A sleeping toddler is a priceless thing to witness! I love when I sneak in after Vann has fallen asleep and I can watch him rest peacefully. I take that time to say a prayer and thank God for my son.
With that said, to get him to sleep is at times a different story and once upon a time to keep him in his room was an issue as well. Around the time he was two and a half and Maggie was born, Vann began getting out of his bed earlier and sometimes not staying in bed for his full nap. I posted asking for some recommendations because 5:45 am was a bit crazy to be waking up when we didn't have to. A few friends told me to check out the OK to Wake! Children's Alarm Clock. I didn't have anything to lose so I ordered the clock.

It was at my door 2 days later and I made a BIG deal out of it. I told Vann how this little "friend" was there to help him sleep and he would light up green when it was ok to come see Mommy and Daddy in the morning. At naptime it can also be set to turn green to notify him he can come out of his room. I was STUNNED the next morning when he waited until his clock turned green to come out. I think it had a lot to do with the big deal I made out of it and that excitement has lasted! I love that it was a simple solution to help him rest, help us get that extra sleep, or allow us to get ready before he was up!

Here's how we use the clock: 

Setting up expectations: The first week we had the clock we gradually set the alarm clock closer to the time we wanted him to get up. My goal for him was 7 am. He was waking up anywhere from 545 am to 645 am. I started out at 6:30 am. Before he fell asleep I let him know the clock, his "friend, would turn green when it was time for him to wake up. I explained that the clock was really smart and knew exactly when to turn green. The next morning I watched on the monitor as he sat on the floor in his room and waited for it to turn green.When it turned green he ran to find us and wanted us to come see. We made a huge deal about it and told him what a great job he did waiting for the green light to come on. That week we continued to move the clock back by 5 minutes each night. By the end of the week he was coming out of his room at 7 am and we were ecstatic! I even changed it to 7:05 a few months ago and he continued to follow that routine until the recent time change.

Naptime: I use the nap timer with the light feature. I set the timer for the amount of time I would like him to nap. It is set for 2 hours. Typically it takes him 20-30 minutes to fall asleep at naptime, so the light turns on after 2 hours and he sees it when he wakes up.

Time Change: Time change has made me so grateful for the Ok to Wake! Alarm Clock. I changed his clock to fall back, but I didn't reset the alarm to transition him to the time change. On Sunday morning, I saw on the monitor that he woke up about 6:15 am. BUT he waited until 6:45 am to come out of his room. He didn't realize the time had changed so it felt like 7:45 am to him. He said, "my clock is broken because it didn't light up!" I love that he waited 30 minutes for the light to go off. It shows me that he looks forward to the light and it is making a difference in our morning. I have now started going through the process of training him to get used to the new time and moved his clock back to 6:45 and increased it by 5 minutes each night and we are back on track.

**There is an alarm instead of the light, but for our purpose we don't want to wake him. I can see how that will be useful when he begins school and has to wake up earlier.

I am impressed with this invention and share with all my friends who have an early riser! You can buy it several places. I bought ours on Amazon and it's currently on sale at Target!