Teach Me Time

Every once in a while a parenting product comes along that seems to make a difference. Over the years I've posted several lists of products we found useful for our babies, but I don't think I've needed to revise the lists much. (Although I would totally add the Ergo Baby Carrier to the list if I were going to update it now! I got mine less than a year ago, and I wish I had gotten it sooner!)

Anyway, I know I have mentioned that for at least the past year, Isaac has started the night by falling asleep peacefully in his own room all by himself, which is terrific and a huge change from the difficult sleep of his baby and toddler days. In the middle of the night, however, he invariably appears in our room, climbs into bed with us, and falls back asleep.

Historically, everyone has enjoyed this. The main problem has been his waking up first in the morning and deciding that I should also wake up. But by letting him watch as much TV as he wants in the morning, I mostly got him trained to leave the room without waking me.

But three things have happened recently:
(1) Isaac became apprehensive about the shadows in his room and wanted a better nightlight.
(2) He is ready to start learning about time.
(3) It turns out I would like to not have to share my pillow with him every night.

He is still sweet and snuggly and I like waking up with him. But I am also old and cranky and increasingly protective of my own sleep. (It's not just Isaac who interrupts my slumber; I've also started kicking the dog out of the bed.) Some nights I don't wake up when Isaac comes in, but most of the time I do, and then I can't fall back asleep until he does. Plus he is getting bigger and monopolizes more of my sleeping space, especially when he sleeps horizontally across the bed! And most of the time he literally does share my pillow, which is cuddly but crowded.

So what is the solution? The Teach Me Time! clock.

It addresses all three issues:
(1) The body of the clock is a bright nightlight which can be programmed to turn on and off at set times.
(2) It has a digital and analog dial, announces the time when a button is pressed, and has games to teach kids to tell time.
(3) The nightlight can be programmed to turn from yellow to green at a set time.

This last feature intrigued me. I set the clock so the yellow nightlight turns on at 8:00 p.m., the time when we turn off Isaac's bedroom light, and I set the nightlight to change to green at 7:30 a.m., the time when Isaac is supposed to wake up. The theory is that when the nightlight turns from yellow to green, the child knows it is okay to wake up -- and knows it is okay to wake up his parents!

Isaac has had the clock for about two weeks, and for the first week he stayed in his own bed all night long. (He came in to wake me at precisely 7:30 on several mornings, however.) The second week the novelty wore off, but he still stayed in his own bed about half the time. Before he got the clock he would be confused when he woke up in the dark, uncertain whether it was night or morning, and he would stumble into our room to find out. Now he knows he can safely go back to sleep when he sees the yellow light, although he doesn't always choose to do so.

I am impressed that a clock can help break a habit of years! And I don't mind having him join me in bed a few nights a week, honestly.

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It's also an alarm clock, but thankfully we don't need to use that feature yet, even with his school schedule.