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Parenting

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Original poster

Do these sleep training clocks work on toddlers? Any other advice?

23 replies

Preposteroushypothesis · 13/02/2013 10:54

Hello everyone!

I'm having problems with my very headstrong 2 year old and sleeping at night. She has always slept quite well, we practiced controlled crying when she was younger which was very successful...

Ok so in November she went into a toddler bed as she had started to climb out of her cotbed. She took the transition really well and loves her new bed. However, where as previously if she woke at night she would self settle she now gets out of bed and comes through to our bed. She is horrendous to sleep with as she fidgets a lot and I get no sleep at all so I am not keen on this! Just taking her back to bed does not work and even sitting or lying with her until she falls asleep is not going down well! We were thinking of going back to controlled crying and just being strict and keep putting her back to bed until she gives in (this is what we do if she is playing up with going to bed in the first place and usually works but she does sometimes throw a right strop about it and being a 2 year old she is very loud now, not so great at 2am!)

We were thinking of getting one of these sleep training clocks to help in the process (the ones that go green when its ok for them to get up) but she was only 2 in December so I'm not sure if she's a little young for this? Any advice on this or any other tips would be amazing!! I'm currently pregnant and working full time so being up from 2-5:30am like last night with her really needs to stop!!

OP posts:

SandWitch · 13/02/2013 10:59

Hi there,
Rather than the clock, we used a night light (just a normal, very low watt bulb in an ordinary lamp).
If the light is on = you should still be in bed.

It is on a timer so goes off at 7am and dc know that they can get up.

We started this when ds was about 2 and it still works a treat four years later.

Isabeller · 13/02/2013 11:04

I thought you meant a lumie alarm clock and I thought 'what a good idea'. I don't know if it would work but they have a sunrise/sunset function that triggers the waking up/dropping off bit of your brain.

Meglet · 13/02/2013 11:05

It didn't work on mine. He knew he couldn't get up until the sun came up but he figured out how to unlock it and make the sun rise on the second day. Even with bribes he wouldn't stay quietly in his room until the 'sun' came up. I tried various combinations of clock / bribes / sanctions for a year then got rid of it.

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fairylightsinthesnow · 13/02/2013 11:27

Gro clock didn't work on ours either - it occasionally works now (he's 3.5) if I bribe him with something good but not really worth it I don't think. I also found that the glow on it was too strong even if you turned it right down and if he work up at 1am it would prevent him from just going straight back to sleep.

Original poster

Preposteroushypothesis · 13/02/2013 11:47

Hmmm see this is what I am concerned about...my DD is very stubborn and I'm not convinced it will work and some of the ones I've seen are about £30! A lot to spend if it doesn't work but I didn't know you could get simple night lights on a timer so maybe that would be worth a shot as I can't imagine that would be too expensive.

For those that this didn't work, what did you do in the end? Or are you still battling?

OP posts:

Meglet · 13/02/2013 11:57

I gave up, he'll be a teenager one day and I'll get my own back. He's 6 now and at weekends will sometimes lie low until 7:30 but he often comes into my room around 6am. I get more pissed off than I should but I'm a LP so never get a decent sleep and like to get up before the dc's and get organised.

(that's not what you wanted to hear is it).

Original poster

Preposteroushypothesis · 13/02/2013 12:01

Not really meglet

Getting up early is not really an issue, it's just the waking in the night, which seems to be getting more and more frequent but it looks like may just have to hope its a phase that she will grow out of!!

OP posts:

notyummy · 13/02/2013 12:16

Worked for us with (then) 2.5 year old dd. It takes perseverance at the beginning- we used rapid return for the first couple of mornings. We made a big deal of it emphasising how grown up she was and bought new bedding and a new book to look at in the morning 'for the grown up girl who is staying in bed.' It has been a godsend- I think you need the timing right when you start it. Too young and they don't understand and have no self control. Too late and a habit of coming through is engrained and harder to break. We also did it at the same time as moving to a bed from a cot.

SandWitch · 13/02/2013 13:22

The one we use is not a specific night light on a timer.

It is just an ordinary lamp which is plugged into one of these

We just have a very low energy bulb in the lamp.

I think one of the reasons that it worked was that recognising if it is on, or off is instant, iyswim. We looked at the whole 'Bunny ears clock' type things, but did not think that it would work with a two year old.

Original poster

Preposteroushypothesis · 13/02/2013 13:34

Oh I see, that's really helpful sandWitch thank you! Will give that a try, combined with a reward system of sorts, and if that doesn't work I will throw a tantrum of my own try and think of something else. Thanks everyone!

OP posts:

MrsB74 · 13/02/2013 16:24

The groclock worked for my twins, along with consistently taking/telling them to go back to bed, I think they realised they weren't getting any attention and gave in! One of my girls did shout a bit at first, but I just calmly told her it was still sleep time and took her back to bed.I love my sleep and constant night wakings (when they are not ill or anything obviously) drove me a bit nuts with sleep deprivation. Also make sure she is warm enough and not hungry. We gave supper, bought new warmer bedding and got a groclock to cover all the bases!

plipplops · 13/02/2013 19:16

We love our groclocks! You do need to persist with them but we told them that if the star's asleep then me and DH are asleep so they need to stay in bed. I think it gave them a sense of what was going on in the night as well as they could see the stars disappearing (there are 12 and they disappear each hour through the night) so if they woke up they knew if it was nearly morning etc. Def use the child lock though, but for the two of them was one of the best £60 we ever spent.

patchesmcp · 14/02/2013 15:04

Gro clocks are £19.95 on Amazon at the moment, with free delivery.

Ours hasn't really worked (DC is almost 2) and we've been using it for a month or so. However, we haven't really persevered with it, as he wakes up crying in the night and just gets hysterical if we go in but don't get him out of his cot. Think he is dreaming now because he sometimes talks in his sleep.

One thing it has been great at though is getting him to go to bed as he loves saying goodnight to the sun.

One other thing is DC is used to sleeping in the dark and so we have the clock on the lowest setting (so you can't see the stars counting down) as otherwise it gives off a ridiculous amount of light in a small room. I don't think it'll help if they can't see the stars when they wake up in the night.

TheBeanAndTheBee · 14/02/2013 15:15

Gro-clock has worked brilliantly for us! DD1 is 2.10 and we got it at the same time as moving her into her big bed.

Fuzzymum1 · 15/02/2013 18:33

Another groclock fan here. We got one when DS3 moved into a bed at around 2.6. It's brilliant. It comes with a story book that explains the concept of the clock and we practiced with it one afternoon - setting it to wake up after a few minutes. We pretended to go to bed, and then when it woke up we got up and made a big deal of it being 'morning' He's six now and we still get greeted every morning at 7.10am with a little voice saying "My sun is awake"

smellysocksandchickenpox · 15/02/2013 18:35

we had the monkey one from jojomamanbebe for dd, worked for a week or so then the novelty wore off and she worked out how to turn it on and off hersels so just played with it

loobloo · 15/02/2013 21:34

We love our Groclock! All our friends kids have got them as well. DS used to wake up between 5.30-6 every morning. Within a week of having the clock he was staying in his room until the sun came out at 7. Had to be consistent with returning him to his room and repeating don't come out until the sun comes out. Also helps at night because we can point out that there are still stars out so he has to be in bed. Then he tends to fall back a sleep watching the stars.

LenaP1 · 16/01/2019 10:46

I have been properly sleep- training my 2-year old son for 2 weeks now. He sleeps on his own in his bed after we have read a story (he sleeps in the same room with his 5 year old sister). The problem is that he wakes up in the middle of the night (2-3 times) and wants to come to our bed. I take him by the hand and put him back to his bed and stay for a while until he is almost asleep. Quite often he protests and insists to come to our bed, he is asking for milk or a story etc. My sleep is fragmented (if I manage to get any sleep afterwards) and I am barely functioning through the day. I started the sleep-training because I let him sleep with us for a period (after being exhausted of putting him back to his bed, it was constant) but this only made matters worse as his sister was waking up to join us! So, eventually I said each to their bed and started proper sleep-training! The thing is, although I have seen a small improvement, I don't know what to do. My husband is thinking of sleeping on a couch in their room, I am not sure it is a good idea. Any advice?

Cutesbabasmummy · 17/01/2019 11:30

It works for my son (4 years ol in two weeks) but did not work at all for my nephew (4 in September). Last week my nephew was up at 4,30am.

Anonalongadingdong123 · 17/01/2019 14:59

Resort to bribery? Is your DD old enough to be enticed by the reward of a small treat if she stays in her bed. Consistent and reassuring approach if she gets out of bed. Similar approach to potty training. Loads of praise and fuss if she improves?

LenaP1 · 17/01/2019 15:54

Thank you! Bribery does not work at 2:00 am as he is only 2 :)
I think we will have to be consistent and follow through. Of course it has to do with the child as well but we will persevere!

Luna9 · 18/01/2019 07:50

Don't give up; sleep train her again. I had to do it twice with my children; youngest one when she was 9 months and again when she was nearly 3 and she started getting up/wanting me to stay awake in her room, I did it for a month and put a mattress in her room until I got sick of it and decide to sleep train her again/control crying; my sleep is very important and there is no way I can sleep with a child on my bed. When they were older enough to understand (3 years old) I told them to wake me up only if they are not feeling well/are sick. They are both good sleepers and let us sleep in on the weekends

nollaig16 · 18/01/2019 11:48

It's really tough. Our dc is only sleeping through and getting up later now she's nearly 5. Nothing really worked and it kept changing. So for a while she was getting up at half five. Then she changed to waking up at two hour intervals every night - think 12, 2, 4. It's been non-stop really, even though she slept quite well before she was one year old. Gro clock didn't work at all. In my opinion, that only works with a very placid and easy going child. We are just getting a break from it all now and she will often wake up around half 7 or 8 if no one wakes her. I think that children are all so different. I am amazed when I hear about kids sleeping through solidly even through the toddler years. My experience is just don't get too worked up and just go with it.

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