My Favorite Things: Good Nite Lite

Moms love to share their information and knowledge with other moms.   I guess we figure that it’s hard enough being a mom, that anything we can do to support each other or make the day a little smoother is worth sharing.

So today, I bring you one of my new favorite gadgets:   the Good Nite Lite.

Both of my girls are early risers. Up until a few weeks ago, both girls were up by 6:30 a.m. at the latest.   I know for many of you that’s late, but for theFixItMommy that’s a tough time.

It’s not that I am still asleep at that time, it’s that I am trying to enjoy one peaceful cup of coffee downstairs before the chaos ensues.

I saw an advertisement for the Good Nite Lite in one of my magazines.   I cannot remember which one.   I have this habit of finding free or next to free subscriptions to magazines and I go with it.   At any given time, I may have 10 or 12 different magazines coming to the house.

{Just a side note: Here’s a subscription to Real Simple for $5 }

So anyway, the Good Nite Lite is a round nightlight that has a moon face and a sun face.   Parents can set the time for bedtime (the moon lights up) and also for wake-up time (the sun lights up).

I’m telling y’all the thing is awesome.   It’s in the Big One’s room. Quite often when the Little One wakes up around 6 a.m. she will talk herself back to sleep as long as the Big One doesn’t engage her in conversation.

We’ve had it for about three weeks now. It didn’t take the Big One long to get the concept. She is so smart, she got it on the first day and was very excited to try it out.  She knows that when the moon face is on, it’s still time to sleep.   But when the sun face comes on, she can get up.

Prior to the Good Nite Lite, we would go through all the stalling techniques prior to getting her in bed.   The Big One needed water or to go potty, or “to tell you one more thing.” Now when the moon clicks on (at 7 p.m.) she knows we need to wrap up the routine. If we are still reading a story when it turns on, she will say, “Uh-oh, my moon is on, it’s time for bed!”

Then the most amazing part is if she wakes up to go potty somewhere between 6 and 6:30 a.m. (which she often does), she will go back to bed until the sun comes on at 7:30 a.m.

Before the Good Nite Lite came into our lives, the Big One would stand at the top of the stairs, screaming “Is it time to wake up yet?” It was not a pleasant way to start every day.

But now she knows when it’s time to get up and when it’s time to quietly go back to bed.

So to the inventors of the Good Nite Lite, I salute you!