My 5 year old son had been sneaking out of his room after bedtime and slipping into bed with my wife and I in the middle of the night lately. To help alleviate the problem we gave the Mighty Lion from Dream Team Pets a try to see if that might help him stay asleep throughout the night in his own room. My son really enjoys watching Detroit Lions games with me so we thought that was the best selection out of the Dream Team Pets line-up which includes a playful puppy, magical cat and the mighty lion. These aren't just toys though they are part of a program that is aimed to help children sleep through the night in their own rooms.
The way the program works is you explain to your child that they are supposed to train their Dream Team Pet to sleep through the night without running into mom and dad's room. You are provided with a book to read together with your child and their new pet that explains how they need to work together to sleep through the night. It also advises that the pet is strong and brave enough to scare off any monsters that might be creeping around in the night. A certificate is provided with star stickers to place on it each night they sleep through the night together. Parents are supposed to fill out the Certificate of Achievement and present it to the child and their Dream Team Pet when they've earned enough stickers to demonstrate they've slept alone in their room for ten nights. The goal is that by the tenth night it has become a routine that will become the child's regular behavior.
We've personally had some decent results with the program and while I can't say yet it has eliminated the problem there has been a noticeable improvement. My son takes a great deal of pride and is really excited when he earns a sticker. The Mighty Lions has also become one of my son's best pals, not just at bedtime but all day long.
A Geek Daddy Blog readers receive a 30% off discount on Dream Team Pets from Amazon.com if you use the promo code: USFGUIDE. CLICK HERE to pick one out for your child.
The only problem we had with the Dream Team Pets was that I didn't pre-screen the bedtime reading book before I started reading it to my son. It really has a focus on the pet scaring away monsters that may lurk under the bed, in the closet or in a child's dreams. I didn't really appreciate that because "monsters" weren't an issue until this book made him think about them and it really highlighted a scary aspect of sleeping alone. So it actually created somewhat of a new problem for us for a few nights. He soon forgot about the monsters as I didn't read the book again and made up my own stories about not being scared at night that tied into his sleeping with his new buddy the Mighty Lion. Now if monsters are an issue for your child it is a nice little book to read to them but in our case my son was mostly scared about being alone in the dark. I felt the book could have highlighted other issues beyond being scared of monsters to address childhood fears of sleeping through the night. So I'd just recommend reading the book by yourself before reading it to your child to see if it is a good fit for your particular situation.
The Dream Team Pets provided us with a structured child sleep training program so my wife and I didn't need to create our own ad hoc solution to a problem. Since he's been excited every morning to get his special sticker, has developed a bond with his toy, and most importantly slept through the night in his very own bed the last five nights, this product gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval.
At $19.99 Dream Team Pets are a reasonably priced option to assist with getting your child to sleep on their own through the night. Plus you can get an additional 30% off by using the promo code USFGUIDE and purchasing through Amazon.com.
DISCLAIMER: the story about my son not sleeping through the night is true and the opinions are my own. A Geek Daddy Blog did not receive financial compensation for this post but did receive a complimentary Dream Team Pet for reviewing the product on this blog through the U.S. Family Guide Blogger Program. A positive review was not required for our participation in this marketing campaign.
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