You hear it all the time, parents whose kids crawl into bed with them night after night or wake up with the first hint of morning sun. While some parents welcome the pitter patter of feet coming to their door, I know there are others who are surely thinking, I really thought I’d be sleeping through the night by now.
Here’s my number one trick—it’s a clock that lets your child know when his day can start. My kids each use one, and they work like a charm. We talk about how with the different seasons, the time that the sun rises/sets changes even though their bedtimes and wake up times do not, and their clocks will help them know when it’s really time to get up. And they get it. We even travel with one. My three-year-old has been using this adorable SAM Sleep Trainer clock that he adores.
He loves putting SAM to sleep each night (eyes shut) and seeing that he has already woken up in the morning (eyes open). The dial also turns a dark blue during the sleeping time, which functions as a gentle nightlight (you can adjust the brightness or opt for auto shutoff after 5, 10 or 30 minutes). A younger child, who can’t tell time yet, needs these visual cues to help decipher when he should get up and when he should try to shut his eyes for a little more sleep.
For kids who have an especially hard time waiting patiently, the dial on the clock turns green when there is only thirty minutes left of sleep time, and a set of twelve stars on the dial helps them countdown the minutes—the stars disappear one at a time, letting your little one know it’s almost time! SAM works the same way for naps—just pick the number of minutes you want your kiddo to stay in bed. It’s perfect for those toddlers who think they don’t need a nap anymore but really do.
And if your little one has someplace to go, there is an optional alarm function for kids who like to sleep in (I’ve heard these children do exist). SAM comes in gray, pink or blue.
So that solves early wake ups, but what about the middle-of-the-night nightmares? Here’s where LOU—a sweet little owl nightlight—comes in.
I’ve found that a lot of nightlights are either too bright or not bright enough, and I love that you can adjust LOU’s brightness and opt to light either the owl, the ring or both. And it shuts off automatically after thirty minutes. But here’s the best part—it can be sound activated. So your little one’s cries will activate the light, making her room a whole lot less scary after a nightmare. You can hurry into your child’s room and settle her back to sleep—perfect, right?
LOU comes in blue, pink or gray—all colors are equally adorable and coordinate wonderfully with SAM. Your child will love these two cute characters from Zazu, and you’ll love getting that extra sleep!
To ensure this product fit our readers’ needs,
Project Junior received a sample for review.
