By Margot Buitenhoven

I don’t want to sleep!

Babies and toddlers do not have the same sense of time as adults. The moment their eyes open, the little rascals want to start a brand new day with a lot of enthusiasm, although for mum and dad it is way too early… Often little ones do not understand why they have to go to bed in the evening. There is still so much to experience downstairs!

Bobby the Bear

Do you also have an overactive toddler that does not want to go to bed at night or wakes up every morning at the crack of dawn? ZAZU’s Bobby the Bear is a sleeptrainer that helps your child to understand, in a playful way, when it is time to sleep and when it is time to wake up mum and dad or have to play in its room for a little while.

At the moment ZAZU has three different sleeptrainers and Bobby represents a friendly bear. When it is time to sleep, you can press the button on top of Bobby’s head and his eyes close. Opens Bobby his eyes? Time to wake up! On Bobby’s face you see an analogue clock and a smaller digital clock. It is easy to set the time with the control buttons on the bottom of Bobby. With these buttons you also set the OK-to-get-up time; the time when Bobby opens his eyes and the alarm goes off. You do not like an alarm sound?

You can manually set the volume of the alarm, from completely off to loud!

Advantages

• This sleeptrainer has a larger analogue clock and a smaller digital clock and  is therefore also suitable for older children that can tell time.
• The design is simple yet attractive and suits every nursery.
• Bobby operates on batteries, so you do not need to put Bobby near a wall plug.
• You can use Bobby also as an alarm clock instead of sleeptrainer.
• The price is reasonable; the recommended retail price is less than 30 euro.

Disadvantages

• The clock ticks rather loud. Some kids could be awakened by this sound.
• When Bobby opens his eyes this is paired with significant noise, children could wake up by this sound even if they would have wanted to sleep a bit more.
• This sleeptrainer does show light when the alarm goes off, but there is no built-in nightlight for during the night.

Conclusion

ZAZU’s Bobby can be used as a sleeptrainer or as a normal alarm clock, meaning you can use this friendly bear for years to come. Because Bobby’s face has a large analogue clock older children can use it perfectly to learn how to tell time. Unfortunately Bobby has no nightlight function which could help kids that are afraid in the dark.

In general, this product is good value for money!

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own and have not been influenced in any way by ZAZU Kids.

Margot Buitenhoven

Slaaptrainer.net

By Ester Depret, mum of two and blogger

Telling the time

One of the topics we focused on during pre-school was telling the time. It was on Jules’ to-do list but Alixe seemed to be keen as well. The moment they were able to tell the time, they wanted to control it too. As a result, my five-year-old daughter did not hesitate to point out that 12.30 pm is lunch time. Clearly, she has her priorities straight!

Alarm clock

Jules started to be interested in the time when going to bed and getting up. Each night when we tucked him in and gave him a goodnight kiss, he would ask what time it was. And then half an hour later, the same question again (!) In the morning we would hear him get up and run to the kitchen (which is two floors down) to check whether it was 7 am yet. On his way back up he shout out the actual time for all to hear.

He knows I have an alarm clock on my bedside table and of course he wanted one too. He wanted to be able to see what the time as soon as he wakes up.

So, we realized the time had come to get him a clock for his room. We searched the internet for a well-designed and child-friendly clock and we found ZAZU’s Sam the sleeptrainer. My kids have been using Sam for a few weeks now and below is more about Sam.

Who / what is Sam the sleeptrainer?

Sleeptrainer Sam is an alarm clock in the shape of a sheep. The clock displays both the analogue and digital time. In addition, it shows your kids when it’s time to get up using colours (see image below). You set bedtime and wake-up time yourself, and it also has a nap timer which is perfect for naps or a moment of rest during the day.

Did your kids (5 and 6 years) need a sleeptrainer?

No, they didn’t. As it happens, they have a pretty good sleep routine. Initially, I was looking for a nice alarm clock for kids that could help to tell the time but it’s actually a big advantage the the screen lights up in different colours and that the sheep closes his eyes when it is time to sleep – nobody wants to get up in the middle of the night to explain to their toddler it is 5 am, everyone is asleep and Bumba (their favourite TV show) has not started yet!

I think it shows that Sam is suitable for kids at different stages. A younger child would benefit more from Sam’s colours, while an older child could use Sam to learn to tell the time.

Are there advantages to using Sam for an older child?

When your kids go to school it is very convenient for them to have their own alarm clock. One of Sam’s alarm sounds is a bleating sheep. If that doesn’t wake them up, nothing will! But Sam is also very useful at bedtime. Our kids share a room and go to bed around 7.30 pm. When they’ve had a busy day I know they want to tell each other stories and talk about what tomorrow might bring, so we set Sam’s bedtime at 8 pm, which is when the clock turns red and his eyes close. This clearly tells them that now it’s really time to sleep!

Written by Ester Depret. Mum of two kids and blogger at Ester Depret

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are mine and are not influenced by ZAZU Kids

By Erin Noelle

From summer time to winter time, and vice versa

I never really thought about when I was childless, but when I was lucky enough to have a child I all of the sudden experienced the downside of Daylight Saving Time. Once you have adapted to the new rhythm, you can change clocks again. A few months later, again!

Rhythm

Interesting that only 1 hour makes such a difference for your rhythm. In the first year my baby boy was born we were too much micro managing this phenomenon and so it was doomed to fail. From that moment on, we decided to just go with the flow and see what happens.

It worked! Changing clocks was no longer an issue. However, Senn is always up too early… When he is awake, we are awake too. He won’t scream and cry, most of the times he starts playing with his array of toys. Gently waiting until mum or dad comes along.

When I hear him playing, I IMMEDIATELY want to get him and start cuddling. But I must control myself as Senn is a child that needs to wake up slowly, in his own pace and no over-enthusiastic mother kisses and hugs. What happens when I do visit him while he is just awake? A very moody child for the rest of the day…

Pam the sleeptrainer, nightlight and wireless speaker

So, we were looking for something that ensured Senn what to do when waking up and where we could get up in the morning more easily. That is where Pam joined the family! ZAZU’s Pam the penguin is a sleeptrainer, nightlight and wireless speaker in 1. Perfect! Senn sleeps better with a nightlight. We already had one, but this light was switched on the entire night. Not eco-friendly and not ideal for Senn’s sleep cycle. You can choose Pam’s nightlight color yourself as well as selecting the auto-shut off feature. This means after 60 minutes the nightlight shuts off automatically, great! Senn sleeps within 30 minutes and continues sleeping for the rest of the night, so the light does not have to be switched on until the morning.

Next to being a nightlight, you could opt for the sleeptrainer feature as well. Half an hour before your child can start the day the penguin turns orange. Pam turns green when it is OK to wake up and your little one is off to making new adventures. We explained the colors and the meaning to Senn but he did not really listen hihi. Perhaps it is because he is a bit over 2 years old and the sleeptrainer feature is ideally for children around 3 years and older. However, I can imagine that during Daylight Saving Time the sleeptrainer feature could come to the rescue. The concept of orange and green is relatively easy to understand for your little one.

Sleeping and waking up with Pam

For Senn it (luckily) did not matter! He waits patiently (without the colors) for us. I think when clocks change again in the winter, Pam could be even more important. All the sudden you woke up earlier than ‘normal’ and have an extra hour of sleep. With summer time you just sleep an hour less, which somehow is easier for me.

I am a big fan of the wireless speaker feature! Turn on the Bluetooth on your mobile device and Pam and you can easily connect. Play your favorite music, songs and bedtime stories. No inspiration? ZAZU created playlists on Spotify that you can use. 

This was a great hit for Senn, he liked it a lot to hear his favorite tunes. It also made him become better friends with Pam, in the beginning Senn was a bit afraid of the penguin… Oh and do not forget, you can recharge Pam through USB which makes it very convenient.

All in all, Pam is most definitely an addition to (y)our nursery! From birth (play soothing melodies) to toddler/infant (sleeptrainer).

Love,
Erin

@Miniliefde

Disclaimer: The product has been sent to me but all thoughts and opinions are mine and are not influenced by ZAZU Kids