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Well that was unexpected! I'd read some mixed reviews on Amazon about the Gro Anywhere blind by The Gro Company, but can honestly say after one night, it made a difference for us! Maybe it's that old adage: people only write reviews if they've something to complain about? You don't often write a review if something works as it should, do you? Well after months of B waking at 5.40-6am, she slept until 7.04am. Incredible.
I'm even more incredulous as in theory she could have woken even earlier as, I got them to bed a bit earlier AND limited her nap yesterday to 20 minutes. She's just turned 2 and had been up since 6, having 1-1.5 hours nap and not going to sleep until 9 each night. So last night that actually meant she would get a teeny bit more sleep than she had normally anyway, even getting up at her normal time. So actually I half expected her to wake earlier!
But no, 7.04.
The crux of the matter is, The Gro Company Gro Anywhere blind seems well thought out and after one night worked well. It stayed up. The room is still pitch black this morning.
The girls didn't shout and scream when they woke, suggesting they woke naturally. Awesome, I say!
Weirdly just half an hour after buying mine yesterday a friend sent me a photo of her and her snoozing toddler trying to survive this heatwave. Well guess what was in the background? A Gro Anywhere blind.
Cue chat about how I'd just bought one, and our other friend says they have a few including in their own room! They both use them all summer. I think it's one of those things, you love it or hate it, you see it as 'normal'.
Well here's a wee positive review because I got a lie in until 7.04 and I think if a child still sees it's dark they might just keep sleeping.
Oh and also I really should take my own blog advice as several bloggers suggested this was a good option in my 'how to get kids to sleep in a heatwave' post.
The Gro blind comes in pouch, making it easy to transport and in theory take on holiday with you. Many people seem youse them all summer, and after posting on social media this morning I've had several comments from people saying they use them all summer every year too.
The blind has velcro tabs between suckers so you can adjust the size to fit any window. In theory you sucker along the bottom of the window, but I left it as it seemed secure and wasn't letting any light in. Maybe using these suckers would take the weight off the top though, so I might alter that.
There are clear instructions showing that you must push the suckers securely on clean glass, and also not to use this on glass with cracks/chips etc. See instructions as I'm not listing them all here!
The most important part is to remove them carefully one at a time using the 'tabs' on the suckers, or by putting your finger nail underneath the sucker to break the seal. Whatever you do don't just pull them!
Using the Gro blind
It's so easy, just start at one corner and work your way across. Do make sure to overlap the window, and just check when you place the suckers they are all on the window glass, but make them close to the edge to get a good overlap.
I did adjust the way mine went across as I realised I must have started at an angle as the side wouldn't over lap the PVC at the bottom. Anyway, I then left it, had dinner and went back. A couple of suckers had come loose so I pushed them on really hard, making sure they were a few mm from the edge of the glass. They then stayed up all night.
It stayed pitch black all night.
As we're staying at my parents, and there only a Venetian blind and curtains they'd been asking for me to turn the light off at night. The light hadn't been on it was just lighter than they were used to.
Last night they said 'it's so dark turn the light on!' We definitely needed a light for story time, but B definitely went to sleep easier and earlier, sink think it worked! Then sleeping to 7.04 is just amazing.
At home I tape pieces of blackout fabric to the windows as the blackout blinds let in some much light around them, and across the top, even with blackout curtains over them too. I'm sure the Gro Blind made it just that bit darker, and more consistent. We'll see how it works tonight and then next week when we're home!
After one night, we love it! Kids think it has to be dark to sleep, and for it to be bedtime. We try to drum into them that's not the case, but aren't they going through so much anyway? So many development leaps maybe it's worth a try? That's my thinking anyway and it seems to have stayed up, kept the room really dark and also helped them sleep on this first night with the Gro blind up.
