We got a regular lamp for DS' room, put a smart bulb in it and connected it to our raspberry pie so we can control it on our phones. So maybe not what we did.
We tried two (one looked like an owl but I can't remember what brand) and an GroClock. Neither one worked for us because if DS was actually going to sleep in, the clock would light up and wake him up! I also found the general light on the Gro Clock too bright even on the lowest setting.
What we did instead that worked really well was get a normal clock, tape paper over the minutes so it just shows the hour, and told him he could get up when he saw a 7. (Then we set the clock back so that it showed 7 when it was actually 6:30, which was our reasonable wake up time for him). That way nothing lights up if they're actually not going to wake up early. Now he's old enough to just stay in bed until 6:30, but it worked great when he was younger.
Night 1: somehow we'd set it wrong and it turned green in the middle of the night.
Nights 2 + 3: Child stayed in her room until it turned green at 6. Success!
Night 4: Child came running in at 3 am shouting "I greened it! I greened it!"
And that was then end of that. We never got her on board with the idea that she couldn't just poke the buttons until it turned to what she wanted. Perhaps with an older child they would understand better.
But one that you can control from your phone would be nice. There have definitely been times when I know she's exhausted, and I want to let her sleep past when it will go off, but I forget to turn it off before we tuck her in. That's annoying. It does mostly work though. Sometimes we just have to remind her... has your clock beeped yet? No? Ok, unless it's the bathroom or an emergency, it's still sleep/rest time.
Night 1: somehow we'd set it wrong and it turned green in the middle of the night.
Nights 2 + 3: Child stayed in her room until it turned green at 6. Success!
Night 4: Child came running in at 3 am shouting "I greened it! I greened it!"
And that was then end of that. We never got her on board with the idea that she couldn't just poke the buttons until it turned to what she wanted. Perhaps with an older child they would understand better.
I’ve had the okay to wake clock and the Hatch. I love the hatch so much more. It’s a white noise machine too and you can control it from your phone.
We went for the Hatch too and I love it. We just bought a second one for DD2 to use as a nightlight and noise machine. It’s helping a little with getting her to got to sleep, which has been a battle lately. She loves Twinkle Twinkle Little Star so playing that helps her go to sleep (it has 3 lullabies plus a bunch of sound machine noises. DD1 loves the rain). We use it both as a time for bed and time to wake light. I love that it is fully customizable and programmable with our phones. I’ve used it at nap time/quiet time too to get DD1 to stop calling downstairs every 5 mins “can I come out now???”. 😂
For DD (now 10) it worked great. She's a rule follower by nature, and this appealed to her.
For DS (now 6, and currently in possession of said clock) it works okay. He mostly stays in his room until the clock is green, but has learned he can game the system by saying he has to use the bathroom (and will proceed to loudly sing and dance for 10+ minutes per trip, slamming all of the doors along the way). It hasn't stopped him from bouncing around is room, but he usually just reads by his nightlight once the bedroom parkour is done. Every so often, he starts pushing buttons on the thing, and figures out how to change the time, so then the changing of the light has no rhyme or reason and he just waits for me to tell him he can come out of his room.
So, basically, it's really kid-dependent, but worth trying IMO.
Post by trytobearunner34 on Dec 9, 2020 13:24:32 GMT -5
We started using this one right around when my daughter turned 2. She will be 4 in April.
It has helped us through transition from crib to toddler bed, travels with us and works really well for us day to day. I will add though is prior to using it my she was a 5am up for the day kid from birth. We bounce around the light between 6 and 7 based on season of life, season of the year and other circumstances.
Oooh, I'm following this since I'm in a debate with myself on transitioning DD to a toddler bed, lol.
For those that have them - can you set a different schedule for the weekends? It looks like the Hatch ones can have a bunch of programs through the app but I can't really tell with the others.
It works to keep them in their room. My kids wake up before its green and they can play quietly until its green. It turns yellow first and that indicates to them that it is time to clean up whatever they played with and make their beds (the 5 year old is good at this, the 3 year old is working on it) then they can come wake us up at 7 when its green.
Night 1: somehow we'd set it wrong and it turned green in the middle of the night.
Nights 2 + 3: Child stayed in her room until it turned green at 6. Success!
Night 4: Child came running in at 3 am shouting "I greened it! I greened it!"
And that was then end of that. We never got her on board with the idea that she couldn't just poke the buttons until it turned to what she wanted. Perhaps with an older child they would understand better.
Oh my gosh, this is cracking me up!
We call her our three marshmallow kid - i.e.. that if she took the stanford marshmallow test, she wouldn't wait. She'd eat the marshmallow but somehow talk the test administrator into giving two extras anyway.
Post by sillygoosegirl on Dec 9, 2020 13:41:12 GMT -5
We used an app on an old phone at first, then when she was older and could read a digital clock, we told her she could get up when the first number was 7.
What "makes it work" is really not the clock. It's the parent being consistent about enforcing it, as well as being able to explain to the kid in a way they understand how to tell if they are allowed to get up or not.
We had one that worked very well for my oldest. I don’t remember the brand, but it was the one that turned green at a set time. It went through batteries very fast though. My other two kids have never been early risers so I’ve always had to drag them out of bed in the morning.
I got some cheap color change clock around 2ish, and it's worked great! She is still in her crib, but as soon as she woke up she would start screaming. She would wake up anywhere from like 6am-7:30 and it killed me because I'm not a morning person.
Anyways it went very smooth, at first I just had to remind her to stay quiet until her light turned on. We use it for naps and morning wake up. If she wakes up before she usually just lays around and plays with her babydoll she sleeps with.
It's a huge help for me because I can get up at 6:30, and know that I have 30 minutes to get ready or whatever before she's up.
We used this one (https://www.amazon.com/Mirari-Teach-Talking-Alarm-Night-Light/dp/B003D7KV0Q/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=PlayMonster+Teach+Me+Time+Educational+Alarm+Clock+Night+Light&qid=1607541775&sr=8-1) with bethany from about 4 yo to last year (7 yo). We got this one because it had the time shown both analog style and digital but mostly because it had the alarm and I got tired of waking her up in the morning. It is bright, even on the lowest setting she started complaining it was too bright, and ultimately that's why we replaced it (with another alarm clock that we could set much darker). Little sister found it and likes to play around with it and push the buttons, the battery backup is still going strong more than a year after we unplugged it.
Post by expectantsteelerfan on Dec 9, 2020 14:31:22 GMT -5
The one we had did not work with my son...he was able to open the back and mess with settings, and if we put it out of reach he would spend his whole nap time trying to find a way to get it down, and he ignored whether it was green or not anyway. With him we had better luck just putting a regular alarm clock in his room and taping a note card over the minutes and telling him he couldn't come out till the number was 6 for morning and 2 for quiet time/nap time. This was when he was 3 and we finally transitioned to a toddler bed, and that was the end of naps for us. We kept the ok to wake clock and it worked well for my dd, who is much more of a rule follower, but she also would wake up and yell 'MY CLOCK IS GREEN!' at the top of her voice and then keep yelling until we came to get her (even though she could get out of her toddler bed herself if she wanted). She continued to nap until she was 5 lol.
We call her our three marshmallow kid - i.e.. that if she took the stanford marshmallow test, she wouldn't wait. She'd eat the marshmallow but somehow talk the test administrator into giving two extras anyway.
We call our middle kids our marshmallow kid because when she was three she came into our room at 3:30 am, threw a bag of marshmallows in my face and said, "momma, open my mar-mellows". Apparently, she woke up in the middle of the night and decided that would be a good time to help herself to some marshmallows. So she finished 1/4 of a bag and then brought another one for me to open. These kids, I swear!
Post by liverandonions on Dec 9, 2020 15:41:45 GMT -5
My kid would bring the clock into our room and wake us up, and then get it excited when it turned green. So, I'd say it didn't work for us and we're finally at 5 and 7 not having a kid in our bed every night
Post by BicycleBride on Dec 9, 2020 15:47:23 GMT -5
We have one and it will only work if your kid is the kind that gives a crap. I have one rule follower and one who is very impulsive. It worked well for the rule follower until she realized the impulsive one was just doing whatever he wanted regardless of the light.
We have the Hatch and it works really well. My DD likes the different sounds and you can set it to glow a different colour and make a different noise at wake up.
We had one for my daughter.. it was annoying because we set it wrong ONE TIME and every day after that she'd come into our room at all hours to let us know her light wasn't green yet and we must have set it wrong.
We eventually switched to a smart outlet and a night light. If the nightlight is on, stay in bed. If it's off, it's okay to get out of bed. Also 100% easier to program.
My kids finally learned that they can go downstairs and turn the TV on when they wake up without an adult... which of course led to us needing another smart outlet so that the TV doesn't turn on before 6am. DD was literally getting up at 3am and watching cartoons. We still find her down there occasionally, sitting in the dark, staring at the TV waiting for click so that she can turn it on...
For those that have the hatch loira, noodleoomorecoffeeplease, do you use the sound machine part of it too? I've found when it switches program (i.e. night time with red light and white noise to day time with green light and white noise) there is a pause and that sometimes wakes DD up. is this something I'm doing wrong with setting up the program? it's super annoying that it wakes her up.
We had one that looked like a stoplight. Worked great for my daughter. For my son it worked great in the morning, but in no way prevented him from getting out of bed in the middle of the night. For naps, by the time he was 3.5 he'd just roll around on his bed yelling "WHY ISNT IT GREEN YET?!?!?"