Surviving the Newborn Stage With Owlet
Each and every night, I used wake up on the hour (if not every 30 minutes) to look over at my newborn son. This might sound a bit obsessive, but it is hard to have a peace of mind when there’s a ton of different scary scenarios running through your head-the main one being “Is my baby still breathing?”
Who can relate? I am sure most of you mommies can! It is just natural instinct of a mother wanting to protect her new, precious baby. As a new mom the first time around, I was told “Oh, just sleep when baby sleeps!” Well, I guess I might as well fold laundry when baby folds laundry or wash dishes when the baby does.
However, over time, the whole getting up to go check on your baby when they are perfectly fine gets a bit old and you start wearing yourself down over nothing. As a new mommy, we need as much energy as we can get without having to worry about things that are beyond our control.
With the recent arrival of my baby daughter, I am so happy to say that I do not wake up to check on her constantly and I can finally have some peace of mind when I go to sleep at night. In turn, I completely and totally most relaxed, rested, and ready to take on the next day. How so?
Thanks to the Owlet Baby Monitor that stays up all night for me to check and monitor my baby’s vital signs. The monitor works by measuring your newborn’s Heart Rate and Pulse Oximetry or the amount of oxygen flowing through your baby’s blood. This is a good indicator of whether or not your baby is getting enough oxygen or aka breathing.
How is this measured exactly? Through a tiny little sock on your newborn’s foot called a Smart Sock that contains a sensor that gently reads through the skin.
If you have ever stepped foot in a hospital or made an ER visit, chances are you have had your oxygen levels checked before, most likely in the form of a little clip that is placed on your finger with a red light-this monitor uses the same exact technology. When you purchase your monitor, you will receive 3 different socks in different sizes to fit your baby throughout infancy up until 18 months of age.
Once the Smart Sock collects your baby’s heart rate and oxygen level, it sends that information to a Base Station which in turn sends that information to your smart phone through a free app that alerts you if the levels drop or things drastically change. However, the Base Station will also alert you too so no worries if your phone is not working or if you do not own a smartphone. The app is currently only compatible with iPhone and Androids.
The first night that my husband and I used our new Owlet monitor for our newborn daughter, we were blown away by how well the sensor worked. Our daughter sleeps next to us and while I still caught myself waking up to peek over at her, I slept a lot better than I ever could have imagined. If I didn’t want to disturb her sleep, I could easily switch on my Owlet app to check her pulse and oxygen levels within seconds. The cool thing about it is that you can watch your baby’s vitals change over time as he or she gets into a deeper sleep. If baby is wiggling or moving around, the app will tell you as baby must be still for the vitals to appear.
If the vitals ever drop to an unsafe value or level, your base station will flash bright red and a loud alarm will alert you to wake up immediately. The alarm is super loud-trust me-so you will wake up. An alert is also sent right to your phone as well.
There are other alerts to be mindful of when using the Owlet. If the connectivity between the sock and base station is lost, the base station will flash blue and play a lullaby tune. If the sock comes off or gets shifted, the base station will flash yellow and play the same tune as well. This allows you to know whether or not your sock is connected and in place which is highly important. The sock must always be placed on your baby’s left foot; however, the newborn size sock comes with two so that you can alternate between feet every few hours as newborns have sensitive skin. Therefore, the sock can be placed on either foot for a newborn.
Overall, we were highly impressed with not only the product, but with the phone app as well and we would definitely go back and purchase the Owlet again and again as it is a newborn lifesaver for our family. With so many things on our minds already, it is so great to know that the monitor can act as a second set of eyes for us as we sleep.
Now, I know what you are probably thinking: “Well, I did not have an Owlet monitor and my baby & I survived just fine!” Well, I totally agree! However, if I can get any spare minute where I am not worried and thinking “Oh no, my baby is sleeping for a long time or is incredibly too quiet-something’s wrong!” then I will take it! The monitor truly pays for itself by acting as an extra set of eyes for a pair of exhausted new parents.
The monitor costs $250, comes with superior reviews, and can be purchased online on Owlet’s website. I get that it might not be in the ideal budget for everyone, but I have personally spent $250 on some really dumb stuff compared to this. The life of my baby though and a little peace of mind at night? Priceless.
Owlet was so sweet to allow me to offer you guys your very own promo offer for reading this post to try their monitor out for yourself! Simply head on over to Owlet’s website & choose a monitor by clicking here.
Disclaimer: I was given an Owlet monitor to test. All opinions are my own.
Your trainer and friend,
