Gro Clock success stories?

[bez91]

My little girl has just turned 2 last month, she has been a chronic early riser since birth (5am-5:30am) without fail. Every 3 months we may get a 6am (wahoooo) when she wakes she's in the most horrible mood and will generally scream the house down for 30 minutes.

Now I think she's old enough to understand we bought a Gro Clock which she seems to like and loves the story. Set it for 5:30am as not to be too ambitious. Night one - she ended up being awake for 3.5 hours screaming which isn't really like her to wake in the night (may not have been clock related) night 2 - woke at 5:10am screaming. I went in twice to lay her back down and explain the clock etc wasn't up but she was inconsolable as usual and we got up at 5:15am.

Any one had any success stories after initially not going very well?

Would love to hear, along with my poor long suffering neighbours

I'll take that as a no to success stories 🙈

We didn't use one for eldest and youngest is still to young. Your DD may need a little longer to adjust, give it a week or two for her to get used to it. In the meantime, you have my sympathies !

It would have worked for one of my kids, he's an early riser but happy to play in his room until 630am. We taught him to read a clock and it worked (and still works at 8yo).

My other child has a gro clock. Also an early riser, she calls out as soon as there's one star left. 'When is it going to be morning time?' 'How many minutes left til morning time?' So yes, she's in bed, but she's keeping me up. It's been 2yrs, we're no closer to a solution. She just hates being alone. Sorry!!

It sort of worked for my 3 year old. I have a 23 month old who usually wakes at 4.45 so she can get in a few hours extra cryingto meet her personal daily target, there is no way she'dunderstand a gro clock sorry

Didn't work for DC1 because he would just cry, in bed, but still wanted me and woke me up. Dc2 it's been perfect for because he likes clear visual rules. We didn't start with either of them til 3 though. Is it a fear of the dark perhaps? Could you try a light that's easy for them to turn on if they wake up?

Yes great success for us and still use them at 4 and 5! Initially used in conjunction with reward chart when they waited for the sun to come up or mummy screaming like a banshee at them when they didn't. Worked like a charm

Worked for my dd. I would set it earlier, say 0450 so it is sunny when she wakes and she gets to 'win'. Then gradually edge it forward. Otherwise it becomes another source of frustration for her. So 4 or 5 days of 0450 and winning, then 0500 for a few days, then 0505 etc. It's a long process but worth it!

I have one for my just turned 3 year old- it isn’t the clock that works though, it’s your consistency.

We always return him to his room if he is up before the sun shows. Even if it’s only 2 minutes before.

We started setting it at 6am and now have it set for 6:30 6 months later. He still wakes early but is happy lying in bed waiting for it to come on before he gets up.

It's just worked brilliantly for my friend's 22 month old. He's very happy to lie in bed and chat to himself while waiting for the sun to come up.

They hadn't been invented but the key thing is to look at nighttime routine and to remember kids need different amounts of sleep. My dd needed about 10 hours at 2 so if I insisted she went to bed at 7 she would get up by 5! We gradually increased bedtime to 8.30/9 and she got up at 6.30/7. Her sister needed more sleep at the equivalent age. Blackout blinds are key for the summer

My DS1 has been using this for the last 6 months. He was 2.3 when we started using it and understood it straight away. He had started to wake up an hour earlier than usual so we decided to give it a try. Best thing ever. Even if he wakes up earlier than the sun he waits until it comes up before opening his room door and shouting like a mad man "suns up, yellow sun, it's time to get up, cereal time"....... anyway I think the reason he likes it so much is that we let him press the buttons to set the clock then we count the stars afterwards. It's a punishment for him to not be allowed to set the clock. Stick with it. But like a PP said, don't let her get up before the sun, even if it's only 2 minutes.

We stopped using ours for DS as it started to have the opposite effect. He would wake and stare at it or if he happened to open his eyes and notice it was yellow would race out of bed into our room before he wasn't even properly awake, staggering about.

Now we just keep sending him back if it's too early and other days he will sleep a little longer than his norm if he needs to catch up or had a later night. We usually hear him singing away to himself for 5 mins or so before he gets up to find us - we found the clock was stressing him out a bit!

Haven't read all the posts so sorry if I'm repeating. Put it on the dark setting so it doesnt light up the room until it's morning otherwise it's a distraction.

I would persevere a bit longer with it. Maybe have a reward for staying in bed until it comes up?? Coco pops breakfast?!

It worked on and off with my son. At one point we abandoned it as he would just ignore it and come into us to let us know it was still night time!

However, hes now 4 and we use it at the moment and say he has to stay in his room playing with toys etc until sun comes up. Helps as we have a newborn.

He was a really early riser. It was hell but he grew out of it eventually.

It's worth checking if something comes on that wakes them eg hot water or heating or a neighbour leaving early. I think they sleep really lightly in the early hours. White noise might block out some sounds?