Has this ever happened to you?  Your little one bounding out of bed at 6 am on a Saturday morning when the entire family normally sleeps in until at least 8 am.  How about at nap time, when they've been in their rooms for about 20 minutes and then begin clamoring that nap time is over and they're ready to come back into the living room and play?  In my house, this behavior is actually the norm, which can be very frustrating.

Young children just don't have any concept of time yet and so it's not their fault when they don't adhere to a sleep schedule.  Unfortunately, they don't realize that they haven't had the proper amount of rest...until it's too late and they are in the midst of an extremely "bad day".

So how you can clue a child in on when they should wake up and when they need to go back to sleep?  Well, thankfully ZAZOO KiDS has created a novel solution that's easy to learn and extremely fun too!  It's the ZAZOO Photo Clock and I had the chance to review this with my little early riser.  Keep reading to learn more!

The ZAZOO Photo Clock is a contemporary multimedia accessory that teaches children the concept of "sleep" and "awake".  Pre-programmed images set to an alarm time offer innovative sleep training for children.  Parents can create healthy sleep habits in a fun, educational way.

Research shows the average toddler wakes before it's time to get out of bed.  Young children are not inclined to stay in bed until a reasonable hour, nor do they understand how to read a clock.  Also, according to the National Sleep Foundation's Sleep in America Research, almost one-half of toddlers (46%) and one-third of preschoolers (36%) wake up one time or more per night.

When a child sees the simple sun image on their ZAZOO Photo Clock, they know it is time to wake.  If they see the simple moon photo, they know they should stay in bed until the alarm picture changes.  The clock comes with two pre-programmed image sets of "awake" and "asleep" photo options that help your child know when it is the appropriate time to stay in bed or get up and start the day.

The photo alarm has two settings so the photo alarms can be easily set for a nap and when it's time to go to sleep at night.  You can even personalize the awake and asleep images so your own child, or even a pet, is the star.  Just upload your personal pictures and then select.  Kids will love to see themselves in pictures on their photo clock.

There are so many things that I love about the ZAZOO Photo Clock that I barely know where to begin.  First, I love how this clock has two different alarm settings (one for nap time and one for bedtime) because Riley frequently asks to get up when she isn't supposed to during both of these sleeping sessions.  Second, Riley just turned 3 years old and she immediately grasped the concept of this clock for it is just that simple to understand.  I explained how it worked to her ONE TIME and that was all it took.  She's been a sleeping superstar ever since.

The first time that I used the ZAZOO Photo Clock with her was during nap time.  Normally, after about 15 minutes, she's asking if she can come downstairs and play.  I let her read or play quietly in her room with her stuffed animals if she doesn't feel like napping, but I always enforce "rest time" with her.  After explaining how the ZAZOO Photo Clock worked, I told her that she'll know when "rest time" is over when the moon picture turns into the sun picture.

It was so funny, because one minute after the picture changed, I heard her yelling, "Mommy, the sun is up!  The sun is up!"  She never once asked to come downstairs early and instead kept looking to the Photo Clock to tell her when "rest time" was over.

I'm also thrilled that I've been able to get a restful night's sleep now thanks to the ZAZOO Photo Clock.  Before, Riley would wake up very early and start asking to come downstairs.  She would wake me up and I would have to answer her that it wasn't time yet.  Then she'd fall back asleep for about 45 minutes and the whole process would repeat itself.

This led to one tired and grumpy mommy in the mornings!  Now, I can finally get a full night's sleep without the constant interruptions.  I couldn't be more grateful for the Photo Clock for teaching Riley about time through pictures.

The other wonderful feature of the ZAZOO Photo Clock is that it will grow with your child up until their tween or even teen years.  This Photo Clock comes with a USB cord and the option of adding a SD memory card so that you can upload a ton of pictures, videos and even music into the Photo Clock.  Voila!  It's an instant modern accessory complete with remote control.  Kids can watch their favorite photos scroll by, watch a music video or two and even listed to their favorite songs with this multimedia clock.

If you have a little one who could use some gentle guidance in the mornings or at nap time as to when to stay in bed or when to get up, then the ZAZOO Photo Clock is an absolute must have.  Thanks to the Photo Clock, our entire family is more rested and better prepared to tackle each day.  I think I even see the large bags under my eyes starting to recede...now that's a reason to celebrate!  :party:

Disclosure: I received the ZAZOO Photo Clock from ZAZOO KiDS in order to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received. This product review is based on my own personal experiences with this item and is completely honest and objective.