These are our three favorite time-to-rise toddler clocks

So your baby is all grown up now and has been sleeping through the night fairly consistently for a year or two. You know she's ready for the big kid bed. But then during that first night in her new toddler bed, you realize the problem: She now has the ability to get out of bed at ANY time.

This is just one of the reasons a time-to-rise clock can be SO helpful! These clocks use a colored light to let your child know when it is time to sleep and when it is time to get up in the morning. These clocks can be fantastic tools to prevent early morning wake-ups and help your child stay in bed longer.

Many brands that make these clocks suggest that you introduce them on your child's first night in their new toddler bed, but you can actually start before then! Young toddlers who are still in a crib can benefit from these clocks, which help show them when they should just play quietly in their crib vs. calling out for mom to come. If your little toddler is used to their clock while still in a crib, the transfer to the toddler bed will be that much easier!

There are MANY options out there for time-to-rise clocks, but these are our top three picks. As a bonus, all three are not just time-to-rise clocks, but are also optional nightlights and sound machines! However, each one also has additional features, so it’s up to you which one you think will be best for your child.

In no particular order:

1. Hatch Baby Rest - The best unique feature of the stylish Hatch Baby Rest is that you can control it from your phone, choosing color, brightness, sound type, and volume. You can set predetermined bedtime, nap times, and waketimes based on your child’s schedule, or you can adjust them manually from the app each day.

From our team:
”We’ve had the Hatch for a year and a half now, and we love it! Because we had it before we switched to a toddler bed, my son was already used to it and that made the transition to a toddler bed easier. My son enjoys choosing colors and listening to the lullabies. My favorite part is that I can switch the sleep/wake colors on my phone. This gives me flexibility in the morning and nap times! I have a preset time for morning wake-up, but if I’m not ready yet or if it looks like he’s sleeping in, then I keep the sleep color until we’re ready.”

2. My Tot Clock - My Tot Clock lights up in five different predetermined colors, representing bedtime, waketime, naptime, playtime, and timeout. It can play bedtime stories, lullabies, playtime music, and white noise. It displays the time as digital and analog, and can also be an adjustable-brightness nightlight.

From our team:
“As a mother of a very spirited toddler who doesn't always cooperate at nap time, it can be a challenge to find ways to keep our kiddo in his room and maintain our patience levels. But once we tried the My Tot Clock, it was a game changer. Our son especially loves the stories that it tells and he now falls asleep as he listens to them each night. It has also helped him understand the concept of time and has given him a sense of ownership in the process so he feels excited about nap/bedtime instead of it being a struggle each day. We are excited to have found this product that has helped tremendously!”

3. Little Hippo’s MELLA - The MELLA is not only adorable but has additional features that are so helpful. It can actually be an alarm clock for older children, the sleep sounds options include white noise, ocean, or lullaby music, it’s night light has five color options, and it can be used as a timer (where it either uses sound or color to let you know that a nap, quiet time, or timeout is over). One of the unique features is that a yellow light appears 30 minutes before the green time-to-rise light, letting your child know that wake-up time is soon and they can play in their bed for a while.

From our team:
“Although our little 20-month-old is still in a crib, we decided to try using MELLA with her to prevent her calls for “Mama! Mama!” at 5:30am. The first day I introduced MELLA, she absolutely loved its little happy face, as well as the little sleeping face that it changed to when 7pm hit (the time I set it to “sleep”). I explained that in the morning, MELLA’s light would turn on when it was time to get up, and she shouldn’t call for me until then. Miraculously, it worked right from the first morning! At exactly 7am, I was woken up with an excited shout of “Mama!” - and the first thing she wanted to do when I got her out of her crib was to run over to MELLA and say hi. It has been several days now, and she is still loving it - and even better, I’m getting to sleep in!”

*For 10% off your purchase, use this link: http://littlehippo.com/mysweetsleeper