Stay in Bed Clocks: How to keep kids from getting up too early

1/27/10 - By Anna Fader

An old friend bemoaned on Facebook her frustration at not being able to keep her toddler in bed past 4:30 in the morning. Not only does the kid wake her up, but wakes up the younger siblings as well (sounds like a great morning routine!).

If you have an early riser, you've felt her pain. Sleep. It's the one thing a parent just can't get enough of. And the issues never seem to go away, they just change. Just because you had a baby sleeping through the night at 9 weeks doesn't mean you are out of the hot water. As many parents of toddlers will tell you, the issue becomes not getting your kids to sleep through the night, but to keep them in bed past dawn.

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There are lots of gimmicky baby gadgets out there that you don't really need, but one that many parents who have early risers have found life-saving is the stay in bed clocks. Why, because they really work, particularly for kids preschoolers who are old enough to be in their own bed, but can't yet read time.

There are a few different stay in bed clocks, but they all the same basic premise: parents set the time they want their kids to stay in bed until and the clock gives kids a visual cue to tell them when that time is reached (like turning from a moon picture to a sun).

If you have a tiny terror waking you up too early in the AM, try one of these cool gadgets to keep them in bed till a decent hour:

I like the cute Good Nite Lite (pictured above) which is actually not a clock, but a night light. Set the time in the morning you want your child to be allowed to get up and it will change from a blue moon to a yellow sun, letting your child know that it's OK to get out of bed.

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The Teach Me Time! Talking Alarm Clock and Nightlight is a clock that both signals "OK to get up time" by glowing in different colors as well as having a digital and standard time read out so your child can start to learn how to read time for themselves and remains useful as they grow.