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There are so many new products marketed to new parents these days. It’s hard to know which ones will truly make life easier vs. the products that are gimmicky and not really necessary. Check out a real mom’s review of the Owlet Dream Sock to help you decide if it is right for you and your family.
*I also find that new parents feel weird putting an expensive item like this on their registry, however you can always buy it for them as a gift. Give the gift of baby sleep!
What is the Owlet Dream Sock?
The Owlet Dream Sock is basically a stretchy sea green sock with a sensor in it that you can strap to your baby’s foot when he or she is sleeping. The award-winning technology used to create the dream sock has helped improve baby sleep. The main benefits of the sock are to monitor changes in the baby’s movement, breathing, or heart rate which are all sleep quality indicators. The device can show you their heart rate and oxygen levels on the app in your phone at any given time. It can show you a log of their sleep (how long they slept, the quality of their sleep, how often they woke up, etc) so you can help dial in their optimal sleep schedule. Plus, it sends notifications if the sock senses that their heart rate or oxygen levels have gone in the red zone.
Is the Owlet Dream Sock the same as the Owlet Smart Sock?
Basically, yes, but it has been rebranded. You may have heard of the Owlet Smart Sock. That is the old version of this product that was recently rebranded as the Owlet Dream Sock. The Owlet Smart Sock was pulled from the market due to claims that it could help reduce SIDs and be used as a medical device. While it cannot legally be used as a medical device, it does still give new parents some reassurance and peace of mind and help improve the quality of baby sleep. (To be clear…this is a sleep quality device and not an official medical device :))
Owlet Dream Sock Review
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Comfortable and stays on well
Neither one of my babies seemed to even know it was there. They were very comfortable with it on. As long as you are putting on the right size sock for them, it stays on well and is pretty secure throughout the night.
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Owlet Dream App works great
We had very few Dream app issues over years of using this product. If we did, their customer support was very responsive and was able to help us.
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Peace of mind
Yes, yes we know this is not to be used as an official medical device. However, the FDA can’t take away that little bit of peace of mind that parents still get when they see oxygen levels are at 100% and heart rate is perfectly normal. Again, we do not recommend relying on this, but it helped my anxiety to see it.
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Helps us understand sleep patterns
I was a big fan of bedtime routines and sleep schedules for my children starting at a young age. Good quality sleep helps children feel well, stay healthy, grow, learn, and behave better. I didn’t stress over all the analytics from the Dream Sock, however it was helpful to get a general idea of their sleep patterns so I can understand if they are overly tired, if I need to cut a nap, if they had any troublesome sleep patterns, etc.
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Can be used with just the base station (no app) when traveling
It was very easy if I needed to travel or go to my parents' house for the night. I would just bring the base station and rely on the base station instead of the app for the night!
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Different smart sock sizes
The Owlet Dream sock comes with different sock sizes so that it can grow with your baby. It’s important to use the one that fits your baby best as this will help it stay on and not send you a false notification.
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Easy to clean
When the sock got a little dirty, I simply just removed the sensor and washed the sock by hand with laundry detergent and warm water. It looked brand new again and dries super quickly because of the thin, stretchy material.
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Not many false alarms
The Owlet has 3 types of notifications: Yellow, Blue & Red. Yellow indicates the sock probably fell off. Blue indicates a Bluetooth or technical issue. Red is the one you want to look out for. I’m thankful that there are different types because I never worried when I got a yellow or blue notification. In our years of using the product, we only received a couple false red alarms. The key is to be aware that this can happen and don’t immediately panic. It can happen when the baby sneezes, is feeding, is in a weird position, cries super hard, etc. Overall, the benefits of the Dream Sock far outweigh the very few false red alarms we got over the years.
Why are Healthy Sleep Habits Important?
We are a family that prioritizes healthy sleep habits. From the time they were babies, they could sense that bedtime was a non-negotiable. Even when we knew they would be up a couple hours later for feeding, we tried to create a relaxing and consistent bedtime routine that helped them wind down for the day and get their much needed rest. According to John Hopkins Children's Hospital, "studies have shown that kids who regularly get an adequate amount of sleep have improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, and overall mental and physical health." Basically, they are happier and healthier so that's enough reason for me!
Is the Owlet Dream Sock worth it?
This is it...the moment we've been waiting for. Is it worth it? We say yes. We have used the Owlet Dream Sock for both of our children until they were 10 months old. I joked with my husband that I wanted them to wear that little sea green sock until college! For an anxious mom, it was just that little extra monitoring that gave me peace of mind and helped me sleep at night. It allowed us to understand their sleep and help them sleep better. While it may not be necessary if you are on a tight budget, we had an amazing experience with this little gadget and I would recommend it to any new parent all day long!
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