The essential item I swear by for a kid's room that ensures a fuss-free bedtime

Like many bedtimes in homes up and down the country, ours was a battle. My son is nearly two and a half and as independent and happy as he is, he refused to go to sleep without my husband or I (usually both of us) sitting quietly in the room with him.

It meant most of our evening was spent sat in silence, in the dark, lying on the floor of my little boys bedroom, waiting for him to nod off so we could creep out and crack on with dinner/more work/housework/life admin.

But that all changed when we bought the Yoto Player starter bundle for £89.99 on Amazon.

Holly Walsh

Holly Walsh has been working on interior magazines for over 12 years and has lived in her two-bed Victorian home for over 6. With a background in both Interior Design and Textile Design she has always loved renovating and decorating the homes she has lived in and is certainly not DIY shy. With her next move to a more spacious family home in Hampshire on the horizon, she is looking forward to designing an inspiring and stylish bedroom for her 2 year old son, as well as a bright and colourful bedroom for her and her husband. 

The one item I swear by for a kids room

When my son was born, I was brimming full of nursery ideas and couldn't wait to transform our guest bedroom into a super-cute space for him to grow up in. But being in the midst of global pandemic, it wasn't easing getting to shops for materials and so we decided to leave the room as it was, making just a few tweaks here and there.

I'd always loved bedroom wallpaper ideas, so was happy to keep the monochrome Sandberg Ella wallpaper design that we'd already decorated with previously. Adding in his cot, a changing table, chest of drawers and comfortable armchair, we were pretty much set. But it didn't even cross my mind to invest in a smart speaker too. 

The Yoto Player is a great screen-free audio player for kids of ages 3 and up. It works by slotting physical cards of your kids favourite stories into the player, which then narrates and sings the audio for your little one to enjoy. Unlike a lot of kids toys and games, it isn't horribly garish and still sits nicely within the bedroom colour scheme.

We still read books with him every night, but once it's time to get into bed, he chooses his favourite Yoto card, currently these Peppa Pig ones, and then is happy to be tucked up on his own and nods off while listening to the stories.

We can then slip out and actually utilise our evenings, which are currently spent researching kitchen ideas for our next home which we should be moving to soon.

So my advise for anyone about to embark on children's room ideas or if you're currently in that 'bedtimes are hell' stage of parenting, invest in my must-have item and I promise not only will your little ones bedroom still look super-smart, you'll be able to regain your evenings back for you again!