Ok To Wake Clocks

An Ok to Wake clock can be an amazing tool for teaching your child to sleep a little later, or even just teaching them to stay in their bed or in their room so YOU can sleep a little later. You actually can’t teach a kid to sleep later if they are getting the right amount of sleep they need for their bodies, so sometimes staying in their room is all you need. 

However, there are so many options on the market and the process of teaching your kid to actually use it can be a lot. It definitely was quite a process for me and to be honest, it’s ongoing and I think it will always be until my kids are old enough to just get up and get breakfast themselves (aka living the dream, am I right?). 

In this blog I’ll address what types of clocks I like best, when to introduce the clock, how to introduce it, how to use it, using it for quiet time or nap time, and when to stop using it (spoiler: never). 

What type of clock should I use?

My favorite clock is the Hatch, but it’s also the most expensive clock out there. So is it worth it? For me, when I bought it, yes. For you, now, with new things on the market, maybe not. We’ll get to that below, but just know that I still love it and have no regrets.

I started out with the Tommee Tippee Gro clock. At the time we loved it. The Gro is a super cute clock that turns on a moon and stars at night, and then for your desired wake up time the sun turns on.

My favorite part of this clock was that the stars would disappear throughout the night, and when they were gone the sun would come up. So your kids can learn that if there is only one star left, wake up time is coming soon, but if there’s 3 or 4 stars, time to go back to sleep. It also comes with a super cute book about farm animals. The pig doesn’t get enough sleep at night so his friends get him the Gro clock to teach him how to “stay in bed until the sun comes up”. I also like that this clock can be dimmed a lot so it doesn’t light up the room at all in sleep mode.

There are a lot of clocks like this, so if this is something you think might work for you there’s really no right or wrong answer. There are clouds and aliens and all different shapes that your kid may be excited about. Another one I considered getting was a stoplight clock (it literally looks like a stoplight), where the light is red at sleep time, yellow when you can get up and play in your room, and green at wake up time. Like the Gro, you set the time you want the clock to come on in the morning beforehand and it will turn on at that time every day. However, I read some reviews for that clock and people were saying the clock was very bright with no dim setting. If you’ve been here a while, you know this would NOT work for my light sensitive oldest child. However, it might work for you if your child is okay with a little light or even prefers a night light.

Another popular clock is the Little Hippo Mella. This one also cannot be controlled by your phone which is why it’s a no for me, but many people who don’t need the phone feature love this clock. It’s probably one of the most popular non wifi clocks on the market right now.

If you do want a wifi or bluetooth clock though, I absolutely love the Hatch. I like that I can control it from my phone  because we don’t wake up at the same time every day. It’s generally set for some time between 6:15 and 6:30 but if I see that my kids are stirring and we need to get ready for the day, I’ll make it a little earlier. If I see that they’re sleeping and I don’t want to wake them up with the light changes (an issue I have had in the past) then I’ll make it a little later. This was incredibly helpful when I was teaching my kids to use it as well, because if they did wake up earlier than usual I could still quickly change the setting to allow them to be successful with it in those early days.

A clock that I more recently became aware of is the Lectrofan Kinder. I’ve never used it but it seems like an awesome option for a few reasons. One: it has the Lectrofan sound machine attached. I don’t like the hatch sound machine, so this is more of a one stop shop for even less than the hatch costs on its own. Two: it can be controlled from your phone. I currently have a Lectrofan sound machine in each room that cannot be controlled from the phone, but I love the idea of lowering and turning off the sound to more gently wake a kid up, or changing the sound to something like birds chirping for morning. I know people use the hatch for this, I just, again, don’t like their sound machine feature. The Lectrofan has a light setting too with any colors you choose, so it can be used just like the other clocks for bedtime and wake up time. I actually think I might get a Lectrofan Kinder to test it out for you all, and then two more for travel because it seems that amazing, and it’s much smaller than the hatch and sound machines we currently travel with. I might just have to take one for the team here.

When should I introduce it?

This is really up to you. There are benefits to introducing it at any age, even from birth, but it can really be implemented at any time. I started using the clock when Landen was still in a crib but was probably going to be transitioning to a bed soon to really prep him for the freedom he’d soon have, and the idea that he had a specific wake up time. 

If you’ve already got a kid in a bed, don’t worry! You can absolutely implement this at ANY time. It just takes boundaries and consistency to make this a thing. If they’re big enough for a bed they’re probably big enough to have a conversation too. Even if you think they don’t understand, they usually understand more than we think. So before you try to implement this talk to them! Explain what it’s for and why. Trust me. If I can get Landen to listen to the clock *MOST of the time*, anyone can get anyone to listen to the clock. I’ll talk more about how to do this below in the how to implement section, and more about Landen’s story in another upcoming post.

More recently I’ve become aware of people who start using an OK to wake clock from birth. I LOVE this concept and I wish I had done it too. It’s such a great way to set your baby up for success and get their circadian rhythm on track. 

If you are going to do it from birth, I would recommend using a sound setting rather than a light. This is where a clock like the Hatch, or my newly discovered Lectrofan Kinder, comes in handy. You can keep it off all night (or on a sound machine setting but I don’t like the white noise on the Hatch as I’ve now told you many times), and then when you want to signal wake up time to your child, turn the sound on. Something like birds chirping is a really nice introduction to the morning wake up for a little one. 

How should I introduce it?

The best way to introduce this clock is to start small. If your kid is currently waking up at 5 and you want to push that back to 6, on day one the wake up light turns on at 5. Let them see success. Once they get the point, you can begin to gradually push that time back. If you jump right to 6 though, you’re going to have a cranky impatient kid who now does not like this new exciting toy that you bought for his room. 

I think having access to a clock that you can control from your phone is incredibly helpful when teaching your child to use it. For some kids you can’t pick a wake up time and expect them to just stay in bed without question. Some kids need to be taught and gradually pushed to stay in bed for just a few minutes longer each day. This means really being in tune to their wake up time. As soon as you hear or see any movement in their room, turn that clock light on. Then make them wait 2 minutes, then 5, and begin to stretch it from there.

You can also use a reward chart if this works for your child and your family (it did not work for mine, but does for many). If you were to use a reward chart, I would probably make sure to have a bunch of small rewards like a sticker or piece of candy for EACH day so they feel successful as soon as they wake up. Toddler brains are not wired to understand “if you do this for 5 days you’ll get a reward”. You can absolutely save the bigger reward for after those 5 (or however many days) such as a trip to the toy store. Just remember, if you’re using a reward chart it’s something you will eventually have to phase out, and kids really do just love attention and excitement more than we may think so it’s absolutely not necessary. 

We talk a lot about using the clock for stretching night sleep or just the time in the room or crib. But for some kids, we actually need to get them to wake up earlier. Your okay to wake clock can help with this too! You can change the light, or on some you can change the sound, to more gently wake your child up and let them know it is no longer sleep time. 

So now you’ve introduced the clock. But how do you actually use it?

This depends very much on the clock. Some clocks have two settings, some clocks have 3 settings, some clocks (my bff the hatch) have all the settings. With a two setting clock it’s pretty basic. There's a sleep time and a wake up time and you set your desired times for both.  It’ll go on night mode at sleep time telling your child that it’s time to be in bed, and the screen or stop light or whatever you have will switch to day mode at your desired wake up time, telling your kid it’s okay to get up. 

A three setting clock is nice because you can have something like a sleep, play, get up setting. So a stop light clock for example. The light is red on the sleep setting when the child should stay in bed. When the light turns yellow, they can get up and play in their rooms. This also tells them that their wake up time is coming soon, which is sometimes helpful for kids who don’t really have any sense of time yet (or patience). And then finally, the light turns green which means it’s okay to leave the room.

If you have a clock like the hatch, you can also let your child be involved by letting them choose the wake up color. I would recommend using the red setting for sleep time (or no color at all) because red light is best for sleep, but let them wake up to their favorite color! It’ll make it more exciting for them. 

Using the clock for nap time or quiet time

The clock is not limited to bedtime and wake up time. Many clocks also have a nap time setting. You can use it the exact same way - red for sleep, yellow for play in your room, green for wake up, or whatever your clock's specific settings are. 

If you have an older toddler or preschooler who is transitioning away from napping, this is a great way to introduce quiet time as well. I would introduce it in the exact same way that you introduce the clock to begin with, slowly and in growing increments. I would also make sure they understand the clock well by using it at bedtime before expecting them to stay in their rooms for an hour long quiet time. It is all a work in progress and takes time, but if you decide to implement it it will be worth it for you and your child to get a much needed break.

**Disclaimer: I do not do quiet time in my house. I understand the benefits. I understand how to implement it. I could even coach you on how to implement it. But it is not something that works for our family and that’s okay. You don’t have to do anything that doesn’t work for you just because the internet says so.

When will I no longer need the clock?

I get this question a lot about so many sleep associations. The sleep sack, the sound machine, the pitch black room. My answer is always you never have to stop. Obviously your kid may grow out of the sleep sack, but for the rest, you can use these sleep associations forever (I still have a pitch black room and sound machine and I’m 34 - these things just generally improve sleep quality). 

The same goes for the clock. No, you probably won’t use it until your kid goes to college because at a certain point they become independent in the mornings. But there is no age to say “okay! We’re all done with this! You’re a big kid now! Just stay in bed until 7.”. Seriously just wait until they can get up, make breakfast, get dressed, and not bother you. And even then you may still want to use it. I like peace and quiet in the mornings, and letting my kids out of their rooms is not peaceful or quiet even if they are playing by themselves or getting themselves dressed. I know someone with a 9 year old who still uses the clock. It’s a boundary you can set in your house and keep it as long as you want.

I’d love to know what clocks you use, how you use them, and if you like them!