Teaching your Child to Stay in Bed with the Gro Company Gro-clock
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We have always been fans of the Gro Company. When Mia was born we bought her a number of Grobag’s which were amazing as Mia could get all snuggled up in bed with us knowing she was sleeping safe and securely. We also bought a Gro-egg which we have used right up until very recently to accurately measure the temperature of her bedroom. So when The Gro Company were looking for bloggers to review another of their products, I put myself forward and was really excited when they picked me! The Gro Company specialise in the manufacturing of safer sleep solutions for babies and make everything from Gro-lights to black out Gro Anywhere Blinds.
The Gro-clock is a sleep trainer nightlight and clock. Suitable from 2 years, the clock is designed to teach children when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to wake up, either at nap time or in the morning. The clock itself displays 12 blue stars which go out one by one as each hour passes so that once all of the stars have disappeared, a bright yellow sunshine appears and your child knows that its morning. The Gro-clock has an alarm which can be set if you have older children who would benefit from one and although we don’t use this but it would be great for primary school children to get them up in the morning.
Also the Gro-clock has a digital clock display so that you can teach older children how to tell the time which is something Mia uses now that she’s a bit older. We haven’t ever had a problem with Mia getting up ridiculously early (not sure how or why?!) but Lottie is completely the opposite so we got her a Gro-Clock just to try and keep her in bed! The Gro-clock is perfect for this!
On start-up, the Gro-clock needs to be set up with the current time and the ‘wake up’ times. The instructions, I found personally, quite overly confusing, even with only 3 buttons on the clock, the instructions seem a bit tricky to follow. I found it much easier to get hands on with the Gro-clock and it was really straight forward to use like this. Once the time is set and whether you want the alarm set or not, you can then set the nap time wake up and morning wake up times. I set the times as exactly the same as each other (as advised) as Mia and Lottie both don’t nap in the day.
The first day I set the clock, I wasn’t 100% sure I had set it right and there was no way to test it beforehand. However, Mia let me know that she had seen the ‘sunshine face’ come out and was very, very excited about it! When setting up the Gro-clock, the instructions say to try not to let your child see you setting the clock up and I wish I had of read that first as Mia watched me playing with the clock and she decided she would quite like to ‘set’ the clock herself for the next week! There is a key lock feature but this can only be activated once the sleep times are activated and I would have liked to be able to lock the clock all of the time. I never had to do this with Lottie however so some children aren’t bothered at all! Also, the clock runs off the mains electricity so bare this in mind for your child’s room. I would have liked a battery option.
The display itself is lovely and really child friendly. The bright screen is really appealing and both Mia and Lottie absolutely love the smiley star and sunshine faces when they appear! We also use the clock display as a dim light for the girl’s rooms which is really handy. We have been looking for a suitable light as most are too bright to be left on all night or have a cut-out time of around 20 minutes , which is not enough. The brightness can be adjusted so it took us a couple of nights to find the perfect brightness for us.
The Gro-clock comes with a lovely book which reinforces the clock and the girls really enjoyed listening to me reading it to them whilst we set the clock for the first time. They both understood the concept straight away and on the first night they understood what the stars and the sunshine were telling them.
There is also a great reward chart to download from the Gro Company with great tips and a lovely chart, which matches the Gro-clock’s images. You can use stickers to reward your child when they stay in bed until the sun comes up. The Gro-clock is a brilliant addition to your child’s nursery or bedroom and I would recommend it, not only as a clock or an alarm but also as a dimmed bedroom light. With a current RRP of £29.99 it is well worth the money and we are more than happy with it. I’m really interested in their Gro-light next!
24 Comments
Now I am mum
Love these to help young children understand the time. Fingers crossed for an end to early morning starts 😉 #kcacols
mummydaddymia
We can all hope!! 🙂
Amie
I love our gro clock! Amelia is a bit young to get the full use yet but I think it’s great 🙂 #KCACOLS
mummydaddymia
Yes so do we! Mia knows she has to look for the sunshine before she can come up to us in the morning! 🙂
Jade The Parenting Jungle
Fab review, I like that you explained about the instructions being a bit complicated..I got my son a time out timer and never used it because I just couldn’t figure it out!I love the concept of this cloak and had really positive reviews from my friends. Think my sons a little old now at 5 but this would have been great around 3 though knowing my son he would have wanted to touch and play with it and reset everything too! Thank you for linking up to #KCACOLS I hope you can join us next Sunday x
mummydaddymia
Thanks! We really like the clock (bar the couple of niggles) and Mia always makes sure she comes out of her room ‘when the sunshine comes out!’ 🙂
Emma Plus Three
We’ve used a gro clock for about three years now. It took a little while to start to work but I would definitely recommend them x #KCACOLS
mummydaddymia
Yes we really like it as Mia seems to understand how it works and does stay in her bedroom until the ‘sunshine’ comes out! 🙂
Jenn @ Mad Mommy
I love our gro clock for our 4-year-old, doesn’t work for our 6-year-old through 🙁 #KCACOLS
mummydaddymia
Aww thats a shame but i know its not for every child 🙂
Emma me and b make tea
its a good job Gro didn’t approach me as I flippin HATE this clock with a passion. it wobbles over – like the egg too and if it gets switched off, bam, you have to reset the whole thing from start. and the controls just aren’t easier, I feel like you need a bloody degree in the clock just to set it. even my hubby gets frustrated. It is way to bright too, even when it can be adjusted. Much easier is a regular alarm clock and “when the numbers start with SEVEN, you can get up!” – of course only will work when my boy knows his numbers properly! #KCACOLS
mummydaddymia
Aww that’s a shame as bar a couple of niggles, we really like it! I have had the gro egg too and we loved it! Didn’t find it wobbled over so its a shame you didn’t have a good experience! I found the gro clock tricky to set up the first time and to be honest its on all the time so I haven’t had to do it since but we use it as a great nightlight for Mia’s room on one of the lowest settings so it works for us. Thanks for leaving a comment! 🙂
The Mum Reviews
My eldest has a gro-clock and it has worked pretty well, but I agree that a battery option would be good as my youngest is much more pickle-y and needs something like a clock put well out of reach – which I can’t do if it needs plugging in! Also, the key lock isn’t robust enough as my eldest figured out how to unlock it himself and change the wake up time! It has helped with sleep training though. #kcacols
mummydaddymia
Yes Mia keeps changing the clock time which is irritating! 🙂
Rainbowsaretoobeautiful
We need a new night light for our 3 yr old – this could be ideal thanks. #kcacols
mummydaddymia
Aww I would recommend it as its been great for us! 🙂
Honestmum
Fab review, it didn’t work out for us but my boys are only just sleeping through now at 6 and 3 so nothing was able to help them really! x
mummydaddymia
Oh bless you! I know we are very lucky that Mia has slept through since not long after birth! She loves her lie-ins although I’m really aware this may change! 🙂
Jenni - Odd Socks and Lollipops
We love our Gro Clock – and it’s really coming in to it’s own now that Boo is a bit older – she knows that stars mean sleep now. It’s such a great idea!
mummydaddymia
Aww they are great addition to the sleep routine, aren’t they?! I glad your daughter is loving it like Mia is 🙂
Yet Another Blogging Mummy
This looks great. We had a GroEgg when my boys were tiny. I loved it, but it broke where the cable attaches, so hope they have improved their cabling now. I agree with you, batteries would be better for a clock #TriedTested
mummydaddymia
Yeah we have a gro egg and I must say we have only just stopped using it now Mias 3! We loved it! 🙂
Jess Powell (Babi a Fi)
I love the idea of these! It’s a fab way of explaining to young children the difference between bed time and getting up time. 🙂
mummydaddymia
Yeah we have been using it for a month now and Mia still loves it, she understands when its time to get up in the morning now 🙂