ChuChi Night Light from Banana Design Labs – review

My daughter has used a night light attached to her crib since I can remember.  It projects an image onto the ceiling, has faint music and helps lull her to sleep.  She often turns it on in the middle of the night and manages to put herself back to sleep before it shuts itself off.  It has been a great tool for us for bedtime for her.  But, like all things, it’s time is coming to an end.  First of all, it takes 4 ‘D’ batteries at least every other week.  Second, the straps that attach it to the crib have broken and will not hold up much longer.  Third, she will probably be ready for a regular bed soon and we will be forced to lose the machine anyway.

So, when I was offered an opportunity to review the new ChuChi Night Light from Banana Design Labs I was intrigued by the possibility that it might be able to replace Abby’s crib machine.

Scary monsters have just left the building.

ChuChi are nocturnal creatures from far northern Siberia They sleep during the day and are awake at night, so they can catch and eat monsters.

They have a special light in their heads. You can travel with one of them thought a dark hallway, or just light-up your room. They also have a warm glowing heartbeat light, that beats in an organic and changing pattern. You can’t resist getting sleepy with this relaxing ambient heartbeat.

Squeeze ChuChi’s hand to turn it On and Off. Squeeze it again to switch between the “night-light” and soothing “ambient hearbeat.” ChuChi are Nocturnal, so you can only see their glow at night or in a dark room.

The ChuChi is a plushie night-light designed to be the “perfect companion for anyone a little scared of the dark or lonely when their parents aren’t around.”  ChuChi’s have a built-in night-light but also have an ambient red glowing heartbeat lantern in their chest too.

Along with her crib machine, Abby also has a bunny (named Bunny) that she sleeps with.  It’s an ordinary bunny, but she adores it.  Because of this, I knew we had to be careful about the way we introduced ChuChi to her.  I actually did it during the day so she had time to get attached to it and play with it for awhile before bed.  The first time she saw it, she was intrigued.  Pressing the hand and watching the lights, over and over and over again.  Then she went on to touch the hair and said “ChuChi has hair” and then proceeded to hug it.

That night for bed, of course she wanted her ChuChi there with her.  Then she didn’t.  Then she did.  Then she didn’t.  Then she did.  Tonight ChuChi joined her in bed without any reconsideration and I left the room while she continued to stare at ChuChi’s glowing body and talk to him.  Don’t get me wrong, ChuChi has not yet earned the rank that Bunny has in her life, but in 2 days she has accepted him, and hopefully, eventually we can remove the crib machine and ChuChi will serve as an immediate replacement.

ChuChi is very very soft, and is fairly plain in appearance.  It is rather flat which I thought was odd at first but I realized that it is flat for a reason – so that the lights shine through on BOTH sides.  So no matter which way the child is holding ChuChi, they still get the benefit of the night-light.  And ChuChi turns off after 3 minutes to save battery life!  I can’t tell what size batteries ChuChi takes (there appears to be a velcro slot on the back of it where you access them and I haven’t opened it yet) but based upon the size and weight they certainly are much smaller than “D” size.

I would like to see the package marked with what kind of battery it takes, so I don’t have to open the thing up to find out.  I want to buy some before I need them.  The only other thing we would change is that my daughter has a requested a “pink” one.  She still wants the natural colored one but has asked for “another ChuChi that is pink.”  Maybe she’d settle for one with pink hair!

You can purchase a ChuChi online at Amazon.com or find a local store that carries them.

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