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Gro clock - but what if they actually need you at night?

3 replies

89redballoons · 09/04/2023 20:34

My DS1 is around 3 and a half, and has been sleeping through reliably for the last couple of years. However we recently had to move in with my mum for a month because our house was being renovated, and it all seemed to unsettle him so he started creeping into our bed at night. Not every night, maybe once or twice a week, and it doesn't really bother me that much but DH seems to get elbowed out a bit.

So we decided to try a gro clock, set it to change orange at 6.30am, and explained to DS that if he woke up and the clock was blue he should stay in bed, and he could come and get me and DH up once it was orange.

The first couple of nights seemed to work fine. However last night and the night before that, DH and I woke up at about 6.15am to hear DS chatting to himself in his room. Bless him, we thought, he's getting it - but then he came into our room at 6.30am on the dot, quite distressed, having done a poo in his nappy.

He's been fully toilet trained in the daytime since last year, is still in nappies at night but until these last two nights they were sometimes dry overnight and we were thinking of trying nighttime toilet training soon.

So this seemed like a step backwards, and I hated the idea of my DS lying there in an uncomfortable, dirty nappy feeling that he couldn't come and get help because of the clock.

I've taken it away tonight and am wondering if I should just wait, and try again with it when he's fully toilet trained. I think what I want to say is, try not to come into our room until the clock is orange, but if you really need me or you feel ill or need a nappy change or anything then do! - but that seems way too nuanced for a 3 year old, at least mine anyway.

Just wondered if anyone else has had similar? Is my child unusually compliant with the gro clock, or is it just not going to work with how I parent? or am I too soft?

OP posts:
Merrow · 09/04/2023 20:38

We still have a monitor for DS1 who has a gro clock so we can hear him rather than him coming to get us. He knows he can always call us if he needs us (he sometimes has nightmares, sometimes needs more water), and also knows that he doesn't get out of bed to start the day before the sun is up!

TheEarlofButties · 09/04/2023 20:39

We use one, mine will call out for what he needs, if he needs help I give it, if he doesn’t I tell home look at the clock, night night. We have a two way monitor so no one is getting out of bed

Harrysmummy246 · 10/04/2023 15:41

DS will always call out if he needs us. It's never occurred to him to get out of bed. Don't know why.
But he didn't really even start sleeping through til 2.5yrs (now almost 6).
He's not reliably dry overnight but if he wakes, he knows to shout as he's going for a wee but he would just lie in bed and shout without reminding him to move! You can't night time toilet train as such as it's hormonal.

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