Pillow Pets Dream Lites Rainbow Unicorn

You have seen the commercial and heard the (annoying) jingle hundreds of times.  Your child wants it and 'must have it' - the elusive Dream Lites by Pillow Pets.  My daughter wouldn't stop asking for this one. The commercial is like a drug for kids - major brainwashing. I think every single one of my friends at one point has mentioned how their child my daughter's age (7) or younger wanted/"needed" this.


However, the asking price on the Dream Lites website was $40 a plush not counting the exorbitant As Seen on TV shipping. Knowing that these products would eventually hit the store shelves, I held on a bit.  And sure enough they did.  I have since spotted them at just about every pharmacy chain (Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc) and on the shelves of the big-box marts (Wal-Mart), etc priced at $29.99 and the price on the Dream Lites website has since come down as well to match the $29.99 but still monstrous shipping.  I'm sure like anything -  if you hold out on your child long enough the price on Dream Lites will come down just as the 1st gen Pillow Pets have.  Should you wait? I would.

I happened to 'score' my Dream Lites when the local Walgreens first got them in stock.  They were marked at 14.99 a piece which is the same price as the Pillow Pets PeeWee (small Pillow Pets).  I grabbed 2 of them and made my kids the happiest kids on the planet that day. We got this, Dream Lites Rainbow Unicorn as well the Dream Lites Snuggly Puppy. 

As it turned out - I had lucked out because they were mismarked and were supposed to be priced at 29.99/each.  I wouldn't have purchased them at that price. You might be thinking...   are they worth full price 29.99?   Depends how badly your child wants it. I'd pay no more than $19.99 for these.

What are Dream Lites?
They remind me of the  Twilight Turtle from Cloud B,  a popular nightlite from several years back that was a nursery fad.    Dream Lites are what you get when you take a Pillow Pet and make it into a battery powered night light.   They used Pillow Pet peewees, which are the smaller sized pillow pets (measuring approximately 11 inches when fully open).  Like the pillow pets, you can fold them in half to make them look more like a plush and then open them flat to become a pillow. 

At this time Dream Lites come only a handful of different animals - less varieties than Pillow Pets, but surely it is just a matter of time for more characters to show up on the shelves.  The starry illumination that is projected from the Dream Lites plush features the image of the pillow pet in the center.  For example, our Rainbow Unicorn Dream Lites makes a giant unicorn head on the ceiling surrounded by stars and the Snuggly Puppy creates a pup surrounded by stars.  There is a button on the top of the dream lites so you can change the colors of the lights from blue, amber, green, or the last option is for the colors to change automatically every few seconds.

Dream Lites run on 3 AAA batteries which are not included.  You can purchase an adaptor for it (I haven't seen that in stores yet) but the paperwork that came with it showed it.  We have stuck with using batteries.  You can switch your dream lites into automatic shut off mode and it will turn itself off after 20 minutes, otherwise it will stay on constantly which to me seems like it could be dangerous (think about it - would you let your child sleep with a flashlight on all night in their bed?).. Yikes

The Dream Lites Rainbow Unicorn Put To The Kid Test

Good stuff
Dream Lites are the next generation of Pillow Pets - resembling the smaller pillow pets pee wees. However, unlike its predecessor  - you can't really lay your head down and snuggle on the Dream Lites because the top of it has a plastic plate (with cutouts for the illuminations) - and the bottom side has a hard battery hatch.   The rest of the Dream Lites is plush like and identical to a Pillow Pets PeeWee.  They claim that it is cuddly, which it really is not so much. My daughter does put it in her bed (next to her pillow) but it would be best served on a bedside table or dresser.

The Dream Lites Rainbow Unicorn looks just like the Pillow Pets Pee Wee Rainbow Unicorn. It has cotton candy colors (pink, creme, light blue) set against a pink underside.  It is probably the most girly of the Dream Lites and my 7 year old daughter loves it. If she was rating and reviewing the Dream Lites - she would give it 5 stars. 

She happens to be afraid of the dark, and uses it religiously.  I have to admit I am impressed with how well it does light up her room. I was worried because she has light ( pale blue) walls and I wasn't sure if it would work well but it really really shows the stars and the face of the unicorn clearly in all of the color settings.  My daughter likes the setting where it changes color.

Remember how I said the commercial is really brainwashing to kids? Well, on a couple of rainy summer days my daughter did just that and created tents using dark sheets and kitchen chairs to crawl into with her dream lites.  She thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread and in the few months we have owned it the novelty for her has not worn off.

Battery life is surprisingly decent - We have had it now for over 2 months and I am shocked that we have yet to change the batteries. We do use it in the auto-shut off mode to save battery life.

I will also add that my son (who has autism) was fascinated by the Dream Lites but despises the commercial (he doesn't like the song it plays over and over).  Even though he is older (11) I got him the Snuggly Puppy one for his room and he has used it to calm down at night (which is difficult for him).  Your mileage may vary with your child with Autism but for mine it has worked. When he was younger he used the Twilight Turtle (until it broke) - and I had never bothered to replace it.

Not so good stuff

Maybe I am paranoid, but every night I religiously check to make sure that it is in the auto-shut-off mode because I am afraid it could be a fire hazard if left to run all night.   I don't think the steady light mode should even be an option. To me it seems like a potential for a safety hazard.

The price for Dream Lites is seriously hiked up and needs to come down. I do anticipate it will be $30 is too high for a plush toy with lights in it.  I am glad that I paid only $14.99 for mine (by a store mistake) because thats about what it is worth.   At least with the Twilight Turtle (also priced around $30) you get a nightlight that can do sounds and actuall constellations (depending on the model).   I could see the Dream Lites possibly adding in a gentle music or nature sound mode  which would make it worth the higher price.

The size of the Dream Lites is deceiving.  For some reason I was thinking it would be the size of the original Pillow Pet (which is huge) and not the Pee Wee. My daughter however said she knew it was the same size as the Pee Wee from the commercial - she clearly paid better attention to it. For the price, I think it could be bigger.

Several of my friends who purchased Dream Lites for their children have complained that the button has gotten stuck from their child playing with it too much and now it doesn't alternate colors.  We have not had that problem with ours but my daughter isn't button happy or rough on toys.  Dream Lites website says it has a 60 day guarantee, but I am sure that is only if you purchase it online vs at a store.   I am also wondering what will happen and how long until the color bulbs inside it burn out - can they be replaced?  

Though the commercial and packaging shows an adapter available for the Dream Lites you cannot purchase one or even find the price without handing over information on the Dream Lites website as if to buy a new Dream Lite and initiating a purchase. If you have ever  purchased an As Seen on TV product from one of their websites you know there are lots of add on charges and I'm not giving over my credit card just to find out pricing or accessory information. Calling Dream Lites to get that info results in getting transferred and put on hold, you can't get a straight answer from anyone on a simple question - how much is the adaptor? Again, part of me questions the safety of plugging in a plush toy so it is highly doubtful that I will purchase said adaptor should I ever find out the price.


So, should I go buy a Dream Lite? Is it a must have?  For me - no way. I would wait for the price to come way down as previous generations of the pillow pets have. The only way I would suggest paying full price for this would be perhaps as a gift or for that child who just won't go to sleep or who is afraid of the dark. For that, the Dream Lites does do the trick.

Kids Love it. Parents will most like cave in and buy it with some regrets.    

For more info: http://www.dreamlites.com


Recommend this product? Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 29
Type of Toy: Stuffed Toy
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years