Owlet Baby Monitor Gives This Mama Peace of Mind
When you’re a brand new mom, you’re taught to worry about your baby when they sleep. Well, guess what? That worry never goes away! Even when you’re a 5-time mom like me, you still worry! For decades, parents have used baby monitors for peace of mind when the baby is out of view. When you think of a baby monitor, you often think of a walkie-talkie shaped device that often-times now has a video screen to see the baby. With a camera set up in the baby’s room, you are able to see and hear the baby which makes for a much better night’s sleep for parents. A video monitor is wonderful, but what is there to alert you if baby shows sign of distress or stops breathing in their sleep? It’s every parent’s worst nightmare and happens more often than you think.
This is where The Owlet Baby Monitor comes in. The owlet is designed to protect babies from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) where a baby stops breathing for seemingly no reason during a deep sleep. Lots of NICU parents use it to as an extra preventative measure when their babies come home from the hospital. I’ve been using it for months on our new little babe and it’s been one of the best new-baby gadgets I’ve ever tried and I am so excited to share it with you today! You may remember this post where I talked about Vivi having RSV? Well, the Owlet played a large part in us getting her the help she needed.
How Does it Work?
The Owlet Smart Sock is a fabric sock-style contraption that wraps around the baby’s foot. Inside the sock is a sensor that monitors your baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels while they sleep. When it’s bedtime, wrap the sock around your baby’s foot. It is soft and our Vivi doesn’t even realize she’s wearing it. One of the things I love most about it is that the monitor doesn’t bother her and fits inside her footie pajamas without a problem. Once your baby is down in their crib, the sensor uses Bluetooth technology (no wires in the crib!) to transmit data to the base station. From here, data about the baby’s oxygen levels and heart rate are stored and transferred to an app in your cell phone.
What do the alarms mean?
There are three different alarms that the Owlet gives:
-Blue: The device is out of range. Because the device uses bluetooth its range is about 100 feet.
-Yellow: The Smart Sock is having difficulty getting an accurate reading, meaning you may need to adjust or tighten the sock.
-Red: The baby’s heart rate or oxygen levels have dropped.
If an alarm goes off the base station plays a loud, and slightly annoying, song that will definitely get your attention or wake you up. It will also send a notification to your smart phone or tablet. This has only happened to us a few times and it was an actual lifesaver for us. When Vivi was coming down with RSV, the Owlet was super helpful for us. It was because of the alarm going off that we knew for sure something was wrong with our baby. We ended up calling 911 because her oxygen levels were dipping so low. Had it not been for the Owlet, there’s no telling how long it would have taken us to realize how sick she was. I will tell you that the product is sensitive, accurate, and will give you the peace of mind you need to get those few hours of sleep in between feedings. As your baby grows and sleeps for longer stretches, many parents become anxious wondering if the baby is okay. The Owlet takes care of these anxieties and will alert you immediately if there is cause for concern.
The Owlet Smart Sock is designed to grow with your baby as your Owlet set comes with 3 different sized socks that will fit your baby well into toddlerhood. We have LOVED ours so much and it really is the only way I get peaceful sleep since Vivi had RSV. I love their monitors SO much, that I have teamed up with them to gift one to a lucky follower. Head to my instagram —> @littlesouthernwife to enter.
