Zazu Sam the Lamb Sleep Trainer review

The full review

Sam is a sheep-shaped clock from Dutch brand Zazu that uses two cues at once. At bedtime Sam closes his eyes and glows red. Half an hour before wake-up the light turns orange and twelve little stars disappear one by one. At wake-up time Sam opens his eyes and the light turns green.

That combination of a face, traffic-light colours and a visible countdown is, on paper, the clearest set-up here, especially for children who don't yet reliably know their colours. You also get a nap timer you can set from 3 to 180 minutes (useful when naps don't start at the same time each day), a separate sound alarm for later school mornings, a child lock and a 12 or 24-hour clock.

It runs from USB or four AA batteries (not included), which makes it one of the few here you can take on holiday without hunting for a socket. The red night light can stay on all night or switch off automatically.

The drawbacks: £39.99 is a lot next to the Groclock, several of Zazu's other sleep trainers were showing as sold out when I checked, and I haven't found recent independent UK testing, so this rating leans on the spec sheet and the concept.