How to use an okay to wake clock

If you have a toddler and you’re struggling with early wakings, you’ve probably had someone suggest that you get an okay to wake clock! I find that people fall into 1 of 2 camps when they talk about this tool. They either swear by them and think they are the greatest invention OR they dislike them because the okay to wake clock “didn’t work.” But can I tell you a secret? Those in the second camp often feel like the clocks don’t work because they aren’t using them correctly.

As someone in camp 1 who is obsessed with my okay to wake clock, I put together step by step instructions for exactly how to use an okay to wake clock so that it works for you as any sleep tool should. Keep reading to learn how to teach your toddler to stay in their room until their clock light turns on and it’s actually wake up time. (Also, be sure to check out my blog for solving early wakings and use those tips in conjunction with these instructions)

Step 1: Age matters

You can start using an okay to wake clock whenever you would like but for best results, your child should be 2+ years of age. They need to be old enough to understand the concept: When the light is off, you stay in bed. When the light is on, it’s wake up time and you can get up.

There’s nothing wrong with using an okay to wake clock from a much earlier age- in fact it’s a great way to build this pattern early on. But don’t expect them to fully understand or follow the clock before the age of 2 years.  It’s also never too late to introduce an okay to wake clock. If your child is 3, 4, or even 5+ years of age, you can still use an okay to wake clock. As long as you are ready to follow through with the following steps, your child can learn to use the clock no matter how old they are.

Step 2: Get your child involved

When we introduce the okay to wake clock, we want your child to feel involved and like they are part of the team. Get them excited about the clock before it even arrives. Show them pictures of it and let them know it’s on the way. Make a fun countdown for when it will be delivered. Have them help you open and unbox it. Really try to pull them into the excitement so they have ownership of this new sleep tool.

Depending on the type of okay to wake clock that you purchase, you may get to decide what color the clock will turn when it’s wake up time. Personally, I use the Hatch and my girls love the color blue so I let them use blue as the color that means “Time to wake up!”

Another favorite option is to use green as the color the okay to wake clock turns in the morning. Green means go and this is an easy concept for kids to catch onto. Plus, if your child needs a nightlight, you can use red as the night light color (ideal for melatonin production), and red means stop. Using red and green as your light colors can make the colors easy to keep track of for your child.

On top of building this excitement, it’s important to also be prepping your child about what the okay to wake clock will mean. You may feel like a broken record but keep talking about it. Bring it up at random times throughout the day like in the car, while brushing teeth, during dinner, etc. Do flash quizzes with your little one: “What does it mean when the light is off?” “Sleep time!” “What does it mean when the light is green?” “Wake up time!” Keep it light and fun but try to prepare for it at least once a day.

Step 3: Slowly ease them in

Once the light is delivered and all set up, you’ll want to start using it right away. But it’s important to ease your child into their desired wake up time. For example, if your child is currently waking at 5am but you want them to sleep until 6:30am, you’re not going to start right at 6:30am- that would be really challenging.

Instead, start right where you are (in this example, that’s 5am) so your child can experience the light turning on and you can praise them that very first day they use it. Then every couple of days you can shift the wake up time about 15 minutes later until the light is turning on at your desired wake up time.

It can also be helpful to give older children some concrete things they can do if they wake up and their light isn’t on yet. Encourage them to flip their pillow over and try to get resettled. Talk to them about how if they can’t sleep, that’s okay. They can lay quietly and rest their body instead. Try to avoid putting undue pressure or stress on them to fall back asleep in the morning and instead focus on encouraging them to do something quiet and calming instead. They can control their actions even if they may struggle to actually fall back asleep at first.

Step 4: Reward them when they follow the clock

Every single morning, be sure to greet them when the light turns on and as you do, point out the clock and say something like, “Your clock is green so that means it’s wake up time!” This is a great way to greet them with verbal praise. We want to be able to offer this often at first, which is why we start with the light turning green at their typical wake up time now. We want them to get that positive feedback now even though it will get harder for them as the light shifts later and later.

I also recommend creating some kind of a sticker chart that they can work on. Each morning they stay in bed until their light turns on, they get a sticker. Then have some prizes that would entice them that they can earn along the way. That may be ice cream sundaes, a movie night, a trip to the dollar store to pick out an item, game night, a new book, etc. Whatever you know will feel like a reward to your child, go for it!

When you create your sticker chart, try to offer the first reward right away after morning 1. Then start to space the rewards out further and further so that it requires more good mornings with stickers before they receive their next reward. This once again allows them to get a good taste of how it feels to follow the okay to wake clock early on and then as it gets harder to follow the clock, they will be able to remember that feeling and try to get back to it.

Step 5: Enforce the boundary when they don’t

This is an extremely important step. Step 5 is often where I see parents get off track. We’ve done so many wonderful things to help your child buy into this process and be excited about it. But what happens if they just aren’t into it? If they aren’t having it and they seem to not care whether the light is on or not? That is where this enforcing piece comes in.

Some children will be extremely proud of themselves and motivated by praise and rewards. Other children will not be very motivated by those things and instead they will need to see you clearly holding the boundaries. They will need to see that even if they don’t care about the okay to wake clock- you do. 

When your child wakes up before their light is on it is very important that you do not let them start their day. If they are upset, you’ll go into their room, point out the clock and gently remind them that “Your clock isn’t green yet. It’s still nighttime.” And then you will treat it like a night waking. That means you won’t be going in to quickly snuggle them back to sleep. You won’t be pulling them into your bed so everyone can get some extra shut eye. You won’t be making them breakfast and turning the tv on for them. All of those actions would show them that you don’t mean what you say and that the clock is just for show.

If you want the okay to wake clock to “work” you’ve got to follow it. Even when it’s hard. I promise, it won’t be hard forever. Once they see you are enforcing the okay to wake clock, they will stop testing that boundary so much. It will get easier. But you have to be willing to push through before you can get to the other side.

Step 6: Stay consistent

Solving early wakings can be a challenge, especially with those tricky toddlers. But you can do it! And using these steps to implement an okay to wake clock will go a long way towards helping you both through this process. Remember, an okay to wake clock is a tool, not a magic solution. It will work for you but you have to work as well. 

Expect for this process to take a couple weeks of consistency for things to settle down. Anytime you break that consistency and don’t follow the clock, expect it to take a bit longer. 

Struggling with more than just early wakings for your toddler? Let’s chat and find the right sleep package for your family and your sleep goals!