Review: Wyatt The Whale Storytelling Baby Sleep Soother

VTech BC8312 Wyatt The Whale Storytelling Baby Sleep Soother

I was always a fan of the show This is Us. Had little to no shame in shedding tears alongside my
wife as we both would watch it together and it would tug at our heartstrings. My favorite
thing about the show was how they showcased that despite the relationship being the
same, everyone experiences it entirely differently. With the big three growing up seeing
their father struggle with alcoholism, Kate raises a visually impaired child, and Randal see
his daughter come out as a teenager. Little did I know this was going to resonate with us in a
much larger-than-life way.

Everything about my wife’s second pregnancy was a breeze. The scans were clear, the tests
came out fine. She was active throughout and took her multivitamins. Our older son was well-adjusted in his school routine. The delivery was as smooth as it could go. We came home to
the house totally full of buntings and balloons courtesy of our nieces. Everything went better
than we could imagine. And so, the first time that my wife noticed our baby wasn’t looking
at her and visually responding was a good six to seven weeks later. That’s usually the time
when children start to turn their heads to look in the direction from where they can hear
a sound, or fling their arm out trying to bob a mobile hanging in front of them. Our Mike
didn’t. My wife brushed it aside, until it became too obvious if we held a toy up
front of the baby, his facial expressions wouldn’t show any change of expression. Carrying
that dreaded feeling in our stomachs, we took him to the pediatrician. And in just a couple of
times, they had the final diagnosis: Our son was visually impaired.

The experience of explaining their feelings after finding out news like this is not something
most parents can do justice to. But they all go through stages of shock, denial, worry, and in
the true spirit of parenting – the challenge most parents take on, the resolve they feel that
despite the cards dealt to them, they will make sure their child lives life to the highest
potential.

Needless to say, both me and my wife went through our own journey in accepting this truth.
But after many sleepless nights rife with worry and tears, when we did emerge the other
end, was definitely stronger and full of determination.

As expected, things drastically changed around the house. My wife went down the braille
rabbit hole, found counselors, and started building a life plan where our son never felt left
out of any experience. My job was to make sure our house was a place that was safe and
accommodating for visually impaired children – since we were absolutely certain our son
would have friends like him and we would host them for playdates like any other family.
Another thing I very quickly developed was the awareness that my child may never fully
experience colors or illustrations so investing in visually appealing baby books might not
be up his alley. What I needed, was to make every learning experience auditory for him.

His six-month leap coincided with his first tooth coming out. As any parent can attend that’s
generally a difficult time when sleepless nights kick in. A friend of mine recommended
trying out a white noise machine. I hit the search bar. As I had started doing this almost
subconsciously, I started searching for white noise options, audiobooks for children, and more
advanced searches in the hope I might find something that my son would enjoy more.

I stumbled upon the VTech BC8312 Wyatt The Whale Storytelling Baby Sleep Soother with a
White Noise Sound Machine and the fact that it featured not just ambient sounds and
calming melodies but also ten audio stories really intrigued me. Not only would this be
something for Mike, but perhaps my older son might also enjoy this especially if it took off
the load of one of us needing to read to him every night before bed. I ordered it instantly.

Story Telling Feature:

The white noise feature of the gadget was great but what truly sets
this product apart is its story-telling feature. Even though Mike cannot see illustrated pages
or follow along with visually engaging books, the audio narration turned out to be hugely
beneficial in building his vocabulary over the next few months. As it turns out, my older son
also started enjoying the stories and for him, it greatly helped expand his imagination. It was
only after my older son started drawing characters from a particular story he heard with his
brother the night before that I realized this generation has been born into a visually
captivating world with the plethora of cartoons available to them, making active
imagination a secondary function in young children. Listening to the audiobook helped him
stretch his imagination and proved to be a bonding time for both children. The stories
were also engaging and well-written, with the sound quality being impressive. I found
myself enjoying listening to them as well! The whale design is also adorable and adds a
whimsical touch to Mikes’s nursery.

Record your own story option:

Another feature that impressed me about the Vtech Whale Storytelling Sleep Soother was the ability to record audio stories in my own voice. Being able to record our own voice reading bedtime stories has been a game changer for our entire family. It’s a great way to bond with Mike and create a sense of familiarity and comfort, even when either I or my wife are not physically there. Plus, it allows us to switch up the stories each night, keeping things fresh and engaging for my little one. This was also a feature that prompted my older son to start reading more. He realized what we were doing when we were recording for Mike, and he wanted to do it too. I noticed him reading aloud to himself practicing different voices one day, and when I asked, he said he was practicing to record a story for Mike. Made me realize what a great way it is to encourage children to practice voice intonation and reading delivery as well.

Ten White Noise Options:

Another standout feature of this sleep soother is the different forms of white noise it provides. From calming nature sounds to soothing lullabies, there’s a variety of options to choose from. We’ve found that the gentle hum of the whale noises is particularly effective in lulling both of our children to sleep.

Timer:

The Vtech Whale Sleep Soother also has a timer function, which is convenient for
ensuring that it turns off after a set amount of time. And if your child wakes up in the middle
of the night, the touch sensor on the toy allows you to quickly turn it back on without
fumbling for buttons in the dark. We would usually put the soother on for a duration of
either 30 or 40 minutes and knew the baby would doze off and we didn’t need to sneak
back into the nursery to turn it off.

Easy Set up:

The device was fairly simple to use. Battery-powered; it came with the
instructions to download the free app over wifi. Once the app was installed on my phone it had the option to swap stories or change the songs and melodies to make sure children
have a continuous variety of options.

Night Light Option:

The Wyatt Whale Soother also has the option of emitting a night light, that can even project the entire starry night onto the ceiling. Not something Mike was able to enjoy but our older son was absolutely thrilled by it. And every time we used the soother for him, he had a special request as to which color light he wanted that night.

I had gotten this storytelling soother for Mike, but as it so happened the entire family
ended up using it. The best bit about the purchase was that it wasn’t merely limited to
the infant but even older children enjoyed the different features it offered. Overall, I would
highly recommend the Vtech Whale Story Telling Sleep Soother to any parent looking for a
way to help their child sleep better. The ability to record personalized stories in your own
voice is a huge plus, and the different forms of white noise provide a variety of options for
soothing your little one to sleep.

Features:

Story Telling: Choose from a wide variety of audio stories in gentle voice and with
expressions to help your child drift off to sleep faster and longer.

Self-Record: Record audio stories in your own voice to ensure your baby feels your presence
and remains calm before bedtime even if you aren’t physically around.

Auto Timer: Auto timer options ensure parents don’t have to keep checking the device
while also helping to sleep-train children.

Ceiling Light: Glow on ceiling light with starry night option provides relaxing visuals
mimicking nature to help your child feel calm before bedtime.

Lullaby: Option to select Lullaby if your child soothes more with melodies as compared to
human sounds.

Portable: Battery-powered makes it a portable device ensuring that even while travelling
the children do not compromise on their bedtime routine.