Bootstraps

This isn't a post about Bootstraps, news which I'm sure will be welcome. This is a post about a company called World's Apart. They emailed me just a few days after Elspeth died, and offered me a nightlight to review.

They got my 'out-of-office' notice and I probably wouldn't have heard from them again, but my 4 and 5 year olds were having awful trouble sleeping. By fluke I saw the email and it was so timely that I replied asking if I could please take a nightlight and review it at some point in the future. At the time the idea of going shopping for lights was even more horrific than it is now, I couldn't have done it.

The PR replied and was incredibly lovely to me and said she'd just send me a light and a torch and she didn't want a review. She wanted to try and help. Here's my thank you...


The nightlight is a part of the Planes Safe n Sound Lumiglow Wall Stickers set. We haven't yet put up all the rest of the 60 Disney Planes wall stickers included, we needed the light and we just put that up. It's clever because the nightlight forms part of the picture and fastens to the wall using sticky backed velcro, so it's up in about 1 minute.

The velcro is attached pretty securely, but will remove when you want it to and doesn't destroy the wall. My 4 year old did pull ours off to inspect how it works, and then replaced it at a slightly jaunty angle (I think he thought we wouldn't notice - we did).

The best thing about this night light though, is that it's sound activated. It needs a deep noise like a clap, or a loud voice (or as we quickly discovered you can just tap your finger on the plastic). The light is bright enough to fill the whole room with light, stays on for 2 minutes and then fades out gently.

The torch is a Cars Go Glow Night Beam Tilt Torch and our 5 year old is using it. The torch also doubles as a lamp when placed on it's end. It's not as bright as the lumiglow night light, but it's still bright enough to light up more than half the bed. As a torch it's great. It's light and easy to hold for any sized hand.

The best thing about the torch/lamp is that it's motion activated. To get it to switch on you just move it. You don't need to shake it or anything overly-active, just pick it up. In fact, it's so sensitive that it's on my son's headboard and it comes on if he sits up in bed. Perfect.

The torch, like the night light, is on for 2 minutes and then switches itself off if it's not moving. Perfect for younger children who never turn anything off anyway. 2 minutes may not seem like much, but actually it's a lot longer than you'd think and a really good length of time.

My boys still aren't happy enough to initially go to sleep without the room light on, but if they wake in the night then either of them can instantly have light and don't panic or sit in bed shouting or crying. I can easily check on my children during the night too, without waking them. I'm confident that over the next few weeks we'll bring them back to going to sleep in the dark, and these 2 lights will play a large part in that.