Everything that I like about the cheaper Lumie Shine 300 below applies to this, but it also has DAB radio, Bluetooth and USB connections, giving you the possibility of nodding off to a podcast or waking to gentle music from your own collection. The sound quality was far better than any other wake-up alarm. There are 33 wake up sounds including two specific types of lark, various nature scenes, city hubbub and my new personal favourite, military drill. (Seriously.) With adjustable brightness settings you can easily turn the brightness down or off completely. As your child grows the sleep trainer can also be used as a handy nightlight for comfort and reassurance or for when your toddler needs a night-time toilet trip

The best wake-up light alarm clocks of 2023, to ease you

Some of these are annoying at full volume, but as they gradually fade in do a good job of waking you up. Others offer a gentler, more bucolic way to rise. They also work well when going to sleep. As with waking up, you can choose for the fade to take between 15 and 90 minutes. A white noise setting is useful, since it masks outside noise as well as relaxing you (or so many find). We evolved to be woken by daylight, so it is a far more natural way to wake up. In modern homes we have got used to sleeping with a certain amount of light pollution through curtains and from devices, so it needs to be something closely approximating real sunlight to fully work. Yes. The gradual brightening effect is much more likely to coincide with one of your shallower sleep patterns. It is easier to wake gradually from shallow sleep than suddenly from deep sleep. Is it better to wake up to light or sound?The best part about this wake-up light alarm by far is the FM radio setting. I hate waking up to harsh alarm sounds (I’m looking at you, iPhone), so the option of waking up to a steady ‘sunrise’, combined with the radio is an attractive one. There are also seven calming alarm sounds if you’d prefer that.

Groclock Sleep Trainer Clock for Young Children | Tommee Tippee Groclock Sleep Trainer Clock for Young Children | Tommee Tippee

Philips have been making lightbulbs for over a century and in recent years have pivoted towards health tech, this wake-up light being where the two overlap. It’s one of the few sunrise alarms apart from Lumie to have been scientifically tested and proven to work: 92 percent of users in their study found it made getting out of bed easier. The first thing that strikes you is its resemblance to an old Apple Mac; it is smaller than the Lumies but still fairly chunky, at 15cm deep and 20cm wide. Philips’ version of wake-up light begins red and over the course of 40 minutes turns bright yellow, rising through 20 levels of brightness (most sunrise alarms only have 10). At it’s brightest, it’s slightly less convincing as ‘daylight’ than the Lumie, but it did wake me up in a good mood.

DOCUMENTATION FOR THIS ITEM

Like other budget alarms, it brightens in ten gradual stages over half an hour, but the Lumie Sunrise also offers coloured mood lighting, which I tend to put on as soon as I get home to make the bedroom feel cosier. I like the small choice of wake-up sounds, my favourite being birdsong. You can also choose purring kittens or a classic alarm beep. As your child gets older, parents can choose to set the optional audible alarm – perfect for routine wake-up times. Like the Groove-E above, this doesn’t claim to be an SAD light. It’s just a normal bedside light that dims and brightens to help you sleep and wake. The main reason to buy are the eight colour choices, from green and turquoise to red and violet, making it a fun night-light for a kid’s bedroom – although, obviously, none of these will work as a sunrise simulator (unless you live on Venus). It also has a ‘lullaby’ setting to go along with the gradually dimming sunset feature, which is a nice extra.