Review: Is the elo Pillow a Miracle Sleep Tool For Kids or Just a Fun Gadget?

Every parent has been through it. A kid who won't sleep. No matter how much you strategize, negotiate, stand firm, give in, or beg, nothing seems to work. Sometimes it's the child's personality and sometimes it's just a season they go through. Sometimes it's a problem that not even a rocket scientist can figure out. Parents are always looking for a way to get their kids to go to sleep. The maker of the elo My Storytime Pillow thinks she has found a solution.

Right now, my wife and I are trying to figure out why my 11 month old has decided he is allergic to sleep. I know this is a common problem but when you have three kids in a small house, and one has trouble sleeping, the others do as well. We decided to try the elo pillow to see if it would help our older kids (who also could write a book on excuses to get out of bed) sleep better. NOTE: Please check back soon for a video review of my kids' opinion on the elo pillow.

The elo pillow premise is pretty simple. It quietly reads stories off a playlist while your child's head lays on the pillow. If they lift it off, the story pauses. A playlist last around 30 minutes and you can buy more in the elo store for $6.99 each. An on/off button on the back controls the power and it also comes with a washable pillowcase. The pillowcase is a nice feature because although kids are sweet, their vile puddles of snot and drool are not. The power button is easy to find and use, and doesn't turn off accidently (don't forget to pull the plastic tab from the battery compartment the first time you try and turn on the pillow). A light indicates when it is on and when it is in wifi mode. Wifi mode lets you load more playlists on the pillow. So yes, now even your pillow is connected to the internet. 

The pillow is very easy to set up. In fact, when you first take it out of the box, it already has a playlist loaded onto it. The instructions were simple and easy to follow. You can just turn the pillow on and give it to your kids. I know what you are thinking, "Great, another gadget so parents don't have to spend time with their kids reading." For us, reading together is a huge part of our lives, and an important part of our bedtime routine. The makers of the elo pillow make it clear that this DOES NOT replace spending time with your child reading. This adds to their nighttime ritual.

We first tested this while away on a trip. An unexpected benefit was that even though we were traveling, this pillow helped calm our kids while they were sleeping in a strange place. They even asked to go to bed early to listen to it. When we arrived home, the pillow worked as well. For our kids, we have found that if it doesn't help them go to sleep, it at least calms them down and they fall asleep soon after the playlist is over.

We have a few concerns with the elo pillow. First, we don't want our kids getting dependent on white noise to go to sleep. It hasn't happened yet, but we are watching to make sure it doesn't. Also, the pillow itself costs $150 from elopillow.com. To some this will be a steep price. Also, my kids got bored of the first playlist after a week or so. I wanted to go through the process of buying a new playlist from the store and loading it on so we did. It was very easy once you setup an account, but I can see kids constantly asking for different books. The nice thing is if you own multiple pillows, you can buy a playlist once and load it on each of them. Last, the pillow runs on batteries. They will last anywhere from 15-30 days with normal use, but you will probably have to replace them every month.

For some parents they are desperate to have their kids get a little more of that elusive sleep. If this is you, the elo pillow is definitely worth trying. They have helped calm our kids at bedtime and nap times as well. It is recommended for ages 2 and up but I might pay 1 Million dollars right now for an elo that works for an 11 month old. You can find out more and buy your own pillow on elopillow.com. 

Disclosure: I received these products for free from elo Pillow. I have received no other compensation for this post and the opinions I’m expressing here are solely my own.

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