Whitney and her sister, Courtney, created the Stoplight Golight timer to help Whitney’s twins get on a sleep schedule. While Courtney didn’t have any children of her own at the time, she saw the difference it made for her sister’s children and together they made their vision a reality with the Stoplight Golight Timer.
There was a time I had 2-year-old twins and a newborn. I needed my sleep. I was tired, grumpy, and not enjoying the time spent with my family as I should. I had to get us on a sleep schedule. It wasn’t going to happen with my newborn, but maybe it could with my 2-year-old twins.
We already had a bed time ritual – bath, brush teeth, read a story, etc. Unfortunately, after a couple of minutes of lying in bed, one of the twins would inevitably get up, which caused the other one to want to get up – and this cycle continued most of the night.
Improve Your Mornings
Then the morning struggle began. As soon as it was light outside they wanted to start their day. I had just finished feeding my newborn for the second time that night, so I would plead with them, “Please, boys, go back to sleep. . . Please! Look at the clock. It’s only 6 am. I know it’s light outside, but it’s only 6 am. I just finished feeding your brother, and I really need some more sleep.” Of course, my two-year-olds didn’t understand my lack of sleep situation and didn’t have the empathy for me that another parent in my situation would.
One day while running errands, I stopped at a stoplight and one of my boys said, “Momma, red means stop and green means go!” My sister was with me, and we looked at each other and said, “That’s how we are going to do it. That’s how we are going to establish bed times and wake times.”
So, we developed the Stoplight Golight Timer. I would put my twins to bed at 8:00 pm and set the timer for 11 hours. The Stoplight Golight’s red light would illuminate. At 7:00 the next morning, the green light would come on, signaling that it is time for them to “go” start their day.
This is what we found:
- They liked the timer. They took ownership of the timer. They wanted it set every night.
- It helped with their bed time routine. They knew when the light was red they were to stay in bed.
- The Stoplight Golight timer reminded them to go back to sleep if they woke at night. The light was still red so they stayed in bed.
- Sometimes when the light turned green at 7am, they still slept because the Stoplight Golight is a visual indicator with the option of an alarm.
- They were gaining confidence in themselves.
I was amazed! Establishing bed times and wake times helped our entire family with sleep schedules and routines. Life became normal again – as normal as it can get with 3 children 2-years-old and younger.
If you need a sleep schedule for your toddler or school-aged child, and you think that the Stoplight Golight timer would work for your family, please visit our website at http://www.stoplightgolight.com/ And, you can win one for your family here:
