One of the hardest things about parenting is sleep training. If you have young children at home, you probably know exactly what I am talking about. With Daylight Savings, you’ll probably struggle with this even more than usual over the next week or so. Luckily, there are tools that can make sleep training a lot less dramatic thanks to Happy Tykes, a husband and wife startup that makes useful products to make homes happier. They are launching their first product, the Pali Sleep Trainer, this month on Kickstarter.
The Ostler’s were consistently being woken by their own kids at 5 am. After trying a variety of sleep training clocks they were still suffering from exhaustion because they just weren’t working for their children. One night they had an epiphany. They were watching Netflix with their then three year old daughter before bed. They paused the movie when it was time for bed and she asked if they they could finish the movie since it was almost over. She had recognized the progress bar at the bottom of the screen and knew only a few minutes remained of the movie. This is what sparked their idea for creating a sleep trainer with visual cues that kids could understand, even if they couldn’t read a clock. Pali is the result of their hard work and the culmination of some great ideas brought to life.
Pali was designed to help kids understand when it is time for bed and when it is okay to get up and start their day. When my kids were little I found a similar product to be useful but this product is even more innovative and is much more likely to be effective in my opinion.
So Many Features!
Like other products in this category, Pali features visual cues to help kids understand sleep schedules. Pali’s visual cues include:
- Changing Colors
- A Cute Face
- A Visual Countdown Timer
The visual cues tell kids when it is approaching bedtime, time to sleep, approaching an appropriate hour to wake, and finally when to get up. Shortly before your child’s wake time, a ring appears around the clock face and slowly diminishes as it counts down the remaining sleep time (much like the progress bar on a movie). When the countdown is complete, the light turn greens and your child knows it is OK for them to get up for the day.
The design of the clock is simple and cute. It’s the perfect size for a bedside table. It features a rechargeable battery with a detachable micro USB cable so you won’t have to replace the batteries all the time.
But it’s the extra features that really set this sleep trainer apart from others:
- A Sound Machine (Waves, Rain, White Noise, Lullabies)
- An Unlocking Reward Drawer
- Customizable Night Light
- A nap timer
- A Parent App
One of my favorite things about Pali is the unlocking rewards drawer. Using positive reinforcement has been proven to help kids develop new habits and change behaviors. Place a small prize such as a sticker, or small treat such as a Hershey Kiss inside the drawer and lock it. The drawer will automatically unlock at wake time. If your child gets up beforehand you can press “No Reward” from the clock or the Pali App and the drawer will stay locked until the next wake time.
I love that the Pali Sleep Trainer is so modern that it comes with a free parent app that it very conveniently allows you to control it from your phone. You can set up and schedule changes without disturbing your child’s sleep time. You can set a schedule, turn on and off lights and sounds, adjust the volume, change how long the countdown will be and adjust light colors and duration. It’s super customizable so that it will fit all of your child’s needs!
They’ve really thought of everything and packed it all into one great parenting tool. This is the ONE sleep training device that every parent needs.
You can find out more about Happy Tykes by visiting www.happytykes.com. Be sure to learn more about Pali and support their Kickstarter campaign here.