I was blessed with a wonderful 2yo boy that would remain in bed until we went to get him….nap time, wake up time, and all night, he would dutifully wait for me in his toddler pirate bed. And then potty training was underway. He was doing great during the day-time, but his overnight diapers were not yet dry. One day I gave him permission to get out of bed if he needed to use the potty, and you can guess what happened.
Now that he had carte blanche to leave his bed anytime, or so he felt, we lost a lot of sleep. On the plus side, when he was sick to his stomach, he came to get us instead of laying in it while crying. AND at barely 3yo, he has a dry overnight diapers except on a rare occasion. On the con side, he had us up all hours of the night. Something needed to change.
In my search for solutions, I came across the Night Owl Portable Night Light made by American Innovative. I reached out to them about the Owl and they graciously allowed me to review it. When the Owl arrived, my son was jumping up and down wanting to use it. I’m very big into taking baby-steps, if you will, when teaching a new technique to my children, so his excitement and anticipation grew while I spent a couple days playing with the Owl myself and then training him.
The Owl is extremely simply to operate. At 8AM Monday morning I held the set button for several seconds until it blinked. Done. The Owl was set to turn green (green means GO!) at 8AM every day. Whether the Owl is plugged in, separated from its base to sleep with your child, or the power goes out, the Owl dutifully changes color at its set time. As parents, we know how important consistency and schedules are for children, and the regiment Owl time insures dependability for your child.
On Monday evening we set ”Mr. Owl” in my son’s room. We reviewed the four available colors (yellow, blue, pink, or dark/off) he could choose. After a couple changes, he settled on blue. A couple months ago he became afraid of the dark, and this Owl’s allowed enough light to address that issue, and can be turned off if darkness is preferred. My son did request that Mr. Owl not be directly across from him, so Mr. Owl dutifully perches in his branch base. For one night he did complain Mr. Owl was too bright, so the Mr. Owl slept on the floor until he decided Mr. Owl’s rightful place was back on the bureau, where he still remains.
On Tuesday evening, we explained Mr. Owl turns green in the morning when my son is allowed to get out of bed. And that was it. He dutifully waits until the owl turns green before getting out of bed. Every night before bed he adamantly talks about Mr. Owl, every time he wakes up he adamantly talks about Mr. Owl, and throughout the day he reminds us that Mr. Owl turns green so he can climb out of bed.
This is a really great and easy product for simple situations, such as families that instill and encourage a consistent daily routine. The various color options give more control to the child, and the Green Means Go mantra is easy for a 3yo to follow. Mom, dad, and grandma don’t need to stress about setting complicated timers. Plus if the power goes out, or your child is scared and wants the Owl as a sleeping or overnight potty buddy, the Owl can operate independently of his perch base with standard AA batteries. If you’re looking for more flexible settings or ones including educational elements, American Innovative has other great options available (click here for more).
You can order any of their products (click here) and use the code MACARONI for 15% off your purchase through the end of August. I would like to sincerely thank American Innovative for allowing me to test and review this products, and especially thank then for offering my readers a special discount.
