Looking for an effective way to teach your child healthy sleep habits? Check out our Gro Clock review! We'll dive into the features and benefitsĀ of this popular sleep training tool to help you decide if it's the right fit for your family.
Gro Clock Review
Does your little one wake really early in the morning? My five year old can't tell the time yet and in the summer months when the mornings are light and bright she often wakes up early a couple of times a week and comes into our bedroom as she thinks it is morning. I don't mind too much as I am an early riser and she is easily entertained with the iPad while I catch up on social media and blogs but losing out on the extra hour or two of sleep each day takes its toll on her by the end of the week.
We were recently sent a Gro Clock from the Gro Company to review and I thought it would be perfect for Little Miss J as she went into her own bedroom in the new house. Read on for our Gro Clock review.
What is a Gro Clock?
The Gro Clock is a revolutionary product for small children which works almost in reverse to how an alarm clock works for us grown ups - it is essentially a sleep trainer clock. You can set a wake-up time that you think it is reasonable time for them to wake up (we set ours for 7am) and the sleepy blue star on the dial will turn into a yellow sun when it is time to wake up. The idea is that if your child wakes up when it is still too early, they will see the blue star and realise it is still night time and go back to sleep.
Gro Clock Features
- Visual display: The Gro Clock has a simple visual display that uses images of stars and a sun instead of a regular clock face to help children understand when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake up. There is the option to add a digital clock display too which also helps older children tell the passing of time.
- Adjustable brightness: The brightness of the display can be adjusted to suit the child's needs, making it ideal for use in a darkened room, like a night light.
- Nap mode: The Gro Clock has a nap mode, which allows parents to set a shorter sleep period during the day which is great for young children who still have day time naps.
- Optional alarm: For older children who need to wake up at a specific time, the Gro Clock has an optional alarm that can be set to a specific time. The optional audible alarm features can be found in the time settings.
- Bedtime story: The Gro Clock also comes with a bedtime story book called "Sleepy Farm", which can be read to children as part of their bed time routine.
- Parental lock: The Gro Clock has a parental lock feature to prevent a curious toddler from accidentally changing the settings.
- Adjustable settings: The settings on the Gro Clock can be adjusted to suit the child's age and sleeping habits, allowing parents to customize the device to their child's needs.
What is in the box?
The Gro Clock sleep training aid comes with several items in the box. These include:
- The Gro Clock itself: This is the main device that displays the time and the images of stars and sun that help children understand when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake up.
- A power adapter: The Gro Clock requires an AC power adapter to operate, which is included in the box.
- A user manual: The user manual provides detailed gro clock instructions on how to set up and use the Gro Clock, including information on how to adjust the settings, set the right time and use the optional features.
- A bedtime storybook: The Gro Clock comes with a book called "Sleepy Farm", which parents can read to their children as part of their bedtime routine.
- A quick-start guide: This provides a brief overview of the key features of this sleep clock and how to get started using it.
Overall, the box contains everything parents need to get started using the Gro Clock to help their children establish healthy sleep patterns.
Benefits of using the Gro Clock
There are several benefits to using the Gro Clock sleep training aid to help children establish healthy sleep patterns. Here are some of the key benefits:
- Promotes healthy sleep habits: The Gro Clock helps children understand when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake up, which can help establish a regular sleep routine and promote healthy sleep habits.
- Encourages independence: The visual display on the Gro Clock gives children a sense of control over their sleep schedule, which can encourage independence and self-regulation.
- Reduces night waking: By helping children understand when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake up, the Gro Clock can help reduce nighttime waking and promote more restful sleep for both children and parents - this is the best thing - more sleep time!
- Helps children feel more secure:Ā The familiar visual display on the Gro Clock can help children feel more secure and comfortable in their sleeping environment, which can contribute to better sleep quality.
Our opinion
The clock came with a little story book which was really great for explaining the concept to Little Miss J on the first night we used it. She loved setting the clock each night and watching the little star sleep and the gentle glow given out by the clock was very comforting to her. She is exactly the type of child who would wake too early because she didn't know the time and how much time she had left until "morning time" and so it worked really well on her, and she hasn't come down once because she has awoken too soon since she has had the clock.
I also think that for her, the clock has helped her feel less alone in her new bedroom. The clock is like a reassuring presence in her room and she feels comforted by it. I think she feels less alone because the clock will help her know when it is morning and she was worried that otherwise she wouldn't know without her big sister being there.
If you have a younger child, the way the colours change in the morning is a really easy way for them to understand what the time is and there is also an option to add a digital time to the display for older children who are starting to learn the concept of time. I love this because it shows that the clock can grow with your child and can just be used as an ordinary clock with a nightlight and it isn't limited to being a sleep training clock.
Little Miss J is beyond daytime naps but you can also set it to work for daytime naps or even quiet time in the day which will be really useful when Baby S is a little older and starts to fight his naps and needs quiet time or encouragement to stay in his room until the end of nap time.
Does your little one struggle to stay in bed in the mornings or wake in the middle of the night? Fed up of the early mornings? I'd definitely recommend a Gro Clock, especially with the summer mornings approaching! It makes sleep training toddlers a breeze and you will have good sleepers in no time! At only Ā£24.99 from Amazon, the Grow Clock is a great addition to your child's nursery or bedroom.
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John says
I definitely like the idea behind this clock. Kids come to understand the importance of waking up on time before they're able to tell time just by watching parents, so it's important to give them a way to know when it's the right time to get up. Having the simpler visual cue for "wake up time" seems like a great way to let a child know when it's time to get the day going, even if they're still working on their timing. Thanks for sharing!