Changing the time doesn’t have to throw your sleep schedule into disarray. We road-tested some brilliant products to guarantee a good night’s rest.
I am one of those mothers who absolutely dread daylight saving. While I love that springing forward means the days are getting longer and warmer and summer is on the way, I’m terrified of what a change – even a small change – will do to my son’s sleep routine.
See, I have a chronically terrible sleeper. Bedtime is a moveable feast, happening anywhere from 7-10pm and on average, we’re up and ready to start our day as the clock is striking five.
Yep. I’m truly #blessed. So I need all the help I can get, especially when the clocks change.
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My son reckons sleep is for the weak. Image: supplied
Enter my sleep saviours …
I was very keen to try some of the awesome products from The Gro Company, specifically designed to help kids get to sleep – and stay asleep. We’re very familiar with The Gro Company in our family; my son was a winter baby – and a fidgety one at that – so he spent most of his early life tucked up in Grobags– and then Grorompers– to stay nice and toasty on cold nights. We also have a lot of love for Ollie the Owl with his soothing melodies and calming nightlight: he’s since been passed on to another baby, but for the first year of his life he was a firm friend for my little man.
Now my son is a toddler, we’ve got a whole new series of sleep challenges like being in his own big boy bed and being able to get up and come harass me whenever he likes – even at 2am.
Ollie the Owl was a mainstay in my son’s cot as a baby. Image: supplied.
Your own personal sleep trainer
My son struggles to understand that 2am isn’t party time. So, we got a Groclock. How do you get a two-and-a-half-year-old – who can’t tell the time – to understand that it’s too early to get up? Simple! You get tell them to “stay in bed until you see the sun!”
The Groclock uses adorable images of the stars and sun to let your child know if it’s day or night. If it’s still blue, snuggle back to sleep. If it’s yellow, rise and shine! While I admit my son hasn’t quite got the hang of staying put until he sees the sun, he does enjoy waking me up to tell me “The clock is still blue, Mummy, the clock is still blue!” And then we climb back into bed together. So we’re halfway there. (He is only two-and-a-half, after all, I’ll give him a bit longer!)
My son loves telling me the colour on his Groclock! Image: supplied
Blackout bliss
You know when you are staying in a fancy hotel and there are blockout blinds and you go to sleep at night and wake up after eight solid hours? You have no idea what time it is because it’s pitch black so you figure it must be the middle of the night but it’s actually 9am. Yeah, me either.
Admittedly, it’s been a very long time since I had a full night’s sleep, but the Gro Anywhere Blackout Blind does help keep the pesky morning light at bay for a little longer- especially around this time of year. We use it at home behind the shutters, but it’s great for travel and we often chuck it in the car when we don’t know the ‘curtain’ situation of the place we’ll be staying. With velcro fastening and suction caps, it can stick onto pretty much any window. Perfect for those impromptu afternoon naps at Nanna’s and even more perfect for summer-holiday sleep-ins.
The suction caps mean the blind fits almost anywhere. Image: The Gro Store
Got a restless rascal? The Groromper has you covered
Even if your kid is big enough for a bed, there’s no guarantee they’ll stay there. My son does 180s in his bed almost every night and while he may start with a doona on, it rarely stays there. The Groromper is a great answer. Your all-in-one bedding solution, it’s worn in place of blankets and helps keep kids warm throughout the night. It’s convertible from a bag to a onesie, so once your kid is on the move, they don’t have to feel restrained. I can’t show you a picture of my son wearing one because, well, he flat-out refused to let me take his photo (because, #terribletwos!) but trust me, he loves his just as much and looks just as adorable as these kiddos do!
Snug and cosy. Image: instagram/thegrocompanyaus