Before Vivienne was born, I wrote a blog post about the kind of mom I want to be. I shared some cliché and expectant qualities: patient, a teacher, family first; that I still stand by today. Yet, in this newborn stage… an important quality that I strive to be is a relaxed and easygoing parent. Someone who does not stress out or constantly worry about every little sound that her baby does or does not make. I am of course a work in progress but completely aware of this. On the other hand, how can you not be? You carry this child for 9-10 months, come home from the hospital with this tiny human who is 100% dependent on you for survival, and you’re not supposed to stare at them all night while they sleep? It makes me think about the beginning of the movie, Terms of Endearment, when Aurora climbs into the crib to wake up Emma, a sleeping baby, to make sure she is still alive and breathing. She hangs over the crib, puts her head-on Emma’s chest, and shakes the mattress until she hears her cry out. “Oh, good… you’re awake,” and walks out of the nursery relieved. That’s probably my favorite movie of all time, by the way. Aurora is a little crazy when it comes to checking on her daughter but it’s the perfect representation of an over protective and worried parent that we could all relate to.
So, how does one obtain this easy-going attitude?
While I was pregnant, I heard so many great things about the Owlet sleep sock. I asked a friend who had purchased one for herself and she raved about the product. She said it was the perfect piece of mind that they were looking for to keep them from lying awake at night worrying about the safety of their son. Say no more. The lovely people at Owlet sent us a monitor a month later and we began using it right when Vivienne was born.
So, what exactly is the sleep sock?
The Owlet Smart Sock is the first smart baby monitor that uses hospital technology (pulse oximetry) designed to alert parents if their baby stops breathing or if the heart rate appears lower or higher than normal. In simple terms, you no longer need to stay awake starring at your child as the monitor helps “watch” over your baby at night to make sure he/she is still breathing. Talk about a dream come true!
What I love most about this product, is that your baby wears the monitor that is designed to give you the alert; so you won’t have to do any guessing by monitoring via audio or visual to make sure your baby is sleeping OK. Also, the team over at Owlet has over 100,000 hours of testing that went into this development. Amazing.
How does the sleep sock work?
The sock comes in multiple sizes, to fit a newborn up until 18 months. To begin monitoring the baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels, you place the sock on the baby’s left foot. Normal socks can easily be kicked off, but with the comfortable and smart design, this sock is going nowhere! The information is then relayed to the parents’ smartphones via a blue tooth connected base station, allowing parents to check on their child from anywhere.
The base station is the key component designed to alert parents when there is a change in activity.
Green: means heart rate and oxygen are within the preset zones.
Yellow: means the monitor can’t get a good reading. This happens if the sock isn’t on correctly or falls off.
Blue: means the monitor has disconnected from the base station. This happens if the base station is too far away from the sock so it can’t get a good connection.
Red: is designed to notify you if baby’s oxygen levels are too low or the heart rate is too high or too low. . These alerts are the ones you don’t want to see flashing on your base station. Now, if you get a red alert, don’t panic. It is so important to use your own judgement to determine what the next steps are. Is the baby, in fact, breathing? If something is wrong, seek medical attention right away. You may get a false red alert if the sock isn’t on properly, which is why it is most important to never panic.
The alerts is designed to sound on both your base station and smart phone as backup. Below is an example of Vivienne’s reading, which is normal. Phew.
So, what do I personally think about the Owlet baby monitor?
Since using this product for a little over 5 weeks now, I can honestly say that I am a big supporter of this smart monitor. As a first-time mom, the two most important things to me are a good night’s sleep and a piece of mind. Thankfully, we can have both of those things due to the comfort of using the Owlet smart sock. When Vivienne goes to sleep, we don’t have to constantly worry or smother over her as there is an extra set of eyes with the Owlet Monitor . I am a true believer that every parent should invest in their own Owlet. Save yourself from the worry that goes along with bringing that perfect baby home with you! Using it has allowed me to be the easy going and relaxed parent that I want to be.
Have you ever heard of the Owlet baby care monitor? Have you tried it before? I would love to hear your thoughts on how it has worked for you.
Photography by Lauren J. Photography (@thelaurenstyle)
Xo,
Lola
