Product review: Tommee Tippee GroClock Sleep Trainer

Available from Tommee Tippee
Ages: 0 to 10

Reviewed by Nicky, mum to Isabelle (3) who’s profoundly deaf and wears cochlear implants. Nicky is severely deaf and wears a hearing aids.

Isabelle

"During the sleep deprivation days of early parenthood, we were ready to try anything to stop our daughter getting up at 5am. We’d tried varying bedtimes, routines and reward charts, but nothing was making a difference. Someone suggested we try the Groclock, a visual clock for children that clearly shows them when it’s night-time and when it’s morning. Parents can set the clock to the wake-up time they decide on in the morning, and the clock face switches from blue stars to a yellow sunshine. It’s easy to programme, with options to switch off the light overnight for those who prefer to sleep in darkness.

We started using this with our daughter when she was two, setting it just 15 minutes later than she naturally woke to set her up for success, before gradually setting the time later. If she woke before the clock changed, we’d take her back to her room and resettle her. It probably took around six to eight months for her to get the hang of it, but now she’s three, it works perfectly. She’s very excited to come into our room shouting, “The sun is up!” If she does wake earlier and see the stars, nine times out of 10 she will close her eyes again. I think it’s particularly good for deaf children because it’s so visual, allowing our daughter to quickly assess if it’s time to get up yet without needing to ask. A word of warning: pop it somewhere out of reach, because it’s quite easy for little fingers to manipulate!"