Hi Mamas! With the birth of my second baby, one product I was really excited about using was the Owlet Smart Sock. After using this little device for over 10 weeks now, I thought I’d check-in and give y’all a little Owlet Smart Sock review to help you decide if it’d be a good fit for you.
You see, with my first baby, I suffered from significant postpartum anxiety – especially surrounding sleep! I was constantly going in and checking on my firstborn. I really regret not investing in the smart sock for him, because I think it would have made a huge difference.
Having the Owlet Smart Sock the second time around has given me SO MUCH PEACE OF MIND. I genuinely love this product not only as a medical profession – but as a fellow mom!
However, I want to be candid. It may not be perfect for everyone, and I’m going to get into that more below. So let’s hop to it, mama. Ready to dive into the Owlet Smart Sock Pros and Cons, and everything in between? Let’s go!
Owlet Smart Sock at a Glance
The Owlet Smart Sock is a one of a kind device that tracks baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels while they sleep. It has a sleek look and is super easy to take on and off your baby.
When you get it, it comes with two different sized socks – small and large. This makes it so much easier to get the appropriate, snug fit for maximum effectiveness! At 10 weeks old, my baby is still in the size small but will probably be ready to size up pretty soon (crazy!).
Your device comes with a home base which is basically a little charging station that the sock easily plugs into when not in use. This is what allows the monitoring device to be completely wireless while on baby. I keep the charging dock on my nightstand.
While the smart sock is on your baby, it connects wirelessly to an app on your phone that allows you to see baby’s oxygen levels and heart rate in real-time. The app also tells you how much battery life remains in the sock. It takes a second to sync once it’s on but then it’s all set for the duration that it’s on them.
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Let’s take a look at a complete list of Owlet Smart Sock features
- It’s a wearable device that tracks baby’s oxygen and heart rate in real-time. You get alerts via the app on your phone AND from the base (charging) station. I love this because it means if my phone died or something, I’d still get the alerts
- The Smart Sock communicates with the base station even if the WiFi is down! So no worries there
- It also measures baby’s sleep trends! You get a little report on things like hours slept, how many times they woke up and their sleep quality
- The battery life is seriously awesome. When fully charged it lasts 16 hours!
- It also charges quickly – you can get a full charge in just 90 minutes and a half charge in 20 min
- The charging is totally wireless. You just position the sock device right onto a charging dock
- I find that the Owlet Smart Sock easily fits under footie PJs and swaddles
- It monitors baby through “gentle motion” that occurs during sleep (but not full on movement)
- It’s designed for babies weighing 5-30 lbs, and roughly 0-18 months
- You can pay for it using your HSA/FSA
- It integrates with the Owlet Cam (which I do not personally own, but is a noteworthy feature)
What comes with your Owlet Smart Sock?
- Two different size socks – small and large
- Monitoring device that fits into the sock
- Charging dock with cord
What I love about the Owlet Smart Sock: 5 Pros
1. Can prevent SIDS
This is the main reason that I have been using this device! It alerts you immediately if baby’s heart rate of oxygen levels every go outside of the pre-programmed norms. The red alerts come through clearly via your phone and through the base station. This is why I keep the base station right by my bedside while I sleep.
If you go over to their site and start reading reviews, there are real accounts from parents who’s babies were saved thank to the Smart Sock! One story in particular about a baby who’s O2 level dipped while she was sick with RSV, and mama was alerted because of this device is truly amazing!
2. Helped my anxiety
So, one of the huge pros of the Smart Sock is the peace of mind it can provide to new parents. And this was 100% the case for me. My sleep has been better and my anxiety has been lower by using the Smart Sock from night one of bringing my baby home from the hospital.
You see I had some MAJOR anxiety as a new mom the first time around, and this is one of those baby items that looking back I KNOW I would have totally benefitted from. I was constantly worried that my child was going to stop breathing in the middle of the night…it was bad.
3. You can monitor remotely
I have to admit that this is pretty cool and a feature I use more than I thought I would even though I primarily use the Owlet Smart Sock at night. If you’re someone who uses it during the day then even better.
Because it connects to your app, you can check on baby during the day if you are away (say if someone else is watching baby and using it). I could see this being pretty great if you have a nanny or regular sitter.
I personally use this feature when I leave for work early in the morning and Ryland is still sleeping….I love that I can check on him without being in the house! Even just for knowing if he woke up yet or not ?
Another thing I love for remote monitoring (and in this case, I’m just talking about from the other room), the base is always glowing green if baby’s levels are in the normal range. This lets you know everything’s okay with a quick glance. And if you do open the app in the middle of the night, it features a “dark mode” to save your eyes at 2 am – love it.
4. Immediate alerts
I’ve kind of said this a few times already but wanted to make sure to give it its own spot on the list of pros. There are no delays for health readings!
If baby ever goes out of normal range you get an immediate and clear alert via the app and base station!
5. Easy to use
You guys! This is big, and so important to me when it comes to adding tech to my life. I definitely did not feel like there was a learning curve or anything. I used it the first night I came home with Ryland and it was very easy to use and understand!
This is a big win! We’ve all had experiences where technology just leads to more frustration and confusion, and that was definitely not the case with the Owlet Smart Sock. So streamlined!
6. It tracks baby’s sleep
I was primarily drawn to the Owlet for the safety monitoring, but I’m finding that I totally love that it tracks Ryland’s sleep! I love looking back at his little sleep reports.
It’s pretty fascinating to see his total hours slept, sleep quality rating, how many times he woke up, and his longest sleep segment. I really like to look back at trends in his longest sleep stretches.
It’s also cool to see that he maybe woke 14 times, but only required me at 2-3 of those wakings. Victory towards independent sleep! Here’s what it looks like:
Potential Drawbacks: Owlet Smart Sock Cons
1. May increase anxiety for some
You know I always want to keep it real with you guys, and I can’t whole heartedly recommend this sock for everyone – even though I absolutely love it.
I can totally see (after using it for two months) how it could 100% increase anxiety for some new parents. Some people may fall into a trap of becoming completely obsessed with the owlet and be constantly checking the app, which might make matters of anxiety (and sleeping yourself) significantly worse.
Only you know how you think you’d react to this kind of technology and monitoring. I felt pretty certain I would gain peace of mind from it, and I totally did! I know myself and my anxiety and knew this kind of knowledge would help. So take a look within and listen to your mama gut of whether or not this will help.
To this point, it seems worth bringing up something Owlet calls their “30-Night Peace of Mind Guarantee”. This means you can get a full refund on any Owlet product within 30 days of setting up a hardware product. You just need to have proof of purchase from an authorized seller.
I love this because if for some reason you try it and find your anxiety is through the roof, you can get your money back!
2. False alerts
I had heard about this and have experienced a few annoying alerts. Sometimes if Ryland is nursing in middle of the night the owlet will go off saying that it’s misplaced on his foot. So that has been annoying, but it’s a quick fix.
I do really like that the alert for a misplaced sock sounds different than an alert if his heart rate or O2 is low to help mitigate your stress response, hah.
Also, like you’ll see if you’re someone that’s been reading through other Owlet Smart Sock reviews, the false alarms feel totally worth it for the peace of mind of it picking up a real emergency.
3. May not be great for very active babies
My baby doesn’t move a TON when he’s sleeping, so this isn’t an issue for us. However, if you have a baby who constantly moves their feet when they sleep it may not work well for you.
They say that it can read through gentle movements, but full on rolling or excessive kicking will probably result in a lot of false alarms or misplaced sock readings.
4. Don’t forget to charge it
Okay, this really is not a huge con because the charging station is right by my bed. I just take it off in the morning and plop it right onto the base, but I can see how this would be annoying for people who forget to charge things.
You just have to make it part of your routine to put it onto the charger as soon as you take it off when baby wakes up and you’ll be all set.
5. It’s pricey
There’s no way around it, at $300 this is a serious investment. This amazing technology does come with a steep price tag, but I can understand why! They do offer the option to put it on a payment plan if that works better for you.
I also recommend adding it to your baby registry. Some baby registry sites even let you put items as “group gifts” so more than one person can contribute towards the cost.
My personal statement about the Owlet Smart Sock
To round out this Owlet Smart Sock review, I want to add in my own little statement/disclaimer. There are two things I want to note.
1. Don’t use the Owlet to ignore other safe sleep guidelines
One thing I worry about is how the owlet COULD POTENTIALLY lead parents to ignore safe sleeping practices. Things like putting baby to sleep on their stomach, under a bunch of blankets, not on a flat surface, etc. They might think that these things are okay after strapping on the Owlet to monitor them.
If you buy an owlet, DONT DO THIS OKAY?! That’s definitely not what it is for. It’s so important to follow AAP safe sleep guidelines in addition to using the Owlet Smart Sock. I just had to make sure this is explicitly understood!
2. Still follow your mama gut and check on baby as you regularly would
I can also see how it would prevent parents from actually checking on baby if they think something is wrong. Checking the app instead of actually checking on baby (when you normally would) is not advised.
It’s important to still use your mom/dad spidey senses and check on your baby if you think something is up with them (or just routinely check on them in general!). Don’t rely wholly on a piece of technology.
In short, if you use it for good and it helps you sleep better at night, and you don’t plan to use it for the purposes I’ve just stated, then the Owlet Smart Sock is a winner for me!
