Alarm Clock in Kid's Room?

We don't have any experience with ADHD/ODD, but I do remember seeing a specialized alarm clock on the internet, one which could help with the morning routine. http://www.amazon.com/Timely-Matters-Inc-KBP100G-On-Task/...

My kid wanted his own alarm clock for a while, we got him one with a frog face that croaked. It gave him comfort when napping that he would be woken up at a certain time, and could get on with his day. It broke, we haven't replaced it. He's 4. He wakes easily and gets through the morning easily.

Best,
F. B.

We did, from late elementary school on. And you might also put up a white board or some other short list so she knows "put on shoes, get lunch, pack bag" and can check them off as she goes.

I agree. 2 different and distinct questions/issues.

Alarm clocks in their rooms? Daughter has one but doesn't use it. Son has had one at various times, but doesn't use it, normally.

Son is older, and has historically been a very, very deep sleeper. The kind that you had to physically shake him to wake him up, and then go back 2 or 3 more times b/c he has no recollection of the first 2... before he is actually consciously awake. Now that he has passed through puberty, this issue seems to have faded. Unless he is over tired, he wakes up fairly easily when I open his door and start to walk into his room. Before, I probably could have exploded a bomb in there and he wouldn't have known. Now, he hear's my footsteps half the time (almost like "mom ears", lol).

So, he was not *allowed* to use an alarm clock for years, b/c he wouldn't hear it, but the rest of the house would. And we'd have to go shut it off, or wake him up to shut it off, etc, and my husband works shift work and this just doesn't work when his schedule dictates that he still be sleeping when son is getting up.
Because of this issue, I have always gone to wake him up. Since he is directly across the hallway from his sister, I wake her up, too... so she doesn't bother with an alarm clock, either, unless she wants to get up early on a Saturday or something for some special reason that doesn't involve me. LOL

As for the ADHD/ODD issues... those are separate from using an alarm clock, in my opinion. I hope the other commenters can offer helpful information regarding being organized and getting out the door. My kids are fairly typical in this regard and have both gone through phases where they were easily distracted from what needed doing (or just slow, ranging from not eating b/c they hadn't been awake long enough to just being young and distracted by some toy in their room) and phases where they were ready to go and sitting and waiting on me.

Once my kids hit about middle school age, (11 years old) they seemed to have developed a morning routine that worked for them in getting everything done on time. Since I wake them up, I have just adjusted their wake time to match how much time they need. Most mornings they need about 35 minutes to be ready to go. Son is 16, and this includes his shower time. They both tend to want to skip eating anything.. it seems it's too early for them to want to eat, so they take something for the bus ride or for when they get to school. (Our bus picks up by 6:50 a.m. and classes do not start until 8:00 a.m.)

Hi V.,

Forgive me but what I'm seeing here is two questions. First, yes DS has had his own alarm clock for a couple of years now, he's 13. It does help in the mornings but he still relies heavily on Dad to get his motor running. (Dad does the AM and I handle the PM due to work schedules before converging at dinner around 6).

The second part though seems more like a distraction issue rather than a waking issue. My DS doesn't have either of those challenges you mentioned but he is a typical boy and seems like a cat in a box with a disco ball...any shiny object will derail him from the task at hand.

What has helped us with this is setting a timer. For example, we will set the timer for 10 minutes and let him know that he is to focus on X, say getting fully dressed including socks and belt etc. This seems to help him focus on the task and not the distractions.

It's not perfect but that's not the goal. The goal is to get him to be more independent, more focused and reduce the chaos. We use this technique with homework as well because he attends much more intensely when he knows he's not expected to sit there "forever and ever."
I have NO idea from whom he got this drama streak...lol.

anyway, I can totally relate to your borderline insanity. I hope you find some functional strategies. Best of all to you and yours, S.

My oldest has very severe ADHD and is easily distracted until his meds kick in. He has an alarm clock and wakes up just fine.

The most important thing for him to be able to get ready and out the door (he does so in about 20 minutes) is a very consistent morning routine. He does the exact same things in the exact same order every morning. We know that throwing a wrench into his routine will completely upset the entire morning. Once my husband asked him to take the trash out on his way out the door. He put down his school bag to do so....and never came back into the house to get his bag! Got on the bus without it. I had to take it to school, and he was quite upset about it.

It's important that I stay out of his way in the morning. I don't interrupt him or ask him about other things until he's 100% ready to go, coat on, bag on his shoulder, meds taken. Consider that your nagging and reminding isn't helping...it's derailing him. Instead of telling him what to do while working on a counsistent routine, ask him what's next. When he tells you, repeat what he says, but simplified. "I have to brush my teeth." You: "Okay. Teeth!" And then walk away. Go sit down. Don't hover. Teeth done? "Okay, what's next?" "Shoes!" "Meds!" But only the very next step. Don't get ahead of him during this process of creating a routine or he'll be overwhelmed.

We have no problems at all, and haven't since he was about 8 or 9.

Also, we have NO distractions. No TV, no music, no Legos. He eats breakfast at school. So if there are distractions going on....get rid of them. Streamline and simplify as much as you possibly can.

And lastly (sorry, I keep thinking of things), I noticed that I had FAR more problems getting them out the door when I used to drive the kids to school. When I began making them walk, and when we moved, ride the school bus, for some reason it was much easier because they had a deadline to meet and didn't want to miss the bus.

One of my kids has similar issues and I flip on the music. That's their "alarm" and they usually wake up in a much better mood and at their own pace. I usually start an hour early so its not an anxiety filled a.m. Works for us! :)

we tried it, i'm fuzzy on their ages when we did. but it didn't work out very well. they woke up grumpy, and the noise annoyed me.
i'm a much better alarm clock, and in the years when they had to get up regularly i was always up before them, so my methods were much better.
my older woke up fairly easily. i'd just go in and kiss his tousled head, and whisper '5 minutes and it's time' and he'd usually be up before i came back.
my younger was a bear, and i learned to soothe the bear before expecting human behavior out of him. and he just lovedlovedloved a good rake. waking him with a fairly long (2 or 3 minute) gentle backscratch would have him come to consciousness purring.
interestingly, it was also a great way to put him to sleep!
but we didn't have the ADHD/ODD thing to deal with. i'm sure that would have changed the equation a lot.
khairete
S.

We put alarm clocks in the kids' rooms when they were around 7 and 9 years old. Half the time they would try to set them and then forget the AM PM difference and alarms would go off at random times. For us, it's much easier to wake them up early. What helped my time challenged daughter is a written morning routine of things to do that is posted in several places. We keep it simple and a few things get grouped together, so I can remind her to do teeth, hair, face and she knows it's time for the next step of heading back upstairs to do the bathroom stuff. We also assigned time limits for each and then figured out how much total time she needs. It's a bunch, because she gets distracted very easily. I also have to check in often. Usually my husband and I divide and conquer. One of us is making lunches and the other is overseeing the routine.

My 5 year old has ADHD, and I give him his meds at the last possible minute before sending him off to school ... so I know I am dealing with him without meds.

I'm hoping to learn some strategies to make things easier, but right now I literally sit on his bed whilie he gets dressed. I have to redirect him a few times, but if I leave, he stops. If I walk out of the room, he will find something else to do - anything else - other than getting dressed.

Maybe you just need to focus more of your attention on her until she is ready to walk out the door. Have everything that you need to do done before you wake her. Then all of your attention can be focused on her.

My daughter (7) has an alarm clock but we never use it. In reality I am her alarm clock because she appears out of bed as soon as she hears me rustling around the kitchen.

Have you tried a checklist. A visual chart of her routine and the order in which she is supposed to do things. The checklist could be just a visual reminder or you can use at as a reward thing (if she gets through the whole checklist by X time she gets Y reward that day after school).

Or no morning TV (if you do that) until the checklist is complete.

Also I find it helpful to lay out everything the night before- clothes, shoes, socks, backpack.

How old is she?

Kids still sleep right through their alarm but I keep hoping they'll finally respond to it.

I also found the kids respond to my husband a heck of a lot better in the morning than me. So I sleep in a bit and he gets them up and off to school every day.

They get right out of bed when he says it's time to wake up. They are ready to go to school in 20 minutes and walking out the door.

An alarm clock is a good idea for waking or getting out of bed. What you may need to implement is a good old fashioned egg timer. For example - brushing teeth. You may give her a total of 6 minutes. Set the timer for 5. When it goes off, set it for another 1 (wrap up time). After a while, begin to phase out the extra minute. Do this for dressing, breakfast, packing up, shoes and coat. Whatever! Yes, it will take a commitment from you but it should ease some tension. Good luck!

When first establishing a morning routine, I used a chart with all the things that needed to be done. (breakfast, teeth, dressing, etc) When everything became a habit, we no longer needed the chart. However, when puberty hit I added a little sign in the bathroom as a reminder for deodorant, etc.

I hear ya!!!!! I have an ADHD/ODD girl 11 & boy 10. My son is medicated and although he might have to woken up more than one, once you get him moving he's fine. The girl is another story. I've tried alarm clocks but what works best for her is some type of reward. Reminding her that she has a bday party to attend this week, or an after school activity for instance. She knows if she doesn't get to school AND on time those aren't happening.
You've had good answers so far, but I think an egg timer would be counter productive for mine. I've tried setting her clothes out, but she changes her mind. Dad would be great, but he's usually long gone by 7am.
I don't allow tv in the am, but she recently bought herself a tomagotchi. Since she did so she gets up without a problem and takes care of it, then starts her own morning routine (that thing will beep if it's forgotten) Fingers crossed this lasts!! Something about having to take care of something else seems to be helping her.