How to effectively use a toddler clock as a morning cue
- Erin Flynn-Evans, PhD, MPH
- May 17
- 6 min read
So many parents tell us that they bought an expensive toddler clock hoping it would solve their child's early waking issues. Unfortunately, just setting it up and expecting your child to abide by the clock doesn't work for many children. A morning cue can be a great way to teach your child to understand when night ends and day begins, but you need to put in a little effort for it to be effective.
The Science
There aren't any studies that we could find on this exact issue, so it's hard to know how many children will respond to the introduction of a morning cue. There is, however, a lot of information on early childhood development, behavior, and sleep that we can use to develop the most effective implementation of a toddler clock/cue.
As toddlers grow, they begin to test limits and assert their preferences about many things (e.g., "I don't like carrots," "I want pink socks, not blue socks" etc.). Mornings can be a tricky time because often children don't have any way to tell when night ends and morning begins. Using sunrise as a cue is ineffective because it gets progressively earlier over the course of the summer.
If the sun is up when your toddler wakes up, it will be particularly difficult for your child to fall back to sleep because light is a signal to the circadian rhythm to wake up.
Sleep is also very light in the early morning hours, so a subtle noise like birds chirping, a neighbor's car starting, or a parent getting ready for the day can be enough to cause a child to wake early.
If your child is in a bed, an early waking likely means you'll have an early morning visitor because toddlers often do not recognize that they are still in need of sleep. A morning cue helps your child understand that it's not time to get up yet, which can ultimately lead to longer sleep.
What is a toddler clock/morning cue?
A toddler clock is a morning cue that is often not a true clock. It might be a nightlight that changes color or a clock that displays a picture of a sun during the day and the moon at night. Many of these devices are quite expensive, but you can achieve the same effect by plugging a nightlight into a smart outlet or "security" or "lamp" timer (basically an adapter that you plug in that can be set to activate whatever is plugged into it at a specific time).
What age should you introduce a morning cue?
We usually recommend introducing a morning cue after 18 months. It's ok to introduce a morning cue even if your child is in a crib and doesn't wake too early. Building a morning cue into your morning routine can help prevent future sleep issues.
How can a morning cue help your child wake up later?
The idea behind a morning cue is that you set the cue to turn on at a specific time in the morning and tell your child that s/he needs to stay in bed until the cue signals that it's time to get up.
The problem is that most young toddlers won't grasp the concept that the morning cue is meaningful and many older toddlers won't have the impulse control to stay in bed until the morning cue activates.
How can you use a morning cue effectively?
A morning cue can be a great tool to help your child understand when to sleep and when it's time to get up, but you'll need to do a few things to make it work.
Before you introduce a morning cue:
Choose the right cue. As noted above, you don't need an expensive clock to make this work, but avoid any toddler clocks that shine light in your child's room at night. If you must have a nightlight feature on during the night, make sure it's dim and red. Avoid blue, green, and white light because these colors are stronger stimuli for the circadian system.
If your child is under age two, it's best to use a simple on-off lighting cue. If your child is older than two, you can choose an option that is a little more complicated, like a clock that changes pictures.
Practice with your child first. Use a stuffed animal, doll, older sibling, or other parent to model the behavior you expect. For example, set the cue to activate after 3-5 minutes. Put your child's teddy bear to bed, say "good night" and leave with your child. After a minute or two, say, "I hear teddy calling." Go back to your child's room and say, "teddy, it's not time to get up yet, try to sleep." Then, leave with your child. Once the cue activates, go back to the room, point to your clock/nightlight/lamp and say, "look, it's ok for teddy to get up, good morning teddy!" This will help introduce the concept to your child.
When you introduce the morning cue:
Set your child up for success. Set the cue to turn on close to when you expect your child to wake up. This may seem strange because the point of introducing a cue is to keep your child in bed, but toddlers have little patience. If you set the cue to activate at 7 am, but your child is up at 6:30 am, it's unlikely your child will be willing to wait in bed for 30 minutes on those first few days. Instead, set the cue to activate at 6:40 am so your child can be successful without getting too frustrated. If your child won't wait 10 minutes, set the cue for BEFORE you expect your child to get up to start.
Parents must obey the clock too. If you don't respect the morning cue, your child never will. If your child is awake at 6:30 am and the cue isn't set to activate until 7 am, you'll need to stay in "night mode" until the cue activates. This might mean sitting in your child's room and quietly repeating "it's still time to sleep" or using an approach like Silent Return to Sleep until the morning cue activates.
HINT: using a smart outlet or app-based toddler clock will allow you to cheat and turn the cue on early via the app. For example, if you set the cue for 7:00 am and your child is awake at 6:00 am, you can "give up" but turning the cue on via the app at 6:15 am, cut your losses and start your day.
Celebrate when the cue activates. Even if the morning was challenging, make a BIG deal when the cue activates. For example, say, "Look! the light has changed, it's time to get up!"
Slowly shift later. Once your child understands how the cue works, slowly shift the cue a little later each day, until you reach your target wake time.
Need more help?
Check out our other blogs on toddler sleep issues. If you also have a baby, check out our 0-6 month and 6-15 month classes. If you just need to talk things through with someone, please feel free to book a one-on-one consultation with us. We are always happy to help.
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References
LeBourgeois, M.K., Carskadon, M.A., Akacem, L.D., Simpkin, C.T., Wright Jr, K.P., Achermann, P. and Jenni, O.G., 2013. Circadian phase and its relationship to nighttime sleep in toddlers. Journal of biological rhythms, 28(5), pp.322-331.
Simpkin, C.T., Jenni, O.G., Carskadon, M.A., Wright Jr, K.P., Akacem, L.D., Garlo, K.G. and LeBourgeois, M.K., 2014. Chronotype is associated with the timing of the circadian clock and sleep in toddlers. Journal of sleep research, 23(4), pp.397-405.
Forquer, L.M. and Johnson, C.M., 2005. Continuous white noise to reduce resistance going to sleep and night wakings in toddlers. Child & family behavior therapy, 27(2), pp.1-10.
Bathory, E. and Tomopoulos, S., 2017. Sleep regulation, physiology and development, sleep duration and patterns, and sleep hygiene in infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children. Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, 47(2), pp.29-42.