While those without kids are celebrating the lighter mornings as we ease into spring, chuffed to be going to work in daylight rather than darkness, and waking up to the sun streaming in rather than a midnight black sky, parents know it to be something of a nightmare.
In the summer months, the sun can rise as early as 4.30am – and parents can bet their little ones will rise along with it. However, there is a solution which shoppers say is ‘worth its weight in gold’: the Tommee Tippee Groclock Sleep Trainer Clock, now just £29.99 down from £39.99 on Amazon.
This alarm clock is specially designed to help little ones build a healthy sleep and wake routine. Parents can set their preferred sleep and nap wake-up times, and the clock has both analogue and digital faces so children can learn how to tell the time.
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The Tommee Tippee clock has an LED display with variable brightness, so it can be turned up for children who prefer a nightlight, or down or off if preferred. There’s also the option for an audible alarm, making it adaptable for when children get older and need a routine wake-up alarm for nursery or school.
For parents who’d like some more functionality on their child’s alarm clock, Debenhams has the V-Tech V-Hush Sleep Trainer for £59.99. With a sleep training programme, personal voice recording functions, songs and natural sounds, a multi-colour night light and a bedtime storytelling function, this is an alarm clock with all the bells and whistles.
Another alternative is the Purflo Snooze Sleep Trainer And Clock, currently £30.00 at Argos. Boasting a simple digital display, the screen is yellow with a sun at ‘wake up’ time and blue with a moon at ‘sleep time’, so even children who can’t yet tell the time will know when it’s time to go and wake their parents.
With a rating of 4.3 out of five stars on Amazon, it’s clear that parents are finding the Tommee Tippee alarm clock a useful addition to their children’s bedrooms.
One reviewer, who described the alarm clock as “worth its weight in gold”, said: “We were apprehensive before buying this, thinking no product will stop our little one from crying and waking us up to come in our bed (or into her bed) each night. But we have had this clock for a week now and it has been a miracle, it has literally worked from night one. She doesn’t wake up crying now because we’ve told her she’s not allowed in Mummy and Daddy’s room until it turns yellow.”
“This product has been so useful in helping our two-year-old go to bed on time and stay in bed until the clock wakes up,” another said. “He loves seeing Ollie the Owl go to bed and understands the idea of the sleep clock. It’s fairly confusing to set up, but once it’s set, it’s easy to use. A nice light which seems to have helped my toddler sleep better.”
However, some parents have reported some issues with setting up the clock. “My spouse and I are highly technologically proficient, but the basic set-up on this clock has defeated us both,” said one reviewer. “The Morse-code style button clicking doesn’t do what the booklet says it should, and the online videos don’t help either. Perhaps we got a faulty one, but setting the wake-up time on a clock should not be this difficult.”
Another buyer said, ” My three-year-old immediately loved the owl figure on this clock. It made her super excited to get ready to sleep and wake to see the owl. She really enjoys having it as her personal clock, and it has really helped with ensuring she has a good night’s sleep. This was also supported with a move to a bigger bed and a reward chart for a few weeks to motivate her to stay in bed and not wake too early.”