Does Your Nursery Have A Wall Clock?

[Bathsheba]

Another thread reminded me about nursery wall clocks. We have one... but (I think) importantly it has a very soft tick. Now this might seem strange to mention but once I stayed over at a friends house and slept in their son's room which had a personalised wall clock. IT DROVE ME NUTS!!!! OMG I ended up taking the bloody thing off the wall and removing the batteries so i could sleep!!!! I reset it in the morning but i never said anything. I felt too awkward. But I often wondered if her son could also be having trouble sleeping... he was a very "troubled" little guy and always had dark circles under his eyes.

Anyhow... I guess what i'm hoping to do is raise awareness about ticking clocks in children's bedrooms. They can be handy in the nursery but could be disruptive. Our clock keeps perfect time but kinda has an irregular volume to the sound of the tick... making it less like Chinese water torture!

[AliBaby]

I completely agree with how loud a ticking clock can sound at night!! Would drive me crazy!

Its funny that you posted this as I saw some clocks today and thought about getting one for the nursery and then decided against it as I really dont want to know the time when I am sitting in their feeding and also like you said the noise would drive me a bit bonkers sitting there in the middle of the night

[jackrose]

I think part of the problem with a ticking clock is when you are not used to it!

When we are around the same sounds all the time we begin to 'ignore' them consciously. The brain's filtering system realises that the sound is not important to our conscious awareness and simply filters it out.

I moved into a house with a grandfather clock just outside my room which struck on the hour, the number of hours that the time was. Needless to say, for the first week or so I constantly woke... especially at 12.00 with 12 chimes!! Very soon however I was able to 'sleep like a baby' and did not ever notice it!

I think you have done the right thing though to have a clock with a soft tick, then it wont drive you up the wall when you are up at all hours!

[Inanna]

No - I've never had a clock in the baby's room. However, I am a wierdo that really likes ticking clocks. I love them! I have actually been known to not buy a clock that didn't tick loud enough and with the right pitch!

I actually am on the look out for a grandma clock for atop my piano - a nice loud one!

[Bathsheba]

We seemed to need one there because our nursery has an ensuite that my DH used each morning before work... he was forever asking me the time when he got out of the shower (and passed through the nursery)... any how it just kinda "worked" in there. It was just a small (saucer sized) clock too which helped keep the ticking sound to a minimum. I used to sleep in the nursery on occassion and found the sound to be ok... and I'm a very hypersensitive kinda person! A bit like "The Princess And The Pea" story IYKWIM LOL

Jack: I get you about tuning some sounds out if they are regular.... we used to live close to a railway line and strangely actually liked the sound of passing trains (it kinda symbolised to us that "all was well" in the world... that society hadn't crumbled overnight (it was around the time of 9/11). Anyhow I understand how you could tune out a regular chime... but a constantly ticking clock can be as "bad" as a dripping tap... who can stand them at night???

[Phteven]

My parents used to have a Grandfather clock that you could hear ticking from my room on quiet nights and it chimed every hour. I always missed the noise when I slept away from home.
For puppies we used to always put an alarm clock in their basket for their first few nights because the ticking helps them settle. They advise the same for kittens. The ticking helps to simulate the regular sound of a heartbeat.
I guess that it's one of those things that would drive you crazy if you weren't used to it but can be a comfort if it is familiar.
I hate seeing a clock when I put the boys to sleep because I end up clock watching and it does my head in.

[visitor1]

DD1 had a clock from birth but the batteries are flat and i keep forgetting to put new ones in.

DD2 couldnt sleep with hers so i took it down and put it in the wardrobe...only to hear it ticking away in there too....out came the batteries!

[NaeNae]

.... However, I am a wierdo that really likes ticking clocks. I love them! I have actually been known to not buy a clock that didn't tick loud enough and with the right pitch!

I am the same, I love the sound of a ticking clock. We have two in our living room and I love sleeping on the couch when I am restless because the sound of the ticking sends me off to sleep.

DH on the other hand doesn't like the sound of battery ran ticking clocks but loves the old wind up chimming clocks we have one in the nursery that has a nice deep tick in fact I dozed off in there today. Depending on bub we'll either keep it or we won't but I did hear that a ticking clock can help bubs in a new environment (mothers hb) I always thought it was strictly for puppies and kittens - apparently not

[ness]

We don't have a clock in the nursery and you know what - i never thought about having one...

[Indadhanu]

I don't have one ... I decided I didn't want to know how long I've been sitting there trying to settle her in the middle of the night.... Of course, the point is moot anyway as we co-sleep LOL but when I saw it on a 'nursery list' thing I thought, NAAAAAAAH don't wanna know LOL!

The ticking never occured to me!!!

BTW, I HATE ticking clocks. Drives me absoutely insane. I am with you Bath, its like water torture to me!!

[~Kim~]

We haven't put one in this new nursery but Darcy has one in her room and sleeps so much better when it works, strangely enough. I'm also one of those people that finds the rhythm calmy. Different strokes I guess...