn to the word sleep and this time it was used in a MUCH more positive way.

Johnson's bedtime moisture wash. Clinically proven to HELP BABY SLEEP BETTER.
Johnson's bedtime touch massage gel. Help baby SLEEP BETTER.

I felt like I hit the Mother Lode! Not only was it packaged in a soothing Lavender color, but they also had a basket premade with all the lotions, gels and moisture wash along with a blanket of the same color and the quintessential bedtime book, 'Goodnight Moon!'

Which message would YOU choose to send to new parents?
1. take stock in the coffee market now or
2. buy this stuff and make sure EVERYONE gets a good night's sleep!

I read the instructions on the back of the bottle along with the ingredients-

'JOHNSON'S has created a nightly routine that is clinically proven to help your baby fall asleep easier and sleep through the night better. treat your baby to a warm bath using JOHNSON'S BEDTIME MOISTURE WASH, then gently massage skin with JOHNSON'S BEDTIME LOTION. Each product releases NATURALCALM essences, a patent-pending blend of gentle and soothing aromas. Your baby will drift off to a better night's sleep.'

I read the ingredients to find out what was in 'naturalcalm' essence and couldn't see any key ingredient different from their other baby wash.

Doesn't matter, JOHNSONS (their caps, not mine) did what they set out to do.
1. I bought the product(s).
2. They had eye catching packaging
3. They told the new parents that THEY have created a nightly routine that is clinically proven to help their baby sleep.

One thing sleep techs always teach their patients, is to have a nightly routine. This signals the brain that the body is preparing for sleep. I tell my patients all the time, that the rituals at bedtime we have for our children, we often lose for ourselves. These need to be reestablished for exactly the same reason. As adults, we need to nurture ourselves as well as we do our children.

'Discover The Gift of Sleep'-SleepCompass.com Jane