When we designed Baby Lighty’s nursery, Mr and Mrs Lighty bought the curtains that matched Baby Lighty’s bedding and Moses basket. They were in the sale at a bargainous £3, so why not?

But, Mr and Mrs Lighty being who we are, we are yet to put these curtains up, and so poor Baby Lighty has been having to make do with the rickety old blind which we put up as a temporary measure in his room when we first moved into our house, long before he was born, when were using his bedroom as our living room while we rennovated the rest of the house.

So when The Gro Company contacted me recently about reviewing their Gro Anywhere Blind, I was excited to give it a go, particularly as – and I whisper this, for this sentence strikes fear into many a parent the land over – the clocks have just gone forward!

The portable blackout blind comes in its own carry pouch, which makes it ideal for taking away with you to combat, in The Gro Company’s own excellent words, too-thin-curtain-itus. You know, when you’re away and the curtains or shutters in your apartment or hotel room just aren’t up to the job at hand and let loads of light into the room? Making it impossible for little ones to sleep? And actually, when I told one of my friends that I was reviewing the product, the first thing she said was “I thought it was a fantastic product when we went to Spain, we used it then as the room was so bright”.

Once opened, the blind sports a lovely moon and stars design (Mr Lighty did ask if they were ‘glow in the dark’, but as I pointed out to him, that would kind of defeat the object!!) and can be fastened to any window, up to a maximum size of 130cm x 198cm, by using the in-built suction pads. It can also be made to fit smaller windows by adjusting the velcro fastenings which are spaced at regular intervals in between the suction pads.

My first go at using the blind was for morning naptime; I must admit that I want to get Baby Lighty out of the habit of napping in his bouncy chair somewhat – or at least get him used to napping properly in his cot – before he becomes too big for his chair. I spent about 10 minutes putting the blind up, and I did have to fiddle with it quite a bit as the suction pads would come off of one part of the window as I adjusted another part, and I also found that some of the suction pads needed to be fitted where the window frame came across under the fanlight opening section of the window, which wasn’t ideal but couldn’t be helped. We had a better result when Mr Lighty and I put it up together, particularly as Mr Lighty seemed to get the ‘knack’ of getting the suction pads to stick.

I did notice, however, that the room was instantly darker – the baby monitor was even tricked into going into ‘night mode’, so it was definitely darker than usual – and Baby Lighty napped quite contentedly. We also used it at bedtime that night, and when Mr Lighty put Baby Lighty up to bed, he commented that the room was much darker than usual, blocking out the streetlights, as the nursery is at the front of our house.

Overall, we were really pleased with the effect that the Gro Anywhere Blind had, and I can definitely see the benefits of using it whilst on holiday. If only we’d had it before our recent weekend away! Oh well, a reason to start planning the next trip, I guess…!

 

Please note, The Gro Company sent us the Gro Anywhere Blind for the purpose of this review. I was not paid for this post, and the above review is all my own opinion.