One of the biggest challenges for parents of toddlers is sleep. It’s been an issue for some Moms that stems from pregnancy… got worse post-birth during infancy and continued into toddlerhood. Finding sleep. Getting sleep. Making time to sleep. That’s because not only are you trying to get sleep for yourself, you’re trying to teach you little one how to sleep, where to sleep and when to sleep. I’m tired just thinking about all this sleep.
Well, let me fast forward to my current situation. Two toddlers, sharing a room and an all too early wake up… There are a variety of places they may end up on wake up, and while that’s one part of the “problem,” the other issue is the mood when they wake up! It’s either lots of smiles and sunshine or grouchy, cranky, whiny baby faces…and that is NO FUN.
I thought it would be a big challenge to get them both back to sleeping in their own beds after our cross country move, new surroundings and a transitional period where I didn’t fight them sleeping in my bed. But, once we got more settled, furnished a new room for them with new big boy beds…and I’d woken up one too many mornings with feet, hands, booty, etc… in my face – paired with the aroma of wet diapers, my motivation to get them back in their respective sleeping spots became a top priority.
Actually, it only took a couple nights of walking them back to their rooms and explaining that they have to sleep in their own beds, before they got it and now they know (for the most part), that sleeping in Mommy-Daddy’s bed is not an option…although they will still ask. However, now that we got that part of the routine down, getting them to stay in bed and understand that switching beds in the middle of the night or waking up with too much sunshine before the sun is out, is a problem.
I am blessed. I really am, I’ve got two healthy boys who are full of life and make me feel like the most lucky Mommy in the world…BUT, when they want to be up and bouncing around when all I need is like 15-30 minutes more of shut eye, it’s a problem!!! So, one of my blogger friends had told me about a clock that changed to a certain color which basically let’s kids know if it’s okay to get out of bed. An alarm clock if you will for the children to adhere to, as a guide and a literal green light to let them know when it’s “OK to Wake!”
So, we’ve been trying it out for a couple weeks now and I love the concept. It has a friendly design and is easy to program and understand. The kids are amused by the funny facials that can be displayed on the LCD, and they are entertained by both the glow of the nightlight and the ‘green light’ that signals they can get out of bed.
If I’m being honest…it’s only working on the younger of my two who is 2. Heck, my baby sleeps way past the green light as of late, and that’s a good thing. On the other hand, my older toddler is still trying to understand what I mean by you can’t get out of bed until you see the green light. He’s actually so excited to wait for it to turn green he carries it around when he wakes up before the light changes. So, I’m still working on him…
What I do want to mention though is some of the great features that will come in even more handy as they continue to adjust to the clock’s rules.
- Color changing night-light timer teaches children to stay in bed longer in the morning so parents get more sleep
- Customizable: Parents set the OK to Wake, time and brightness
- Separate “Nap Timer” allows for afternoon napping without disrupting usual alarm and night-light settings
- Alarm clock with snooze function allows older kids to get up “on their own”
- Fun “toe” buttons designed for kids invoke funny facial animations on the LCD
For more on the OK to Wake! clock visit the Patch Products website here.