The sun and moon cast a magic charm with the Gro-clock
Once a toddler is out of the cot and into a bed, this is when the pitter patter of tiny feet begins to ring true. Keeping toddlers in bed becomes a whole new parental challenge. They are too young or too unwilling to grasp the concept of time. For many suffering parents, the day begins somewhere around five am. This was not written in the Bounty Book.
Trying to find a way of communicating time to children aged 3, 4, or 5 is tricky. Step forward once again the Gro Company.
Co- founder of The Gro Company, Rob Holmes said: “When our son William was three he used to wake us up every morning at 5am asking if it was time to get up. It was driving us nuts! We thought to ourselves, how can we communicate time to him when he’s too young to read a clock?
“A few months later I had a ‘light bulb’ moment in the shower! The easiest way to explain the difference between night and day is to use the sun and moon, and we thought it would be great to have a bedtime story book that helps explain the benefits of sleep.”
The Gro-clock uses images of the sun and moon to tell children when it is time to go to sleep and when they are allowed to get up. The time is set by the parent. The clock comes with its own bedtime story ‘Sleepy Farm’, to help get across the message how important it is to get a good night’s sleep.
Chopsy Baby just couldn’t believe there was a product in the world that would make a wilful toddler understand that the day doesn’t start at 5am, so we decided it had to be tested.
Chopsy editor Jen, tested out the Gro-clock on three year old Sidney.
Jen says: “I didn’t think there was a product in the world that could help stop my toddler operate on a 24 hour battery. I was sceptical that a clock with just a moon or sun face was going to have any impact on keeping this child in a bed.
“The success of this product will depend on the type of child you have. If you have a child who just needs to know it’s not getting-up-time, then this will work perfectly. If you have a child that decides the day starts at 5am and everyone must get up with him, then this product will help greatly but with time, effort and patience.
“I spent time explaining to Sid that bedtime was final. This was not up for debate. I brought him a ‘grown up’ bedding set with his favourite Thomas the Tank Engine cover to show that he was not a baby any more.
“Every night, a routine was put into place, finishing up with a twenty minute story session letting him pick his favourite books.
“This is where the clock gets clever. Rob Holmes has written the book ‘Sleepy Farm’ with illustrations by children’s artist Mike Terry. This is the last story I read every night and we call it the bedtime book. When it’s finished, that’s it. Bedtime.
“The book is brilliant and part of the clock’s success. It is humorous, nicely paced with a strong message that the child seems to understand. The clock is incorporated into the story and the child points it straight out on the shelf when the page is reached.
“When setting the clock, the face shows a cool relaxing moon face with a series of stars that disappear until the clock is ready to tell the child they may get up. Then a small animation transforms the face into a bright smiling sun.
“I have found this to be a really great device for making the child understand the concept day, night and time. Although he still gets up too early, he is made to go back and wait for the sun to come up. I try to make this an exciting event that he won’t want to miss.
“Maintaining the constant routine and gently enforcing the messages in the Sleepy Time book is really helping the child to understand the day doesn’t start at 5am. For some parents this won’t be an instant success, but will help them work with the child to turn it into one.”
£39.99
www.gro.co.uk