The Gro Clock.....



Jack has his third Birthday in June and still unable to tell the time as a result of this not long ago we were having mornings of 5 a.m starts with him getting out of bed and shouting "Its Wake up Time" when quite clearly it wasn't. I struggled to know what to do as the say in bed routine where I would just put him back in his room every time he came out really didn't work as he was so wide awake and seemed sure it was time to get up.


So on searching the internet I came across another product from The Gro Company a company with whom I am very familiar with as we often used the sleeping Gro bags when Jack was a baby (which keeps baby covered up and no chance of blankets being kicked off as its just like a sleeping bag) and also the Gro Egg which is basically a room thermometer and night light. So seeing this new Gro Clock I thought it would probably be worth giving it a try. The company as a whole seem like a good one and they have been going since the year 2000 and started with just one family who had an idea and then joined with lots of other families to get together to create items which solve real problems.


The concept of clock is pretty much a simple one with the idea being that this is a clock for children who are as yet are unable to tell the time but are able to understand that a moon means night time and that a sun means wake up time. So this clock does just that, it shows a illuminated picture of a moon at bedtime and just like an alarm clock when the set wake up time comes round the moon changes to a sunset and then to a picture of a blazing sun.


It seemed like such a brilliant idea. It doesn't just end at that because there is also a countdown method for if your child wakes up before the sun by seeing how many stars are being displayed around the moon you are able to see how long it is till the sun comes up. Jack is able to count so this he found quite easily in being able to recognise that say for example there were two stars left around the moon then he knew that there was only a short period before he could get up and play.


Included with the unit is also a board book called "Sleepy Farm". This book works well with the clock as the story is of a lazy pig who is tired all the time and the reason for this is that he goes to bed too late and wakes up too early. So all the animals ion the farm decide to club together and buy him this special clock that will allow him to get to bed on time and wake up at the right time in the morning. It is a very nice and soothing read as it all rhymes and works well when using the clock. Jack liked it as he could spot all the other Gro Company products that are drawn in the book that we own!


The whole clock is easy to get up and running and although does have a fair few functions is simple to use especially as the instructions that are included are straight forward and clear. There are options to set an actual alarm clock if you so wish but this was not an option that we chose to use. You can set the time of both the bedtime and the time in which the sun comes up in the morning. The brightness of the screen can be adjusted too giving a night light as well as a clock which is handy.


It is mains powered so no batteries are needed which is a god send as we are forever buying new batteries! Also there is an option to make sure that the keys are in a key-lock mode which is very handy but I would suggest you make sure you set this as Jack once got hold of the unit and was able to get the sun up before it really was time to get up because I hadn't fixed the key-lock. So he came bounding in saying "the sun is up, the sun is up" when it was only 5 .30 a.m.


The whole idea is a really good one and it does work well in practise. We have used it for a good four months or so but Jack now seems to have fallen into the right pattern and gotten that little bit older where he will happily play in his room for a while if we tell him too. The only downside I can see is the price which set us back nearly £40. I purchased it from eBay and with postage included this seemed to be the average price of a brand new unit. It is a little steep but I guess for a product that will let you have that little bit better night sleep it is worth it. Now that Jack is fine in the mornings I expect I shall be putting it back on eBay myself so that at least I shall get some of the money back.


All in all I have got to say that this clock was really a worth while purchase even for the high price. It really has seemed to do the job in teaching Jack a more acceptable time to be getting out of bed. The idea as a whole really works and you can tell it has been thought through properly with all aspects which are needed in there!


Just for the fact that it gave me a better sleep pattern I have got to give this product a 5 out of 5 star rating. I think it is a top product which I will give a HIGH recommendation on. I think possibly getting it second hand would be a better idea as it is a costly item but again I suppose it depends on how much you value your sleep!


Take a look at the Gro Company website which has all their really good ideas and products which are a must for most families:

www.gro.co.uk


Many thanks for taking the time to read


I do hope that this has been of some help/interest yo you.