Gro Clock? Did it work for your dc?

[leelteloo]

My dd is 4 and has always been a poor sleeper. She used to wake up 3 or 4 times a night until about 6 months ago. She still only sleeps through about 4 out of 7. She wakes at 5 and is really tired and grumpy all day because she is so busy at school.
So I bought a gro clock and was hoping it would help: nope! She just calls out and cries anyway and then wakes everyone up.
Has anyone had success using the clock and can share some tips. I am going to start a sticker chart but its still empty after a week as she has not managed to get up when the sun shows yet. I've got the wake up time set for 6.

Yes! It changed our lives! Have had another friend where it had less success, but she wasn't strict with it. We used it with both ours.

Yes it worked for us with DS1.
I would advise setting the time earlier to she can succeed then gradually altering the time.

Yes!

Ditto the setting it earlier and then gradually setting it later. TONS of praise when they get their first sun morning and then gradually (five mins at a time) shift it later.

We still have the odd morning (like today) where he's sad and wants someone, so I went in to wait until the sun came up before we got up.

Yes it was great- but only until dd was about 3.4, sorry to say. After that she figured out that when there were only a few stars left, it was nearly morning. So we've now ditched it. Maybe your little one is a bit old to buy into it? Hopefully not tho.

Yes it worked for us on DD although we started it earlier (about 2.5) and I'm not sure if we introduced on now (4.3) that it would work quite the same, but she is now so used to it we find it still works. We use it in conjunction with a sticker reward system that leads to weekly treats depending on how many times she stays in her room until the sun comes up. Now she is so used to it we rarely if ever have her up early, and in fact often she sleeps past her clock wake up time.

I would add however that she was always a good sleeper and the clock just stopped her getting up too early once she had control over getting out of bed and before she was old enough to tell the time, especially in the summer months when the actual sun rises way earlier than we want her up. Initially we had to do the consistent rapid return and point out that the sun on the clock was not up so it was not time to get up. This repeated behaviour is really important to get the idea in their minds I think - we did it even if the sun was going to come up 10 mins later.

I recommend introducing a reward for staying put - at 4 there must be something she REALLY loves to do/eat/play with etc. I would make the reward bigger for each success at the start then once she gets the hang I would move to her needing to get X successes per reward etc.

Good luck.

It hasn't worked for us. D's is 5 in just over a week and still wakes and come into my bed, I have explained and read the book explaining he must stay in his bed until the sun cones up but it hasn't work in 2 years of having it x

Worked for us. DD never a massively early riser, but I agree that you have to be totally consistent. Particularly at the start. Even now, on the odd occasion when she gets up before the clock changes colour, I send her back to bed even if it is just a couple of mins. If you don't they quickly get the message that it is all up for negotiation!