Staying in Bed | Gro Clock Review | Me Becoming Mum
I knew it was too good to be true that my first born slept a minimum of twelve hours through the night almost 100% of the time - apart from when she was ill - since she was six weeks old.
With the changes and unheavel that my severe pregnancy related sickness and pain caused - as well as the various trips in to hospital - came a pretty bad case of sleep regression.
R began to wake up in the night - multiple times. Often it would result in her coming and sharing the (luckily king size!) bed with John and me. Not only was this frustrating as it meant she was waking both of us up, but it also meant that neither of us slept well - a common side effect of parental worry! Furthermore, as my body was changing and growing - and my baby bump began to take over - there was less space available to fit a toddler in with us too.
We came across the Gro Clock when looking for solutions to help us with our predicament. As it was getting close to Christmas, we decided to put it on R's Christmas wish list. After all, people love to buy a useful present that is actually needed!
When she opened the gift, and found the clock inside she was so excited. I'm not sure she really understood what it was, but she loved the look of the box, and immediately wanted me to take her upstairs and set it all up. Which we did.
I will never forget the look on her face - she was so happy! She even wanted to go to bed early (which is unheard of!) I did manage to convince her to wait until bedtime, and promised that we would say goodnight to the sun when I took her up to bed.
From that night on, we have had the same routine as always - except now we have added in our, 'goodnight sunshine' routine; we say, "Goodnight, Sunshine!", we press the button, the sun winks and the stars appear in its place.
One of my favourite parts of our bedtime routine is reading a bed time story. Inside the Gro Clock box, there was a lovely little book that R has fallen in love with. Since the day she found it in the box we have read it almost every night. This often means that I will read her two stories (even if it just so that I stay sane while reading the same story every night!)
The other part of our bedtime routine that I love, is the goodnight hugs and kisses that I get every night; followed by the phrase, "see you in the morning". These days I can comfortably say this, safe in the knowledge that it's the truth. Since having the clock in her room - apart from one occasion when she was rather sick - she has not come out of her room before 8am when I have set the clock to change to the sunshine. In simple terms, it's worked!
There are other great features to the clock, besides the fact that it comes with a free book, the bonus of being a fun addition to our bedtime routine, and the fact that it keeps R in her room until morning.
R has watched me press the button to turn the sun to stars every night - and it is 100% guaranteed that she knows how to change it over. To prevent children from turning the sun back on before the time the parent has set, you can lock the buttons.
Next, the stars are backlit by a soft blue light, which acts as the perfect night light. R has never been afraid of the dark; but since she has been toilet trained it is always useful for her to be able to make it to the toilet if she does wake in the night, to prevent any accidents. Having a soft light allows her to make her way out of her room safely, while not being bright enough to fully wake her or stop her from getting back to sleep.
Finally - not that we need it, as R hasn't had a daytime nap for as long as I can remember but - there is also the option to have the stars on during the day, to keep your child in their room until naptime is over.
I cannot say whether it will work for you and your child, as each child is different - and some will react differently to the clock. However, I can say with 100% certainty that it has worked for us, and ultimately, what's the harm in trying?
Please note this is not a sponsored review. All photos are copyright property of Me Becoming Mum.