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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Gro clock users....help!!

9 replies

PeppaTwig · 25/01/2012 15:48

Got my DS (2.3) a Gro clock on Sunday as he'd started to wake unreasonably early.

We read the book together, practiced the sequence a few times before bed on Sunday and went to bed knowing that realistically he probably wouldn't get it that well for a night or two.

The first morning he woke before the 'sun' and came straight out if his room. I ushered him back in reinforced the message of the blue star etc but wasn't having it so I discreetly pressed the button to bring on 'morning' so he could see it was ok to get up.

Yesterday he woke up after the 'sun' and was so thrilled to see it and we made a big deal of how well he'd done blah blah...

This morning he woke up an hour before the clock was set (5.30!!!) and would not be coerced back to bed for love nor money. He just doesn't seem to get it or at least be spurred on to try it. We've read the book each night and tried to explain it clearly etc.

What's the next step? Sticker charts for good mornings? Throw it in the bin? I'm 5 weeks PG and seriously knackered already!!! Aarrgghh!!

Thanks in advance for any help!!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

peppasmyfriend · 25/01/2012 16:16

We have/had a gro clock......my DD just started shouting...'Mum, mum....i dont think this clock is working!' or 'mummy did you call me?' grrrrrrr.....now she knows she can only get up if we are up, or she can hear the heating has come on!!..Im just resigned now to early mornings.....although i have to say we nearly got to 6.45 today!!! - sorry not very helpful am i...

mousymouseprice · 25/01/2012 16:18

I think he is too little to understand yet. my dd is about that age and no way would she grasp the concept of time yet

HouseworkProcrastinator · 25/01/2012 16:37

I'm with mousy, a little young I think. My daughter got hers just before she was 4 and it took a while even then for her to get used to it, she is 5 now and it is the best thing ever. We set it for 8 on the weekends and she is aloud to get up and play in her bedroom if there is only one star left but not aloud to wake me up till its yellow. Her little sister is 2 and half there is no way she would understand about time but she is a sleepy little bug anyway. :)

trixie123 · 25/01/2012 17:54

DS is 2.5 and not sure he'll get it yet. The first night we put it on he came into our room at 1.30 am. When I took him back the glow from it was so bright I think he thought it was morning - he usually sleeps in darkness, no nightlight. We haven't used it since but must get to grips with it was pressie from SisIL

dribbleface · 26/01/2012 14:51

trixie you can alter the brightness. ours randomly goes dark and i have to reset it.

lindy100 · 27/01/2012 08:31

We got one for dd the week before she turned two and she got it in a few nights - she isn't one to get out of bed by herself though and does have a gate on her door.

I know you're getting desperate but if he is an early waked my advice would be to set it early - when he normally wakes up - so that for a few days the sun is already up when he wakes. So you can praise. Then try to set it so if he wakes early he only has to wait a few minutes - so every few days add five mins or so. He may then get the idea that he won't have to wait long, then get loads of praise. It can be a slow process. Sometimes I still put the sun 'on' myself, but prob only once a month these days. All the time reinforcing by playing with it during the day too.

I think patience and slow progress is the key.

lindy100 · 27/01/2012 08:51

...and I was 36wks of, still working and getting up at 4am every day when we got ours. You can't reasonably expect them to wait an hour at that age from day one.

Good luck!

lindy100 · 27/01/2012 08:53

Of? Pg!

Ciske · 27/01/2012 09:07

DD is 2.4 and we gave her one earlier this month, as the move from cot to bed wasn't going too well. :( We had already done a few nights of 'rapid return' before it arrived, and that had stopped her getting out of bed in the middle of the night. However, she would still show up in our bedroom at 5.30 in the morning, which is way too early, so we use the clock to tell her when it's getting up time.

We didn't do much with the book, we just explained that the star was 'sleepy time' and the sun was 'wakey time'. We then made sure that there was a difference between 'sleepy time' and 'wakey time': If she gets up before the sun, we take her back to her room and keep things very quiet, and no lights on. Once the sun is up, we turn the lights on and let her go downstairs to breakfast.

It took a few days, but then she got it. She will now get up with the sun, walk into our room and shout 'zonnetje' ('little sun' in Dutch).

I also made her a little paper version of the clock, one side with the sun, one with the star, which she is using to sleep train her cuddley toys (they're very naughty and get out of 'bed' a lot!).

I think the concept is simple enough for a 2 year old to understand, as long as you reinforce it with your own behaviour and make sure sleepy time and wakey time feel completely different to your child. To be honest, I don't have a clue what time it is when I wake in the middle of the night, so it make sense to me that little toddlers need a bit of help as well. Absolutely love the clock! :)

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