Suggestions for a toddler's first clock?

[Saffron]

What's a good first clock for a toddler? Does a 'bunny clock' really help them grasp the idea, or is it just an expensive nightlight? I've been thinking about getting something like this for Little Saff when we transition from cot to junior bed later this year.

[Fudge]

the gro clock with a sun and stars works well if you are wanting to teach them when its morning time and when its night time. You set the time for the sun to come up. I find it useful as it is not just Mummy and Daddy saying its not time to get up - the clock shows that it isnt time too.....

You can also set the light on the clock as to how bright the display is - so depending on whether you want to use it as a night light as well

good luck

[Saffron]

Oh that sounds interesting! Where can I buy one?

xx

[nunheadmum]

I think you can get the Gro-clock in lots of places - possibly even Jo-Jo.

Having gone through a few of these clocks, my thoughts on them are:

Kidssleep Bunny Clock (think that's the name, the one with the picture of bunny asleep and bunny awake). We used this with both our kids and I think it may be the best for young kids - we used it from age 2 with brilliant results. I think the young kids get the concept of bunny awake / asleep easy with the picture. The build and features are a bit basic but I was told by the distributor that a new version was in the pipeline and imminent, but haven't heard an update since.

Gro-clock - this one has more features than the kidsleep one and is better built. (Features like different light brighness levels, 2 time settings, quiet buttons, keeps the time/alarm settings if the power gets switched off for a short time) I don't think it is quite as easy for younger kids to get the hang of (maybe that's just my youngest) but not really that hard. As the kids get older, I think the stars counting down towards getting up time is a nice feature - gives them a sense of time if they do wake in the night.

Bunny (or other animal) clock with moving ears - this is pretty obvious for kids to get the hang of and has the benefit of being a proper clock so has a longer life span. But no night-light option. And both my kids are scared of it. (But they are officially scared of just about everything!) And the waking action is slightly noisy so it tends to wake them, if they do occasionally sleep through getting up time. (Depends on the circumstances, whether this would be a good thing or not.)

Hope that's of some help!

[susyp]

Groclock works a treat with my 2 1/2 year old. Stopped her getting up at 5am. Now she waits for Mr Sun to wake at 7am. (with the aid of a star chart!). Got mine from Amazon.

Susypx

[ladywotlunches]

Got the bunny clock with the ears that pop up. Works for our 4 year old (and has done for a while). Well I say works, he knows whether its time to get up or not, but doesn't mean he *always* stays in bed. And we do sometimes have a question of "WHEN is bunny going to wake up??" So if there's an option where the clock gradually changes from night to day, that might be useful.