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5 Best Kids Alarm Clocks of 2021

New parents, we’re sorry, but we’ve got some bad news for you.

The challenge of settling your young into a regular sleeping routine doesn’t end after infancy.

It’s debatable as to what age children truly start to understand the concept of time. Some say as early as 6; others say it’s closer to age 11. The variance will depend on the child, but it’s safe to say that children are continually learning about time and how it works for the better part of their first ten years.

Children of all ages can truly test your patience when it comes to bedtime and wake time. Establishing a regimen to follow is an excellent way to instill proper sleeping habits and regulate everyone’s circadian rhythm. The best kids alarm clocks help kids know when it’s time to sleep, OK to wake, get out of bed, or stay in bed.

Investing in a new alarm clock for your child can help!

Many of these clocks are equipped with child-friendly features and lights to promote more consistent nights of sleep.

To find the best kids alarm clock, we did some digging, and here’s what we found.

LittleHippo Mella Ready-to-Rise Children’s Trainer Alarm Clock

At first glance, the design is adorable and certainly looks the part. Does it work as well as it seems?

Designed as an all-in-one alarm clock and sleep trainer for kids that includes soothing sleep sounds, a nap timer, and night light, Mella has everything you need to help keep your child in bed longer.

So, how does Mella work?

First, it allows you to set a desired sleep time for each night. Mella “sleeps” with your child so they know they should stay in bed. Mella will display a sleepy face when it is in sleep mode. Parents can utilize an optional nightlight; with six exciting color choices from which your child can choose.

To make falling asleep easy, Mella comes equipped with three peaceful sleep sound options; white noise, ocean, and lullaby. Parents can choose from five volume levels.

A half an hour before wake time, Mella glows yellow and displays a playful, yet not fully awake expression. This mode encourages your child to play quietly before it is time to get out of bed for the day.

Finally, green means go! When it’s time to rise, Mella glows green and greets your child with a big happy smile. For parents with young ones who like sleeping-in, Mella will glow green for an hour just in case.

Mella also features three Bluetooth speaker alarm types to get your child’s day off to the perfect start.

When it’s nap time, parents can utilize the timer. The timer can countdown naps as well as a timeout or other activities. Mella has both a silent and a sounding alarm.

Included in the box along with the digital clock are one type-A A/C power adapter, a 4ft., detachable USB cable, a CR2032 battery for memory settings, and an instruction manual.

Big Red Rooster Sleep Training Alarm Clocks for Kids

Big Red Rooster may be the company’s name, but it’s a cute puppy that represents this alarm clock design. It lets a kid know when it’s OK to wake up and comes with a Bluetooth speaker.

The puppy has a ball in front of him, and its two colors indicate sleep and wake times. When your child should be asleep, the ball glows red. When it’s time to wake up, it turns green. Simple yet effective!

For parents who are concerned that the ball may distract or prevent their child from falling or staying asleep, it does have adjustable brightness. The brightness can be set to “off,” 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.

Parents can also toggle the duration of the green wake up light. Available options are 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 90 seconds, and 2 minutes.

There is a hidden “parent compartment” in the back to prevent children from pressing buttons and changing settings on their own.

Although the hidden compartment serves a purpose, buyer beware; it isn’t particularly hard for your child to get into it and start pressing buttons if they know it’s there.

Big Red Rooster’s kids alarm clocks feature two alarm times as well as a nap timer. The nap timer can be set anywhere from 1 minute to twelve hours.

There are separate controls for the child. One is a backlight button they can press that turns the LCD on for 10 seconds. The other button turns the buzzing sound or green light off – this is how they wake up.

Speaking of the buzzer. Parents can turn it on or off.

Turning the buzzer off sets the alarm clock so that the green light illuminates at wake time without making noise. Turning the buzzer off is a good way to teach your child to wake up on their own more consistently.

These alarm clocks are suitable for children ranging from 24 months to seven years. It includes an AC adapter, but also runs on 3 AA batteries, which aren’t included.

DAYOO Kids Alarm Clock / Sleep Trainer

Children can be finicky, but most should quickly warm up to DAYOO’s “Yoko” baby chick alarm clock design.

In fact, these alarm clocks double as toys. Yoko serves several purposes.

In addition to being safe enough to play with, Yoko displays the date, indoor temperature, and looks great as a standalone LED nightlight.

Suitable for ages 2-12+, Yoko has three levels of LED brightness. Parents and children can control the light through touch.

These alarm clocks are made of soft silicone and ABS material. We’d still suggest supervision if your young child decides to make Yoko a part of playtime, but it is relatively safe and is quality certified.

As far as Yoko’s other features are concerned:

There are three alarm settings, allowing parents to configure individual weekday or weekend settings for different wakeup times. There’s also a 5-minute snooze button accessible to the child, so they can learn to wake up on their own.

Yoko comes with a USB charger and has a built-in lithium-ion battery. One full charge will last approximately 15 days.

From 8 pm-6 am, Yoko enters “quiet mode” and will not chirp.

Yoko is easy to set. The buttons are on the bottom of the unit. These alarm clocks are also both compact and environmentally friendly.

Although it is relatively durable and will stand up to some minor bumps and bruises, Yoko isn’t designed to withstand rough play or sustain bigger drops or impact.

Parents can set the clock for either 12- or 24-hour time, and can also toggle the temperature display between Fahrenheit and Celsius.

FiveHome Sleep Training Kids Alarm Clock

FiveHome’s alarm clocks for kids have a slight resemblance to LittleHippo’s “Mella.” And to contrast Big Red Rooster’s puppy clock, we now get a cat!

These alarm clocks feature several colorful nightlight options, as well as variable facial expressions and colors that signify sleep, wake, and playtimes.

When it’s time to sleep, the cat’s eyes will close, and the sleep light will illuminate. When it’s time to wake up, the wakeup light will last up to 60 minutes. For playtime, the cat will have a playful expression along with a new color.

FiveHome’s alarm clocks for kids come equipped with 28 relaxing sleep sounds to help your child fall asleep soundly. Some of these sleep sounds include rain, birds, white noise, train, and many more. The sleep sounds can be set to play for 15, 30, or 60 minutes.

The backlight is dimmable, and there are two separate alarms; one for weekdays and one for weekends.

There is a snooze option, as well as adjustable volume (10 levels), weather display and child lock.

Parents can choose between 12- and 24-hour time.

The FiveHome alarm clock is made of child-safe ABS material. It includes a USB charging cord and is equipped with a built-in 1800mAh battery.

The ears also illuminate but do not change color like the outer dial.

SkyNature Dual Alarm Clock Owl for Kids

Our last alarm clock is a little more “analog” and is for the more traditional parents out there.

SkyNature’s owl alarm clocks light up and utilize nightlights, but all of the variable color options and settings we’ve seen in earlier reviews fall by the wayside here.

That doesn’t mean this alarm clock is less effective.

It’s just a bit more basic, and more affordable for those seeking an alternative with fewer bells and whistles.

Although this clock features an analog display and a more “old-school” face, its operation is silent thanks to sweeping movements and high-quality quartz. So, you won’t need to worry about distracting ticking coming from the clock keeping your child up at night.

Don’t be fooled, though – this alarm clock isn’t entirely bereft of features.

Pressing the glass dial will illuminate the display for easy viewing when it’s dark. The same action will also activate the snooze in the morning. Each snooze duration lasts 4 minutes until it is switched off.

The alarm on/off is a physical button located at the top, and the dual-alarm sound setting can be toggled in the back of the unit.

As of this publication, SkyNature only appears to have this clock available in pink. So, if you have a boy, you may be out of luck.

That said, there have been blue versions of the same clock produced in the recent past. It is possible they will have blue as an available option again in the near future.

Things to Consider when Purchasing a Kids Alarm Clock

While basic, there are a few things you’ll want to consider before making a purchase. Especially if your son or daughter is on the finicky side. Something as simple as a child not liking the design or the color of the light can be enough to deter them from wanting it at their bedside.

To prevent yourself from winding up in a conundrum, here are a few things to keep in mind before you click the “buy” button.

Design and Illumination

You’ll notice that many kids alarm clocks mimic pets or animals. The clocks are meant to look friendly and playful – like your child has a friend at their bedside to keep them safe while they sleep.

Having the freedom to adjust colors and color temperatures can be helpful, as your child will likely have preferences. Clocks with built-in nightlights are always a plus. Most children prefer to have this option available to them.

Safety and Durability

Choose an alarm clock that is made of safe materials like soft silicone or ABS material. Doing so will allow your child to handle the clock – even as a toy – without it being a general safety or choking hazard.

Overall Ease of Use

These alarm clocks should be somewhat operational by the child so that they can feel more “adult” or like they have some semblance of control over hitting the snooze or when to get out of bed for the upcoming day.

Additional Features

We particularly like the alarm clocks that include features like soothing sleep sounds and melodies to help children fall asleep. And again, clocks that allow for different color options are usually a big hit with children. If they can choose their favorite color, they’ll feel more comfortable.

In many cases, the more interactive the alarm is, the better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Although alarm clocks for kids aren’t generally complex, parents do have a few common questions.

What Age Should I Introduce an Alarm Clock to My Child?

Age 2 and up is the general consensus regarding when to begin using an alarm clock with your child.

However, as young as 18 months is suitable in some cases, as are older ages. While it takes children several years to fully grasp the concept of time, the general concept of bedtime and wake time do resonate with younger children.

How Much Sleep Does My Child Need?

Although specific sleep needs can vary slightly by child, the CDC recommends the following:

• Children 1-3 years – 12-14 hours
• Children 3-5 years – 11-13 hours
• Children 5-10 years – 10-11 hours

What are the Best Times to Put My Child to Bed?

Again, it will vary by age. Children anywhere from 15 months – 3 years should generally have a bedtime somewhere between 6-8 pm. From ages 3-5, bedtime can be pushed back a bit closer to 8 or even 8:30.

Choosing a Winner

We really like each of the five clocks we’ve rounded up. All of them are great in their own way and there’s something for everyone.

That said, if we’ve got to take one and only one, we’re going with LittleHippo’s “Mella”.

Mella combines functionality with performance and brings us one of the most complete kid’s alarm clocks on the market right now.

We love the different color and sound options(including a Bluetooth speaker) and feel like this alarm clock combines all of the best features for the best overall experience. It’s more than OK to wake up with!

Additionally, it’s worth noting LittleHippo’s customer service one more time. The company goes well above and beyond if you’re not happy with your purchase for any reason.

Not only has the company refunded customers or replaced defective items, but they’ve even taken customer suggestions and incorporated them into newer models.

Now that’s a company paying attention to their customers!