IT’S hard enough to get a decent night’s sleep these days, without factoring in dealing with a child who hates the dark.
But that’s the situation I’ve been facing with my seven-year-old daughter Millie in recent months.
I was desperate to try and find a solution to help my daughter Millie, seven, conquer her fear of the dark[/caption]
Glimmer the Glowing Unicorn was her favourite – and costs just 29p a day to run[/caption]
She also tried this CONNETIX star kit, which comes in 28 pieces with one light up tile[/caption]
And this Momcozy machine has loads of different light and sound options for her to choose from[/caption]
Rarely was an evening going past without her waking me up in the early hours by putting the main light on in her bedroom to try and combat her nyctophobia (the official name for being afraid of the dark).
So, we decided to test a few different night lights, to see if any of them could help both of us get a better kip.
But you can forget a boring plug in – all three of the lights Millie tried and tested have a unique feature that makes them even more appealing for little ones.
Starry nights
CONNETIX 28-Piece Light Star, £59, 4 out of 5
The first light Millie tried out was this cool and clever star, from award-winning magnetic tile brand CONNETIX.
It comes in 28 pieces, with pentagons, squares and triangles which all connect to each other thanks to magnets along the sides.
There are a variety of different shapes you can make with the tiles, but the star is the perfect option for bedtime[/caption]
And it also includes a single light up tile, which can be attached to the star formation wherever you’d like.
If you don’t want a star, you can arrange the tiles anyway you’d like – and you can also buy extras to extend the kit.
It comes with an instruction booklet detailing some of the other shapes you can make too – which Millie was immediately keen to try.
The light up tile has three dimmable levels, so that “children can explore colour mixing, refractions, shadows and optical illusions”.
And it’s rechargeable, meaning that it’s perfect for a small space like Millie’s box room – where plug sockets are inconveniently placed.
There’s one downside though, namely how long the tile lasts for.
We found that after charging from empty to full, the tile didn’t last the night (7pm to 6am) if it was on the brightest setting.
However, turning it down to level one or two meant that it was enough to get through til morning – and still bright enough to keep Millie happy.
More parenting hacks
IF you want to make your life easier as a first-time mum, here’s nine hacks you won’t want to miss.
1. Routine Charts
Create visual charts for daily routines. Use pictures and stickers to make them engaging for younger children.
2. Meal Planning
Plan meals a week in advance to save time and reduce stress. Involve your children in meal prep to teach them cooking skills.
3. Toy Rotation
Keep a portion of toys stored away and rotate them periodically. This keeps playtime fresh and exciting without the need for constant new purchases.
4. DIY Cleaning Solutions
Make child-safe cleaning solutions using vinegar and baking soda. It’s effective and keeps harsh chemicals away from little hands.
5. Time-Out Jar
Create a time-out jar filled with calming activities written on slips of paper. When emotions run high, children can pick an activity to help them settle down.
6. Educational Apps
Utilise educational apps and websites to make screen time productive. Look for ones that offer interactive learning in subjects your child is interested in.
7. Command Centre
Set up a family command centre with a calendar, key hooks, and a bulletin board. It helps keep everyone organised and aware of daily schedules.
8. Emergency Kit
Keep a small emergency kit in the car with essentials like snacks, water, first aid supplies, and a change of clothes. It’s a lifesaver for unexpected situations.
9. Label Everything
Use labels for clothes, school supplies, and lunch boxes. It makes it easier to keep track of belongings, especially in shared spaces like schools.
Bedtime buddy
Glimmer the Glowing Unicorn Plush Set, £42.97, 5 out of 5
When it comes to soft toys, you’d be hard pushed to find someone who loves them as much as my Millie.
In fact, there’s barely enough room in her bed for her to sleep – thanks to the piles and piles of plushies she insists on lining up on her mattress.
Millie was an instant fan of Glimmer herself – a cute unicorn plush with glow in the dark stars on her body and a glow in the dark muzzle[/caption]
It also comes with a torch with different image disks, which can be shone onto the wall while you read the story – and the torch can also be used at night to ‘activate’ Glimmer[/caption]
The mantra that comes with Glimmer is easy to remember and worked a treat when Millie had to get herself back to sleep after a bad dream[/caption]
So I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of a soft toy that also acts as a nightlight – until the scores of five-star reviews this one had on Amazon piqued my interest.
And it didn’t take much to get Millie on board; she was delighted when I got Glimmer the Glowing Unicorn out of her box.
As well as having glow in the dark stars on her body, and a similarly light-activated muzzle, Glimmer comes with her own story book and projector torch to help children settle when it’s time for bed.
And the torch is no ordinary light – as well as activating the light features on Glimmer’s body, it comes with three disks full of 24 magical images from the book.
It’s also the cheapest of the three night lights we tried in terms of running costs, as it will set you back just 29p for the three batteries required for the torch.
Children can then use the torch to project the scenes from the book onto their walls.
While, at seven, Millie is on the verge of perhaps being considered too old for the Glimmer package, I have to say she absolutely loved it.
She loved the concept of ‘charging’ Glimmer by putting her in the sunshine before she went to school, and enjoyed the story she came with too.
But it was the empowering mantra that Glimmer came with that Millie found the most comforting – “I am brave, I am strong, with Glimmer here, nothing’s wrong”.
When she woke up in the night after a bad dream, she said the phrase to herself, and gave Glimmer a cuddle to help her get back to sleep – without waking me up.
That was enough for me to give Glimmer a top score – which Millie agreed with wholeheartedly.
Rainbow bright
Momcozy DreamSync Smart Sound Machine, £59.99, 3.5 out of 5
Millie is no stranger to using sounds to settle her down for bed – the Sleep Radio on her Yoto player has been her nightly soundtrack for the past few years.
You can choose from a whole load of different light options on this nifty machine[/caption]
And you can control it all from an app – meaning you don’t have to disturb your little one when you want to turn it off[/caption]
But one thing the Yoto lacks is a light function… step forward the DreamSync
Sound Machine.
This “multifunctional, smart sleep solution” combines sound therapy, ambient lighting and app-based control to “revolutionise bedtime routines and promote healthier sleep habits from infancy to childhood and beyond”.
One of the main things I love about this nifty little machine is that I can control it entirely from the app – whether turning the volume up or down, or adjusting the brightness of the light.
Millie loved the chance to choose which light cycle she wanted for the night – from a realistic ‘flame’ red, to the subtle ‘ocean wave’ – but it was the ‘starry nights’ one that has emerged as her favourite.
On the sounds front, there are a huge variety to choose from – from a standard white noise, to a realistic rainforest cacophony – which I think would be amazing for a younger child.
However, Millie prefers music, and wasn’t too keen on any of the song options provided by the machine.
So she ended up using the DreamSync for the light, and continued to use her Yoto for the music side of things.
And in terms of affordability, this is the most expensive of the three different options we tried.
But I do think that it would be worth splashing out in if you are the parent of a newborn or young baby, as the convenience of being able to control everything from the app without having to go in and disturb your little one is priceless!
