I’ve finally tired of jolting awake from the firehouse-worthy signal emitted from our alarm clock. We could set it to wake to the radio, but who wants to wake up to a traffic report? There are lots of fun options other than a standard old alarm clock you should try that wake you in a gentle way!
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Sound means of waking
Even though I’m very fond of the alarm options on my Apple iPhone™, I’d rather not use it as an alarm clock. I landed upon a comparable set up when I paired our Echo Dot with Echo Show. Alexa will wake you with a selected song, podcast or radio broadcast and offers repeating and/or multiple alarms for weekdays, or whatever days you select. You can tell it to turn off or snooze. While I am enticed by the whole Alexa set up, and enjoy all it has to offer, as an alarm clock, this is way too effort-LESS for my liking. I’m visual, and prefer to see a lighted time display, as well as pushing a few buttons to see my preset alarms. I finally settled on…..drumroll🥁
It’s quite the bargain at $16.99, offers dual-alarms, is compact, has a snooze function, USB charger port, a battery back-up, and is easy to use. The bluish-gray display has 5 different levels of brightness, or, you can turn it off. My main motivation for purchasing it was the alarm sound, which sounds like birds chirping and reminds me of a Cinderella scene. Here’s a sample:
Sight and tactile means of waking
On the other hand, why limit yourself to waking up to sound? While researching alarm clocks, I discovered some that may appeal to families with children experiencing sleep issues. They can wake you, while your child’s sleep is undisturbed.
These devices target our other senses to rouse us from sleep. Traditional devices of old bombard our sense of sound with noise which cause us to waken. There are new devices on the market which target our sense of sight. The room is slowly illuminated with a bright glow. Ideal for those extreme early risers. Here’s one example:
Sunrise Alarm Clock -on Amazon
Then, there are tactile ways of waking up, which hone in on your sense of touch. Who has ever been nudged awake by their cat pawing at their face? Similar concept here.
ShakeAwake Vibrating Alarm Clock $17.99 on Amazon
Encourages sleep schedule
Another product that may be of tremendous benefit for the family with a child who wakes up throughout the night is the Big Red Rooster Sleep Training Alarm Clock.
It provides a means of visually prompting your child that the house is currently in sleep mode. Also, useful for families living with parents with cognitive impairments and therefore, not oriented to time of day.
I hope you enjoyed reading about gentle waking alarm clocks options to try. I’d love to read your comments about those mentioned in this post as well as any others you’ve discovered.
Happy Awakenings! 🙂 Elena