How To Implement A Toddler Clock For Sleep
- Laura Thompson | 11th February 2022 -
What is a Toddler Clock and How Does it Work?
Toddler clocks are sometimes called ‘OK to wake’ clocks or ‘sleep trainer’ clocks. The idea behind them is that the clock displays a certain colour or image when it is sleep time and a different colour or image when it is wake time. This therefore helps teach toddlers and older children when they should be in bed sleeping and when it is OK to wake up and maybe come out of bed.
Why would you use one?
Toddlers can’t tell the time and if your following all my advice their room is likely pitch black when they go to bed and all the way through until morning because you’re using black out solutions. So when they wake up during the night or in the very early hours of the moring they have no idea what the expectation is … go back to sleep or call Mummy and Daddy to say good morning?
How many times have you woken and reached over to check your phone to see how many hours left of blissful sleep you have until your alarm goes off?
As a result of this when children wake they can sometimes start getting out of bed, appearing at your bedside or calling out for you at unearthly hours so a toddler clock can help set expectations and put an end to such scenarios.
What Age Can You Use One?
The general consensus is that from around the age of 2 years most toddlers should be able to understand the concept of a toddler clock. Every child is different however and you may find that your toddler as young as 18 months can get on board with this! On the flip side if your toddler has only just celebrated their second birthday it could take a little longer for them to get the hang of it. If your child is able to understand simple instructions and can name and identify and few different colours then it is absolutely worth giving a toddler clock a try!
Which Clock Should I Choose?
There are MANY clocks out of the market so here are a few things I would look for in a toddler clock;
Something very simple for your child to understand
The capability to have red as your night time colour (other colours interfere with the production of sleep hormones)
Some clocks have the capability to control from an app on your phone, this is by no means essential but can be handy!
Many clocks have pictures which disappear as it gets closer to wake time, like a countdown. I actually don’t like this because what happens when there is an hour until morning but only one picture left is your child simply stares at the clock waiting for it to change instead of trying to get back to sleep. It’s OK if you choose a clock that has this my advice would simply be not to tell your child about it!!
How To Introduce a Toddler Clock
When you bring the clock home show it to your child and talk to them about what it is and how it works. Have some practice with the clock, change it to the sleep colour and pretend to be asleep, change it to wake colour and jump up and say ‘Good morning!, Yay we stayed asleep until the clock turned green we’re so clever!’
Remind your child of the clock again at bedtime and show them the sleep colour of image, ask them what they need to see before it is time to get out of bed or call for you.
You could also introduce a reward system at the same time as the clock if you wish to. For older children they could work towards earning something over a period of time, earning stickers on a chart that build up to a reward. For younger toddler they tend to need more instant rewards, this doesn’t mean you have to give them a prize every single day, something simple like a sticker or an experience like going to the park or having a breakfast picnic on the living room floor work well too!
Starting Out
If you have a child who currently wakes at 5am every morning and you are looking to work towards a 6am wake up you may need to take this a little slowly! Expecting your toddler to lay quietly for an hour may be expecting a little too much. I suggest setting the clock on day 1 for 5am to set your child up to win! Then you can heap on the praise and reinforce to your child that this is a good thing to do! Next start pushing that time gradually later until you reach your ideal wake time, you could do this by 5 minutes a day for example.
Be consistent with how you respond to your child both if they wake before the awake time, a calm neutral, matter of fact response reminding them it is not time to wake yet and also when they do stay asleep or quietly in their bed until morning with a happy and excited response to this and lots of praise! Tell their nursery teachers, Grandparents … the lady at Tesco and let your child hear how proud you are of them!
Would you like some help supporting your child to stay in bed all night?
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