The Alarm Clocks We Use to Get Our Kids Out of Bed and Ready for School
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Waking up is no easy task. As a deep sleeper, I took a frustratingly long time to discover that I need a loudalarm clock, somewhere far from my nightstand, accompanied by a bright light, to make sure I wake up on time. I only realized it through years of trial and error after missing one too many classes in college — not always a luxury parents have when dealing with a kiddo who doesn’t get out of bed easily. So I spoke with three Strategist staffers with kids about the alarms they use to ensure their little ones wake up on time and stay on schedule. Their answers varied with recommendations forsunrise alarm clocks, a speaker that doubles as an alarm, and one with a full-blown task-management system.
A simple, great alarm for kids
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Yoto’s Mini speaker— which can also be used to play music via physical cards that you buy separately — came up more frequently in my chats with the parents of the Strategist than any other. Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio has used the Yoto to help get both of her kids — ages 8 and 11 — out of bed on time for over three years. Lauren Ro, a senior Strategist writer, says her oldest son, 7, has been using one for a little over a year. He used to have difficulty waking up, but she said the Yoto has been working exceptionally well.
Nearly everything is managed from the Yoto app (available for bothiOSandAndroid), and you can create multiple alarms, as well as set a routine so the alarm only goes off on certain days. Trolio says it works similarly to iPhone’s Alarms feature. You can set the volume for each specific alarm, rather than all of them playing at whatever volume the speaker is already set to.
For younger kids, Trolio says the fact that alarms must be managed in app is mostly a plus but may not be ideal for older kids. “My kids are getting old enough that especially for the rising fifth-grader, I would like her to be able to manage the alarm-setting herself,” she says. That would, however, require your kid tohave their own smartphone.
Another caveat, Trolio notes, is the Yoto must be connected to the internet for the alarm to work. That likely won’t present any major issues if you plan on keeping this on your kid’s nightstand or somewhere else near an outlet but is worth noting in case your area is prone to power outages during storms. She also says both of her kids would prefer more sound choices — you can’t use any of Yoto’s music cards as alarms.
An alarm clock with options for creating routines and setting reminders
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If your kid’s routine needs more of an assist than just sounding an alarm every morning, get them the Skylight Buddy. Ro’s younger son, 4, has been using it for about a month, and she says she was interested in it due to its potential for task management. Like Skylight’s much largerCalendar 2, which you can use in conjunction with the device, the Buddy allows you to create tasks (one-time items) and chores (recurring tasks) your kid can check off each day. Tasks are separated by time of day — morning, afternoon, evening — while chores get their own section. Ro has her son’s Buddy configured to show tasks such as brushing his teeth, changing his clothes, and eating breakfast. She says her son is particularly fond of pressing the Buddy’s large button when completing a task (you also press this button to turn off alarms).
As an alarm, though, it’s a bit more limited than the Yoto. “It’s annoying that you can’t adjust the alarm by day,” Ro says. “It’s just a one-and-done alarm.” That may be too constrained for families with obligations like Saturday-morning soccer practice or the occasional before-school appointment. If you need to set different alarms for specific days of the week, the Yoto will be a better fit. There could also be more sound options.
All of that’s free, but for $39 per year, you can subscribe to Skylight’s Buddy Plus plan, which adds a few extra features to the device. First, kids can get rewards for completing tasks, giving them even more reason to finish their chores for the day. Senior editor Winnie Yang, whose 10-and-a-half-year-old has been using the Buddy for a few months, likes the custom reminder feature: You can write a message the Buddy will read aloud to your kid at designated times in case they’re prone to forgetting things like grabbing their backpack in the morning. Yang has her own preferred use for it: “I use it primarily to nag my oldest remotely. I can remind her yet again that it’s time to start practicing piano without having to walk over to her room. And this actually makes the nagging less frustrating for both of us.”
A sunrise alarm clock that may help kids who wake too early
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For kids who get out of bedtooearly, there’s the Hatch Baby. Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo has been using one with her son (who’s 3 and a half and has been getting out of bed at 4 a.m.) for about four months. The Hatch’s built-in light is, by default, meant to simulate the sunrise to help ease you out of your slumber, but Corsillo’s been using it to let her kid know when it’s time to get out of bed. “We’re working on the concept that green means you can get up for the day,” she says. “He’s still getting used to the concept — time isn’t really part of his instinct — but he is very proud and happy when he does.”
Like the Yoto, you can set multiple alarms within Hatch’s app, as well as configure which color the light is for each specific alarm. It also has a few other features, like playing white noise before bed, as well as being able to customize the color of the built-in light and turn it on at any time using an on-device button. You can schedule it to play specific sounds and glow in pleasant gradients in the morning, but Corsillo wishes there were a more basic view that didn’t overwhelm with so many options. Still, she says, “now that I have it all set up, it’s excellently thoughtless.”
Other alarm clocks we like
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A sunrise alarm clock you can pair with a fancy lamp.
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A less-expensive sunrise alarm clock with a soft, warm glow.
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