In Depth Baby Product Reviews Led by a Pediatrician
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Is your toddler interrupting your morning beauty sleep or confused about why Saturday is different? We zeroed in on 4 popular options after considering several well-loved and popular contenders for our hands-on toddler clock testing with real kids. After much use and research, we've narrowed the field to the best choices and included a few words on the not-so-great competition. So whether you want a simple, light-changing game-changer or a mini entertainment system with storytelling capabilities, our roundup has you covered.
The LittleHippo Ready to Rise is a cute little round toddler training clock with changing color indications and six nightlight color options on a timer. This clock features a changing face, three sound machine noises, and a naptime countdown. The Little Hippo feels of nice quality and came to us packaged well with attention to detail. It includes the charging cord, battery, outlet plug, and instruction booklet. The user interface is on the clock's underside with a sliding lock/unlock button that might fool younger children.
With all these attributes, this toddler clock likely has everything you're seeking. That said, we experienced difficulties using all the features, and even with a lot of manual reading, we still struggled with some. Older toddlers will also quickly sort out the parent lock, which makes it feel relatively useless, and they may be able to change the settings, even if you can't. Lastly, the sound machine noises aren't the best, and we weren't fans of its white noise or ocean settings' sounds outside the lullaby. Overall, the Little Hippo feels like a quality clock, and if you can sort out the features, you'll soon have your little one well on their way to waking up later and giving you more sleep. If you prefer a clock that is easier to use right out of the box, check out the user-friendly interface of the Hatch Baby Rest.
The Learn & Climb Kids Ok to Come Out of Bed Clock is a simple star-shaped clock where the star's top part is the “big button.” This star has a front-facing user interface, a digital display that is easy to see, and uses AAA batteries you supply yourself. It does come with a cord and charger, two progress charts to motivate little ones, and a storybook to start kids thinking about when to wake up. Depending on your needs, you can program the clock for a light alarm or light and sound, and it includes a nightlight and a nap countdown option to keep kids on track during nap times.
Overall, this is a helpful and cute little clock with an easier-to-use interface than some competition. However, it still isn't as easy as a traditional alarm clock, and kids will be able to press the buttons and change the settings fairly easily, potentially easier than a grownup would. While we like that this toddler clock doesn't try to be everything to everyone, it is essential to note that it doesn't have additional features, like sounds, teaching, or stories we saw in some competitors. However, if you want a simple color-changing clock to tell little ones when they are allowed to come out of their room, this little star can do the job with relative ease on you and your wallet. For more features, take a look at what the LittleHippo Ready to Rise toddler clock has to offer.
The Hatch Baby Rest is an app-controlled light-up clock for children that you can set and monitor from your phone. We appreciate that parents can set multiple alarms and make adjustments remotely. The sleek design is calming and looks good almost anywhere. The clock is relatively kid-friendly, resisting breakage unless dropped or thrown. Parents can use this clock as a nightlight, a light-changing clock to indicate when to get up, and a noisemaker to soothe little ones or reduce ambient noises. Unlike the competition, you can use the Hatch past the toddler years, and even many adults enjoy the clock.
This clock doesn't have kid-centric features and is limited only to a color change, nightlight, and sound machine. While these are all the features you need to teach your child when is the right time to rise and shine, we worry younger children will lose interest because it isn't playful or interactive. This straightforward clock is perfect for tech-savvy parents who want to control the clock remotely and rely on other items to entertain toddlers. Those shopping for a toddler clock with more kid-friendly features should check out the interactive LittleHippo Ready to Rise.
The Hatch looks more like a remote home control device like Alexa or Google home, which should appeal to tech-savvy parents who enjoy a modern aesthetic.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
New Recall
The Hatch company has isued a recall for the power adapter included in the first generation version of the Hatch. More information about this recall can be found on the CPSC website here.
Type: Digital & Clock Face | Power: Plug with Battery Backup
REASONS TO BUY
Actual clock face
Telling time activity
Kid-friendly face
REASONS TO AVOID
Challenging to use
No, really, Very difficult to use
The Mirari Teach Me Time clock can change colors at a set time and has an audible alarm. This higher-priced choice includes a clock face to familiarize children with actual clocks and interactive activities to help them learn how to tell time using clock hands. It has a “hidden” setup panel, a child-centric design, and plugs in. Our testers were intrigued by the blob design, but toddlers as young as two quickly opened the “hidden” access panel, making it inherently not kid-proof, in our opinion.
While we believe there's importance in teaching little ones how to tell time, this toddler clock feels more like a gimmick than a helpful teaching tool. After a day or two, our testers lost interest and began skipping the time-telling guess part and only pressing the foot to hear the robotic voice say the time. Also, the clock is confusing and challenging to use. With non-intuitive buttons on the back and visual indicators on the front, you can't make adjustments and simultaneously look at what you are doing. Ours didn't come with a manual, but even after we found it online and watched a video, we couldn't figure out how to set the audible alarm (a problem shared by other users). The Teach Me Time is a good idea, but it falls short in execution with a higher price for features you can't figure out and a time game children won't use for long. If you'd like a clock that changes color, we think there are better choices. If you want to teach your child how to tell time, we believe there are less expensive, more fun ways than the Teach Me Time.
The entire clock glows yellow when the nightlight is set for all night
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
No matter which toddler clock you decide is best for you, please use caution and pay attention to manufacturer warning labels when determining age appropriateness and whether or not little ones should have access to the clock. While some options might be designed for some hands-on kid play. Most of the products fall somewhere in the middle, depending on your child's age or maturity.
Kids can quickly learn the magic of color changes indicating restriction changes.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Why Trust GearLab
We purchased each toddler clock in our review, using them for several months with toddler testers. While evaluating the competition, we focused on important metrics that we believe collectively contribute to a product's performance, such as ease of use, kid-proof features, quality, functionality, and entertainment value. Influencing our lineup is child engagement and concept understanding, as the products are somewhat useless without your child's buy-in and comprehension. Determining which toddler clocks to include in our review, we drew from our own experience and hit the bricks with some online research to find other popular choices. We put these clocks through the wringer with kiddos ranging in age from two to eight years old. Ultimately, we discovered vast differences in likability and usability in clocks designed for toddlers.
Senior Review Editor, Wendy Schmitz is a mother of 2 boys and a BabyGearLab team member for the last six years. Wendy has a background in product selection, scientific testing, and baby gear, involving almost every equipment category on BabyGearLab. Wendy was involved in product selection, testing, and analysis of results for the toddler clocks in this roundup and all previous review versions.
The red light on the Tot Clock indicates a time out or stay in bed depending on the setting.
Onaroo Teach Me Time has a soft glowing nightlight feature.
Analysis and Test Results
If your toddler is at your bedside in the middle of the night or is ready to start the day far too early, you are likely dealing with toddler sleep issues and potential sleep deprivation. We know we've been there. For many parents, help comes in a training Toddler Clock.
While the user interface on the Teach Me Time is difficult and not intuitive, getting the access panel open is easy and children will readily be able to open it making it not childproof.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
What's the Best Value?
Can you place a value on uninterrupted sleep? We don't think so, but we understand living on a budget. Luckily, most top-ranking options are under fifty dollars, with an adorable dog-shaped choice almost half that depending on sales. However, the key to any toddler clock working well is: does it keep your little one occupied or teach them to wait until the right time to leave their room and wake up mom or dad? The LittleHippo Ready to Rise costs a little bit more but might be more interactive for older toddlers.
The red color of the Tot Clock indicates trouble and little ones figure this out quickly.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Features and Set Up
All of the clocks in the review have a timer feature and at least one color change alarm that indicates when to rise and shine. We set up and used the clocks as instructed in their user manuals or online information, scrutinizing how easy they were to set and whether or not the interface buttons were intuitive. Some products come with instructions on the clock, and others provide manuals detailing toggling through the buttons.
The Learn & Climb comes with a quick cheat sheet and soft glowing colors on the top of the star.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
The Teach Me Time is the hardest to set up, with only a few buttons that each do multiple things depending on the number of times you press them or how long you hold them down. The instructions for Teach Me Time (online only) aren't much help, and we couldn't figure out how to set its audible alarm. The Hatch Rest app arguably is the easiest, with intuitive icons for adjustments and a simple, straightforward design most parents will feel is familiar. The Little Hippo and the Learn & Climb come with far more convoluted manuals than they should be, and we had trouble setting some features on the Little Hippo. Most toddler clocks have a learning curve, and you will likely need your manual around for a while until you dial in the details.
The icons on the bottom of the Hatch are more intuitive than most of the competition, but the app is far easier to use and can be done outside of your child's room.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Once you sort out how to use them, some toddler clocks have more features than a simple light color change to indicate when it is appropriate to get out of bed. The Teach Me Time has a teaching feature with a robotic-sounding voice that encourages children to guess the time and the ability to press the foot to tell them once they've guessed. The Hatch Rest has a few features directed by parents, such as a noise machine with sounds and lullabies and the ability to work as a nightlight, but there are no kid-centric features that allow kids to interact with the clock itself.
The Little Hippo includes a nap time countdown, snooze features, and three sounds.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
The Little Hippo also includes a few extra features with three sound machine noises and a timed nightlight. The noise options include white noise, ocean waves, and a lullaby. While we like the lullaby, the white noise reminds us of TV fuzz, and the ocean waves sound is loud and somewhat jarring. In our opinion, neither is that soothing, and there is room for improvement here.
Children were attracted to the fun shape and silly face of the Ok to Wake.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Design and Performance
We consider overall design related to a few factors: parental ease of use and attractiveness to children. In short order, it was clear which clocks children preferred and which were mechanically functional and worked to modify a child's sleep behaviors. We had varying levels of success, and the kids had different levels of interest. The Mirari clocks are sort of fun at first; they couldn't stand up to the now-discontinued My Tot Clock either. The Teach Me Time is challenging to use without a parent, and if little ones try to use it on their own, they would likely unplug it, causing it to stop or require a reset. The Hatch Rest is a lovely nursery addition that is bright enough to keep children engaged with the color change, and you can use it as a nightlight, but it isn't intended for hands-on play.
The Little Hippo comes with a coin style battery in the back for cord-free operation.
The Learn & Climb requires batteries you supply to be used cord-free. It works without batteries if you plug it in, but if little ones can reach it, you should add batteries to avoid the need to reset it every time a child pulls it from the plug.
The Little Hippo (above left) and the Learn & Climb (above right) have battery backups so kids can hold them, but there isn't much for kids to do, so the entertainment value is low, and drops could result in breakage.
Both the Learn & CLimb and Little Hippo are well packaged and feel like better quality than about half the competition.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Quality
The Hatch Rest, Little Hippo, and Learn & Climb are the best quality in the bunch, which is an improvement over past versions of this review where only one or two options impressed testers. In our experience and those of other users, most toddler clock materials fail to inspire confidence in longevity and are highly likely to succumb to rough toddler handling. Many have a hard, brittle-feeling plastic that is likely to crack under regular toddler play.
The two Mirari clocks are manufactured better than some with no apparent structural problems, but they look and feel like cheaper plastic. Users claim significant challenges with the Mirari clocks no longer functioning or falling apart quickly and easily. Ours had trouble within the first year or two.
Both Mirari clocks have a back panel that is not kid proof and was easy for children to open without assistance before they even saw an adult do it.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Kid-Proofing
Most toddler clocks attempt to kid-proof the buttons or features, but very few manage this feat. The Mirari clocks claim to have a “childproof” "concealed" compartment for their buttons. However, the tot testers in our review popped the panels open in under 20 seconds without prompting, help, or prior knowledge of the location or functionality. The Hatch is probably the second most kid-proof clock in the review as it is relatively sturdy in construction, and most kids won't be interested in holding or playing with it. The Learn & Climb (below left) had forward-facing buttons that are easy to see and access, and we suspect toddlers might be able to adjust things more easily than adults.
The Learn & Climb has front-facing user buttons. This means little ones can press anything they want any time they want with no childproofing.
The Little Hippo user interface is on the bottom of the clock and includes a lock sliding button.
The Little Hippo has the user interface on the bottom (above right) and a sliding parent lock, but it is just for show, and most little ones will sort this out in short order. However, we will admit that changing the Little Hippo might be harder for kids as you have to press the buttons in a specific order that kids may not figure out.
The Mirari clocks, Little Hippo, and the Learn & Climb all appear somewhat fragile, and we worry about use over time if children hold or move them too much. Therefore, we suspect they are not childproof and wouldn't hold up to regular handling.
Two impressive clocks include the Big Red Rooster and the Hatch Rest, both new editions to this lineup and both far better than some of the older options we've tested.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Conclusion
Choosing a useful sleep-training toddler clock can be the difference between getting a whole night's sleep and waking before dawn on a toddler's whim. While a toddler-specific sleep training clock is not necessary for everyone, it could be a huge help if your little one is having trouble determining when it is ok to wake up and play or when they need to return to bed. We believe there is a toddler clock in this review right for most families, no matter your budget or goals. We were thrilled to see new products that are higher quality and more interesting than those we've previously tested.
