Aloka Night Lights and the Bedtime Routine | A Review

For a while now we were having trouble with Ava at bedtimes, and it seemed to have coincided with the problems she was having at school.

She was getting upset every night, didn’t want to go to bed, and then kept saying she was scared and getting up. We tried all sorts, but so that she would actually go to sleep, one of us would usually end up sitting on the stairs until she fell asleep and then we’d creep downstairs to finally get comfy and relax (I remember my mum sitting on the stairs because I was scared too! Bloody children!). That was obviously not ideal, and although we were trying to progress that, we hadn’t really got any further with it.

I am not entirely sure that she actually was scared – but I think she was just using that as an excuse to not go to sleep. I think she tends to think and worry about everything as she’s lying there in bed on her own (sounds familar!) and then she often gets upset and so that manifests itself in her being unwilling to go to sleep. We tried talking to her about what she is scared of, and reassuring her she is safe, talking about her worries before it is bedtime, as well as just leaving her upstairs in bed by herself – but she would just get really, really upset and work herself up so she can’t calm down.

Anyway, we were pretty much willing to try anything (within reason), so when I was asked if I would like to review something from Kiddies Kingdom I chose the Aloka Children’s Night Light as I thought it would be worth seeing if it could make a difference to Ava.

We’ve now had the lovely night light a few months now, and Ava’s sleeping and bedtime routine has much improved. I am not suggesting it is all down to the night light, but I really do think it has helped to improve everything.

When she goes to bed she has her normal lamp on as well as the night light, and then we turn off her lamp when we go to bed, but leave the night light on. Therefore if she wakes during the night there is a nice glow in her bedroom, rather than waking to a pitch black room.

The Aloka Toadstool night light is really lovely. It has a nice simple and sleek design printed on clear acrylic, with a white base, and has a choice of colours to light it up, including a rainbow setting for the colours to cycle through each one automatically, which is pretty cool. There are twelve different shades to choose from, and the child-friendly remote control is easy to use, with large coloured buttons to press, as well as four control options.

The coloured LED’s used in the Sleepy Light are dimmable, with four levels of brightness, and you can also set it to a sleep setting which automatically lowers the brightness of the lamp to low levels which are perfect for sleep. A timer can be set which turns the night light off after an hour, and you can also use it as a side lamp that puts it at pure white light at the brightest level for reading. That setting is great as it means we could just have the one lamp rather than a separate one for when we need it to be lighter.

There are lots of designs to choose from on the Kiddies Kingdom website, and we love the cute Toadstool design that we picked. I love checking in on Ava before I go to bed, and seeing the Aloka night light lit up in whichever colour she has chosen that night. I do find a couple of the colours slightly harsh for nighttime, so I will occasionally change it to something a bit warmer and cosier, in case she wakes during the night.

Since she has had the night light on at night, she has stopped coming into our room every single time she wakes up, and more often that not, will turn over and go back to sleep, which is brilliant.

The Aloka Multi Coloured Children’s Night Light at Kiddies Kingdom cost £39.96, and there are so many lovely designs to choose from. The night light require 1 x CR2025 battery for the remote control which is included. Kiddies Kingdom sell a wide range of children’s products – from pushchairs to nursery furniture and toys.

The Toadstool night is a really lovely childrens product, and I really want one myself! It’s so easy to control, looks great and has really helped us get Ava’s sleeping habits back on track. I’m so happy with it and Ava loves playing with the different colours and being able to control it herself. The extra settings are really useful, whilst still allowing it to be simple to use.

We were sent the Aloka toadstool night light to review, but all words and opinions are my own. Full disclosure policy here.