That’s a pretty bold statement, but it’s one my husband and I can happily make. And I want to share with you how YOU can help your child keep from waking up too early (especially during these summer days).

My five-year-old is an EARLY riser. Sleeping in for him meant 6:30. School got out at the end of May for us, and I knew that something needed to change. Because I work from home, with the kids out of school, I need to get 2-3 hours of work in before my son wakes up. I was concerned because I knew that most mornings he was up at 6:00-6:15. The math wasn’t working, and something had to give!

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Enter, this WONDERFUL machine: The Hatch Baby! Friends, I cannot tell you how quickly and easily this little device changed our lives. Over the course of about a week, my son went from waking up at 5:45 or 6:00 to sleeping in until 7:45 . . . EVERY MORNING!

The best way I can describe the Hatch Baby is that it is a combination sound-machine and nightlight, with an added all-important “time to rise” feature. I read a lot of reviews and articles about Hatch Baby going in, because – let’s be honest – I was skeptical. We’d tried similar alarm clock-type products before with no luck. But the more I read, the more I was convinced to give Hatch Baby a go. While it does have a sound machine, our goal in purchasing one was to help Paul “sleep adjust” to a new summer schedule. Sounds amazing, right!? Well, it is!!!

We purchased the unit, and then my husband downloaded the app (which is how you set everything up). It is extremely intuitive, and in just a few minutes, my husband had the set-up configured. We were ready to give it a go.

The concept is quite simple: it is based on behavior modification! Here’s how it works:

• First, you select a light color/sound combination that you will run while your child sleeps. You don’t have to choose a sound; my son sleeps with a white noise machine, and the Hatch Baby configuration has a white noise option that basically matches his existing noise machine. So we chose the soft blue light and the white noise mix for our “sleep setting.”

• Then, you set the hours you want the “sleep” setting to run. We set ours to automatically turn on at 8:00 PM and to stop at 7:45.

• Then, you set up your “Wake Up” setting. We set ours so that at 7:45, the color gently turns from blue to yellow but the noisemaker keeps going. If Paul wakes up and his light is still blue, he knows he has to go back to sleep. If he wakes up and the light is yellow, he can get out of bed. It’s that simple.

NOW, don’t miss this: The system has worked FLAWLESSLY for us. I’m not exaggerating. We’re at 100% success for the first month of the summer. But you have to invest a week or so of TRAINING your child to adapt to the system. If you do, it will work like a charm. If you don’t, it’s probably not as effective. But it’s SO simple. Here’s what we did:

• For the first five days, we set the system to “wake up” at Paul’s normal, too-early time. This allows them to get used to the machine. We set it for 6:15 and told Paul that he couldn’t get out of bed until the light was yellow.

• Then, over the course of another few days, we gradually bumped up his wake up time by 15 minutes until we got to 7:45. He adapted to it perfectly. And it has been a game changer.

I might add one more thing about the “training” phase. We incorporated a reward system for the first ten days or so. Here’s what we did:

1. He got five little candies every morning he slept till his “awake light” color was on.

2. At the end of two weeks of successfully sleeping until the right time, he got to pick out a toy. We made a chart on the fridge, and he marked it off every morning for two weeks.

3. We also let him call his grandmothers to talk about how well he did.

4. We verbally praised him each morning he woke up at the right time.

Now? It’s just a normal part of his routine. He doesn’t even think about it. And his body has gotten used to a later wake-up time. He is more rested, and I can regain a few hours of my schedule in the mornings.

I have been so excited about sharing this with you all because of the hatch baby truly changing Paul’s sleep habits. He went from waking up as early as 5:30 to 7:45!! I can finish the work I need to get done, and my husband and I even have time to talk over coffee some mornings. Sounds wonderful, right?! It truly is!

Are you ready fix your child waking up too early? Head here to regain control of your schedule (and help those little cuties get the rest they need).

Have you got questions? Email me; I’d love to help answer them!