a portable sleep aid
I received the Gro-hush when little man was nearly four months old. It sounded like a great concept and I was curious to see if and how it would work in practice.
As you can imagine, a sleep-deprived parent is willing to test almost anything on her child if it encourages sleep!! I am also a fan of the Gro Company and their products, I use quite a few around the house (the Gro Anywhere Blind being my favourite one), so my expectations where high.
What is the Gro-hush?
You might wonder, what exactly is the Gro-hush? This is a short description from the Gro Company website:
“The Gro-hush is a unique portable white noise baby calmer. It is set to be the next ‘must have’ baby product for new and expectant mums across the globe! It transmits soothing ‘white noise’ directly to your baby which allows your baby to be soothed and calmed without disturbing others around you so only your baby will hear the calming tones and not others, keeping them relaxed and happy. Fantastic for use at home as part of your calming routine, or when out and about or travelling. A choice of three soothing white noise sounds to choose from, heart-beat, ocean waves or rain falling on a tin roof, which are all set at a safe volume.”
Well presented – batteries not included
When I opened the box, I thought the Gro-hush was well presented in a nice travel case. It came with a handy washable cover too. I was a bit disappointed when I found out that the 3AAA batteries needed weren’t provided. You can imagine, when you are sleep deprived and order the Gro-hush hoping for a quick solution, you wouldn’t want to have to find batteries before you can get started. At £34.99 I do think they should be included.
small and Easy to carry
Before I had the Gro-hush, I often played gentle music to calm little man down. It was nice not to need this anymore. I left the Gro-hush in little man’s bed and sometimes took it with me when out and about. It is small and easy to carry around and can help give some consistency to your baby’s sleep routine even when you are not at home. Because only baby can hear the sound, I could for instance use it in church when trying to get little man to sleep, without disturbing others!
Not 100% sure it works
I am still not 100% sure if the Gro-hush actually helps! It does provide some sort of distraction and there have been a few occasions where I felt that it did help little man drift off to sleep. For our son, the heartbeat seems to be the most effective of the tree. As it says in the instruction, if there are any things bothering your baby, like teething or cramps, this device won’t do the job. I think it works best when baby is already in a calm and relaxed state. When used consistently, your baby might associate the sounds to sleep time, even on the go. It will probably help the child to stay calm and hopefully fall asleep.
Best for younger babies
Unfortunately, because I couldn’t see a huge difference, after a few weeks I didn’t use the Gro-hush as often as I thought I would. I am wondering if I would have had more use out of it had I used it when little man was younger. It might be most effective for babies between 0-4 months and maybe I just missed that boat.
Pros:
- Well presented in a nice travel case
- Easy to take along
- Only baby can hear the ‘noise’
- Washable cover
- Auto shutoff after 10 minutes
Cons:
- Not sure it actually makes a huge difference
- Sometimes tricky to get it to stay near baby’s ear when he’s laying in bed
- Batteries not included
- Not cheap
Disclosure: We were sent the above product for the purpose of this review however all opinions are my own.
A Little Courage 