Travel OK to wake clock for toddlers: what works
Away from home, the first thing a toddler loses is the signal that says it is not morning yet. A travel OK to wake clock is that signal in a hotel room or at a grandparent’s house. This page says what the gadgets parents take on trips do, why the Hatch Rest Go is a sound machine and not a clock, and how to take a sleep clock with you without packing another gadget.
Facts about other makers' products were checked on 12 November 2026 from their own pages. They change; check before you buy. Snoozaroo is not affiliated with any of them.
The Hatch Rest Go, a travel Gro Clock and the rest
| What it is | Shows a child when to get up | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hatch Go, formerly the Hatch Rest Go | A small sound machine with ten sounds | No. Hatch says it has no light and is solely a sound machine | Rechargeable, up to 15 hours by Hatch’s figure |
| A Groclock, taken with you | The plug-in clock from home | Yes | The mains, through a USB cable. Unplugged, it keeps the wake-up times but its clock stops, so the time needs setting again |
| Zazu Sam | A lamb whose light goes from red to green | Yes | A USB cable or four AA batteries |
| Purflo Snoozee | A light that is red for bedtime and blue for morning | Yes | A built-in rechargeable battery |
| A sleep clock app | The phone or tablet you were packing anyway | Yes | Its own battery and charger |
A sound machine and a sleep clock do different jobs. The Hatch Go fills the room with a steady sound. It does not tell a child whether it is morning. If early waking in a strange room is what you are packing for, you need the clock part.
The travel OK to wake clock already in your bag
Snoozaroo is a sleep clock app for Android, and it runs on phones as well as tablets. So the travel clock can be the bedroom tablet from home, or an old phone that lives in the suitcase.
- It is the clock they know. The same pal, the same six stars and the same sunrise as at home. Nothing new to explain in a strange room.
- It does not need the hotel’s Wi-Fi. The sleep runs on the screen itself: the pal, the stars and the grown-up PIN all work offline. Only a change sent from your phone needs the tablet online.
- It needs a charger. The screen stays on through the sleep, dimmed, so plug it in and put it across the room from the bed.
- Pin the app, as at home. Android’s screen pinning keeps the tablet on Snoozaroo.
Set it up and pair it at home, before you go. A tablet as a sleep clock has the setup, and how the sleep clock app works shows what your child sees.
Time zones
When the tablet finds itself in a different time zone, Snoozaroo asks one question: keep home times, or use the new time zone from the next sleep. Nothing changes unless you choose.
- A short trip, or a small difference: keeping home times is often simplest. Their body is still on home time, and so is the clock.
- A longer stay: use the new time zone, and the same bedtime and wake time apply on the local clock. Choosing it clears any one-off changes you had planned on home times.
For a holiday when bedtime is later than usual, a one-off change on the Sleep times page sets different times for the dates you pick and leaves the usual times alone.
White noise on the road
A sleep sound travels with the clock, so there is no separate white noise machine to pack. In the free plan each sleep can play white, pink or brown noise or a fan, with a time for it to stop. Plus adds the rest of the sound library and the lullabies. On a long trip let the tablet go online now and then: Plus is confirmed with the service about once a week.
Snoozaroo starts quiet and never plays above a volume cap that you can lower. It never changes the phone or tablet’s own volume, so set that low as well, and keep the device across the room. Snoozaroo does not make any claim about safe listening levels.
At the grandparents' house
Take the tablet, or set up a second screen there. The sleep times, the pal and the sounds travel with the family, so the routine is the same wherever they sleep. With Plus, a grandparent can be one of the grown-ups on their own phone.
A short packing list
- The tablet or old phone, already set up and paired.
- Its charger, and a plug adaptor abroad.
- Something to darken the room. Holiday curtains rarely close.
- The same few steps before bed as at home. The printable routine chart folds into a bag.
Questions
Is the Hatch Rest Go an OK to wake clock?
No. The Hatch Go, as it is now called, is a sound machine with no light and no app, by Hatch’s own description. It cannot show a child when it is OK to get up. If you wanted a Hatch Rest Go alternative that does, that is a clock with a battery, or an app on a phone.
Is there a travel Gro Clock?
Tommee Tippee’s UK shop lists one Groclock, the plug-in one. It runs from the mains through a USB cable, so it can come with you, but it needs the time set again when it is plugged back in. See the Gro Clock instructions.
Does Snoozaroo work without Wi-Fi?
The sleep does. The pal, the stars, the sunrise and the sound all run on the screen itself. Only changes from your phone need the tablet online, and the app tells you if one did not apply.
Can my own phone be the travel clock?
It can, since one device can do both jobs. It will be the sleep clock all night, though, so an old phone or the tablet is easier.
What happens when we fly to another time zone?
Snoozaroo notices and asks: keep home times, or use the new time zone from the next sleep. Nothing changes unless you choose.
Is it free?
The sleep clock is free, with the basic sounds. Plus is optional, and every new family gets 14 days of it with no card. See plans and prices.