Make a hand-sewn sleepy baby to help your little have sweet dreams

Have you ever heard the Yiddish word “Shluffy?” It is a very loving word that tells your little one it’s time to “go to sleep.” My daughter Stefanie always had an easy time going to sleep. She had a special little pillow baby that was part of her bedtime routine, which consisted of a kiss on pillow baby’s head, and a little tuck of pillow baby under her arm.

Going to sleep wasn’t so easy for my daughter Eliza. No matter what type of a routine we had, sleep (and really just me leaving her room) was always a struggle, sometimes leaving both of us in tears. For those times when the separation of bedtime was especially difficult, I would use a lot of imaginative play during the day to get her used to the idea to going to sleep at night. Since Stefie loved her pillow baby, Eliza and I would make special little Shluffy (sleepy) babies, complete with little beds.

Sometimes, just playing with a sleepy little Shluffy during the day, and practicing tucking it into bed, and singing it a lullabye would seem to help.

Whether you have a little that easily goes to bed, or one that needs some extra encouragement, making a little Shluffy baby together is a sweet and loving activity that guarantees sweet dreams. You only need a few supplies. So let’s go make a Shluffy baby.

Puffy Shluffy Baby

Here’s what you’ll need for each Shluffy:

Marker / Paper
2 pieces of felt for the body
Small rectangle of black felt for the eyes
Sewing needle + 1 or 2 straight pins
Embroidery floss
Cotton balls
Scissors
White glue
Pony beads

For the bed:

Extra piece of felt / embroidery floss
Scraps of fabric

Here’s how to make this sweet sleepy baby:

1. First draw a Shluffy template on paper and cut it out. We drew a simple shape for the body, sleepy eyes and a nose. Your child might want to draw their very own. I like drawing small Shluffies, so it won’t take too long to complete the project.

2. Place your template on top of the felt and cut two pieces. If you’d like, you can pin the template to the felt to make it more secure while cutting.

2. Unroll your cotton ball and place it in the middle of one piece of felt, and place your second piece of felt on top (like a little felt and cotton ball sandwich). Littles are very good at this step.

3. Thread your needle with embroidery floss, and sew a running stitch going all the way around the Shluffy. Older children should be able to sew a running stitch with a little supervision.

4. Cut the eyes and nose from the black felt.

5. Glue the eyes and nose onto the Shluffy. Aww. it looks so sweet and sleepy.

6. We made our Shluffy a little collar by threading some extra embroidery floss with pony beads. This would be a good step for littles. You can roll a half inch piece of tape on the ends of the floss to make the ends sturdier for threading.

To extend the activity and to “play” going to sleep with our Shluffy, we made it a bed, pillow and blanket from an extra piece of felt. We sewed the edges with a running stitch or blanket stitch, but it would be just as cute without. It just depends on your little’s interest level in the project.

One part of this step that littles love is decorating the felt bed and blanket! We glued scraps of quilting fabric. You could also glue sequins, pom-poms, deconstructed flower leis - whatever you have on hand.

And that’s it. So cute and cozy for this sleepy little Shluffy.

When putting your little (or Shluffy) to bed at night, you can say together the bedtime Jewish prayer, the Shema, for peace, protection and sweet dreams. In Judaism, there are blessings for almost every moment of the day, like when waking up, before eating a cookie or even when going to sleep at night. There are different versions of the bedtime Shema, but I would simply say with my girls,

“Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad”

You can also sing the “Shema Twinkle, Twinkle” (the same melody as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”).

Twinkle, twinkle kochavim (stars)

Shining in HaShamayim (sky or heavens)

When we say the Shema at night

Everything will be alright

Twinkle, twinkle kochavim

Shining in HaShamayim

I think we can’t underestimate the importance of sleep. Getting a good night’s rest (for both you and your little) is the Jewish value Shmirat HaGuf (caring for the mind, body and soul). When a child sleeps, then the parent can take a break and take some time for self-care too.

I hope for those who need a little extra comfort at night, making a Shluffy baby will bring some ease to a challenging bedtime routine, and for those children who go to sleep easily, we hope a Shluffy baby brings a extra love and sweetness to your child’s bedtime ritual.

Do you have any special bedtime routines? Share with us in the comments below. For another idea about going to sleep, see our Dream Dolls. If you’d like to make a sock doll with your little, see our Baby Moses Sock Doll and No Sew Puppy and for another way to incorporate mindful Jewish imaginative play into your day, see our mini garden (Gina Ktana).

Take care and sweet dreams to you and all you love,

~Jennifer