The Bunny Clock

I'm not sure how much of this I have talked about on here but ever since about 16 months Saffryn has struggled with and fought nap time. For a while it was hit or miss then around 2 she just flat out told me she wasn't taking naps anymore. And that is exactly what happened. I tried everything to help her sleep. I mean everything I could think of. Nope. No sleep. Every once in a while she would sleep and I would desperately try and figure out the common thread that would help nap time actually happen.

Well after lots of tries and frustrations I finally gave up. My mother in law recommended that I still keep a quiet time for her though. I thought that was a great idea so I tried to enforce quiet time. That was tough. At first I would play music and when the music stopped she could come out. Well she then stared messing with the music. So that didn't work. I thought about setting a timer but on the off chance she actually fell asleep that would wake her up and completely defeat the purpose. So I had her go in her room and I told her I would get her when quiet time was over. Of course this was hard for her. How could she tell the difference between 5 minutes and 45 minutes?

And it is not like she didn't need the sleep. Afternoon and evenings were very hard. Lots of tantrums. It was hard for her to regulate her emotions because she was so tired. I would make her go to bed really early and she would just crash out.

Well on the recommendation of my friend we tried something new.

Meet The Bunny Clock:

This is a sleep clock for children. It's hard to tell in this picture but there is a back light behind each of the pictures. You then program it like an alarm clock, but instead of an alarm going off the picture switches. So when it is nap time I switch it to the bunny asleep and it is programmed to wake up at 2pm. So the picture will switch from bunny sleeping to bunny awake and on the go. The same at bedtime the bunny sleeps in the evening and at 6:45am it is programmed to wake up.

The first few days after we got it Saffryn really didn't understand it. She fought it and challenged it and was confused. I was pretty discouraged. Ugh....why did I spend money on another thing that isn't going to work. But my friend encouraged me to stay very consistent and positive and she will figure it out.
So fast forward and we have had it about 2 weeks and she has figured it out! It is such a concrete thing for her. Either bunny is asleep and she needs to be in bed or bunny is awake and she can play. After a few reminders she has taken control of the situation. In fact it gets better...she has taken a nap almost everyday. Let me repeat that....SHE HAS TAKEN A NAP ALMOST EVERY DAY!!!!! Even during the days she hasn't slept she has stayed in her room until bunny wakes up. You know what this means???? I get to take a little nap. Let me repeat myself....I GET A BREAK!!!!!!

It has made such a difference in our days. She is so pleasant in the evenings. She is eating better at night because she is not so exhausted. She is really proud of herself and always tells me when the bunny wakes up. We call it her big girl clock. She has started noticing other clocks which I think is pretty cool. It has been so so wonderful!

Please God bless the makers of this clock. Like a lot a lot. They deserve it and have helped our days and encouraged me so much!

So if you have a kid who struggles with nap time or bedtime I would HIGHLY recommend this. Don't be surprised if it takes a week or so for them to get it. But if you stay consistent and give very gentle reminders maybe they can get it too!
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