Owlet3 

How often do parents check up on their newborns? Most new parents want to be able to check on how bub is doing without disturbing their sleep – or interrupting their own to see if their baby is still sound asleep.

Fortunately, technology can come to the rescue in a very unobtrusive way via the Owlet Smart Sock, a baby monitor that tracks heart rate and oxygen levels constantly and let you know if anything is amiss.

Let’s hear from Karma, one of our writers whose son Asher was born 6 weeks ago.
These are her findings below:

In the box: 3 booklets with very easy to follow set up instructions and troubleshooting advice. The base station, 2 charging cords and USB charger (although any phone charger with a USB port will work). Comes with 3 sock sizes so it can be used from newborn to 18 months or 25 pounds.

Owlet5

Once you have downloaded the app it will ask you to set up a profile and set a password. It also gives instructions and has a tutorial video.

The device is normally fully charged within 2 hours if the battery is completely drained, lasts for 18 hours and needs to be charged every day.

The app will allow parents to check on their babies wherever they are, at home or at work. The base station and Smart Sock do not have to be in the same room as long as you don’t exceed the 100 feet range, depending on the environment.

Owlet1

The Owlet is a huge relief at night, tracking both heart rate and oxygen levels, a notification sound lets you know when readings drop below the pre-set range. This means you can sleep relaxed knowing you will be notified if heart rate or oxygen levels fall outside preset zones, not a light sleep in slight panic to check that everything is okay throughout the night.

Mostly the only notification we had was when the sock had slipped and it couldn’t get a good reading anymore (plays a sweet little tune, hush little baby). Its notification states ‘difficulty getting reading, check sock placement’, so you don’t fly into a panic; it’s just a technical difficulty. It took us a few days to fit the sock securely on his tiny newborn foot. Eventually found that putting it on the left foot stayed on every time because the monitor (about the size of a 20 cent coin) stayed in place UNDER his foot not on top of it which is its position on the right foot (see photo).

Owlet2Owlet4

An audible notification did sound only once and WOW you couldn’t sleep through it, more like a car or house alarm that will jolt you awake. But it was great to see how fast the app and monitor communicated, I repositioned him a little and his oxygen returned to normal.

The base station also changes colour for different readings. (See photos)

Owlet6

Blue : sock is out of range
Yellow: smart sock has slipped or improperly placed
Red: heart rate or oxygen levels outside normal levels
White: charging
Green: reading your baby
You can test the base station notifications through the app.

Owlet7.pg

Well worth the cost (AUD399.99) for your peace of mind alone as the Owlet notifies you if your baby’s heart rate or oxygen levels fall outside the pre-set levels. The Owlet Smart Sock 2 could give a head start to something possibly serious.

Highly recommended!

Check out their website and enjoy a peaceful sleep and peace of mind! And you’ll also discover a treasure trove of very helpful articles for new parents on that site.

DigitalReviews thanks Owlet for letting us experience the Smart Sock and can highly recommend it to remove some of the anxiety that all new parents feel about their babies.

By the way, the folks at Owlet are also expecting a new sibling to their growing family of gear that help us keep an eye on our babies: the Owlet CAM.

Stay tuned as it is expected to be delivered in March!