Peace of Mind as a Parent – The Owlet

We had a little bit of a scare the other night. Molly must have drank too much milk and ended up spitting up a ton of milk and choking on some of it. I know spitting up is very common in babies, but this was different than her normal spit up. She started choking on it and in between screams she would go silent and wouldn’t breathe. The screams were welcomed during this terrifying time. We learned in our infant CPR class that a crying baby is a breathing baby.

Luckily Kevin and I kept our cool and took the right steps to get her breathing normally again and she is totally ok. But this happened at 11pm and after that, we were really nervous about sleeping. We wanted to keep on eye on her all night that night and every night since. Ok who am I kidding we always want to have an eye on her. We realize that just isn’t possible which is why we are SO grateful for our Owlet Baby Monitor. It’s a tiny little sock that you put on your baby to measure their oxygen and heart rate levels. You can check those levels on your phone via an app which is so convenient. I wrote about the Owlet when I was pregnant with Molly because I was really happy I found such a great product to help me sleep once she was born. But until I actually really needed to use it, I had no idea how essential it would be to me – to us. In fact, I have been in contact with the company because I TRULY love and believe in the Owlet. I convinced them to give me another discount code for my followers! (One of you emailed me recently asking for a new code since my old code doesn’t work anymore – so I got another one! Yay!) Use the code MANNO25 to get $25 off an Owlet monitor from now until the end of August! It will be the best money you ever spent! Really. Get yours HERE.

I honestly can’t say enough about what the Owlet has given me. It’s given us peace of mind and sleep and those are two invaluable things when you have a newborn. I highly recommend getting this for your little one or making someone’s day by giving it as a gift to expecting or new parents.

Have any of you had a big scare with your little one that made it hard to sleep at night like we did? Do you have the Owlet? Do you love it like we do? Share your stories in the comments below!

34 Thoughts

34 thoughts on “Peace of Mind as a Parent – The Owlet

  1. We use the Snuza Hero. People were convinced that a wearable monitor would be something we’d use here and there but 12 weeks later he’s still wearing it almost all day every day and of course every night and every nap. I wouldn’t be able to sleep without some monitor on him– I don’t know how our parents did it. The Snuza does give off some false alarms at night if their diaper gets too full or if they wiggle and it separates from their body. This usually just entails my reaching over and adjusting it. Our scare– one night it went off and he had broken out of his swaddle and his entire face was covered!! It was terrifying. We’ve since only used the white, pink and blue hospital swaddle. It’s not the trendiest one but it’s been the safest. Hooray for wearable monitors!

    1. We also use the snuza at 7 months old. Have since he was born. Def. Had a few false alarms, but would rather have that any day of the week for the piece of mind it gives us!!!

  2. Ali, we bought the Owlet after reading your post about it a few months back. My son was born on July 13. It’s really the only way we can sleep. I’m so thankful to have a little peace of mind, especially since he came a few weeks early and I read that low birthweight is one of the factors associated with SIDS. So scary. One question. I have trouble getting the sock to stay on his foot. He’s so fidgety and of course I don’t want to wake him up when he’s asleep, but then I’m scared not to have the monitor on! Do you have the same problem?

  3. Oh! Also monitor her for reflux. Our LO started fussing a lot at 3 weeks and didn’t sleep much during the day. I told people he had 3 modes- eat, sleep, and fuss. It took 2.5 weeks of constant fussiness for me to discover he had silent reflux (he doesn’t spit up but swallows it and it burns). He was perfectly fine the first 3 weeks and I’m sad it seemingly came out of nowhere and now he has to have medicine 2x/day. It happens with so many babies these days– exclusively breastfed, formula fed, anti-dairy mommy, etc. Just something to keep an eye out for if she keeps having more than typical spit up episodes!

  4. Oh how I wish I had a monitor like that when my girls were babies! They are 6.5 and 4 now and I pretty much spent the first months of their lives watching them constantly all night! I didn’t have any scares with them but I did have a baby girl before I had them. She was very sick and after 4 months in the hospital she passed away. She would have dsat episodes where cpr was required regularly. It creates quite a bit of stress and worry even when you give birth to healthy babies! I was terrified of taking my eyes off of them. If I ever have another baby that will be my first purchase. I’m so glad you guys were able to remain calm and that Molly is ok. Being a parent is the hardest, most amazing, loving experience in the world. It truly feels as though your heart is now on the outside of your body ❤️

  5. When I was a newborn (my parents told me) that one night they were putting me to sleep and I held my breath after crying so much that I turned blue!! obviously I was okay but I’m sure scared them half to death. Happy Molly is okay, she is beautiful and you guys are such great parents!!

  6. It is so nerve wrecking having a newborn at home and all the firsts! I am very happy she is ok. Our scariest event was when our son now 4 was 8 months and what was a cold turned into pneumonia and RSV. He was transported from our local hospital in an ambulance to the nearest Children’s Hospital where we spent 4 scary nights because his oxygen levels were so low. He now is prone to pneumonia and has asthma. We are on a treatment plan now and hopefully as the yrs go by he will grow out of it. My sister in law just found out she is pregnant so I am going to tell her about this. Molly is just beautiful and congrats on becoming a mommy 🙂

  7. We originally purchased the owlet and I wanted to love it. The only issue is that it isn’t very easy to use with twins. It’s something I hope they fix in the future with their app for the phone/tablet. So we returned and had to switch to Angelcare. Thank goodness never had a scare only false alarms. But having that peace of mind (regardless of what product you use) is so important! Love seeing your posts Ali!

  8. We bought it and used it for the first week home from the hospital, but unfortunately had to return it. Our daughter absolutely hated when we put it on her, so that was always a struggle. Besides that, though, it rarely read her vitals, it always said she was ‘wiggling’ even when she was still and it alarmed multiple times throughout the night either saying it had fallen off (it hadn’t) or with connection issues. I really wanted to love it and have the peace of mind. Anyone else experience these difficulties?

    Molly is so adorable, I love following your blog even more now that you’re a mom!

  9. My son is now 2, and I had seen this monitor but I couldn’t see an 18m old baby still wearing that tiny sock, so we decided to get the Angelcare monitor. Babies are at risk of SIDS up to 2 yo. So it was a great peace of mind…we had one scare when he was 1m old, he was napping and the monitor went off and I looked at him at he look bluish to me I started moving him and he wouldn’t wake up, so I picked him up and he woke up. We took him to the hospital and everything seemed normal. Since then, we had tons of false alarms and about 2 months ago we put the monitor away. But what a piece of mind to have that! ?

  10. We use the Owlet and it is by far the best product on the market. We put pants on our daughter, then the Owlet sock and then another tight fitting sock to keep it in place. We never had any issues with false alarms. It works great and couldn’t be happier with it. Their customer service is great also, very helpful and nice. If you are having issues with your Owlet, I suggest giving them a call, they have great tips!

  11. We use it and it is fantastic! We can actually sleep now, knowing our little is safe and we will be informed if anything is wrong. Total peace of mind, for sure! I highly recommend.

  12. The Owlet sounds awesome. I had an Angel Care, it was awesome, too! Although, the Owlet sounds even better. The Angel Care gave me peace of mind, I could have cared less when it went off when they rolled off the pad area, I would rather have it be too sensitive vs. not having it. Great products!

  13. Ali, what does Molly’s O2 levels stay at while she’s sleeping?? I ask because my 2 months old son is on O2 at home and I’ve been told that babies can stay low 90’s if in a deep sleep. He hovers between 88-92 when off oxygen. I had looked into one of these for when he comes off the monitors the hospital has us set up on. I would love peace of mind even after the equipment is gone. But just out of curiosity, i was interested in knowing if the owlet displays her O2 levels and what you’ve notices with Molly. Thanks!! 🙂

    1. Julie my 2 yr old is on O2 as well. Finally able to wean and only on during nap and night now. Yes it is true your O2 levels are typically their lowest when you sleep. We do not keep a monitor on her during the night but when she was in the hospital in Nov I remember it was about 92/93. The important thing is not to just pay attention to the monitor but also to their breathing pattern.

    2. I know this was intended for Ali but we use the owlet and my daughter is also on an apnea monitor due to going unresponsive at 6 weeks old. They said it was caused from reflux but I can assure you that everytime she wears both the owlet and the apnea monitor, the readings were always consistent and correlated with one another. What I like about the owlet is it monitors oxygen as to where the apnea monitor doesn’t. My daughters readings for her oxygen average between 90-100. I was told that’s completely normal depending on the state of
      Sleep and other factors.
      The owlet will alarm you If it falls below 80 for longer than I think 30 seconds to a minute. Best product ever.

  14. I’m so pleased to hear your beautiful little Molly is ok. It is so scary when things like that happen! I’m still in shock with what some people have written regarding your title, it totally astounds me why people that just want to be negetive towards you and your blog keep coming back – as I was brought up if you have nothing nice to say, then don’t say anything at all! I love your blog and that you share your beautiful little girl with us! Happy Wedding Dress shopping! xo

  15. My daughter was in the NICU for 5.5 weeks after birth. She came home on oxygen so we had an apnea monitor for a few months after. It gave us so much peace of mind and allowed us to sleep well. We did have a few nights where it went off but upon checking her breathing it was always a false alarm. Once she got to the stage of SIDS not being a worry we felt more confident without it. Our daughter is 2 now and back on oxygen for pulmonary hypertension – now my only concern is that cord wrappig around her as she sleeps ?.

  16. Hi Ali! I love reading your blog! And that Vanessa girl needs to go away and never comment again! Haha
    Happy wedding dress shopping!?

  17. My son had/has reflux. It was so bad when he was a newborn thag he chocked on in and wasn’t breathing. Scariest moment of my life! A hazelwood necklace, some Zantac and a rock n play saved us! Now he only gets it occasionally, he’s only 14 months, so still a baby to me!

  18. I bought the owlet monitor for when my baby boy came home after spending 3 months in the NICU. It’s a great product over all but I noticed that it did leave a skin indication on his foot at night because it can only be worn on one foot to be accurate? It does help you with peace of mind

  19. We actually returned ours. It gave us inaccurate readings and false alarms. Glad you have had a different experience.

  20. My son was born 2 months early and after spending 8 weeks in the NICU he came home with an apnea monitor. That was a stressful time for us. False alarms were the worst but we were glad we had it. He’s almost a year old, he’s healthy and doing great. Even though the apnea monitor has been gone for a long time, you can still find me checking my son, just to make sure he’s breathing.

  21. I have the owlet for my 5 month old and I can tell you that i get the best sleep because I don’t have to worry all night! It is by far the best product I bought for my LO. Us moms are getting the best peace of mind and sleep around and that is everything!!

    1. I agree! It’s the best! Some people on here said they’ve had false alarms or it has fallen off but neither of those things have happened to us so I love it!

  22. Wow Ali, I live in austria, europe, and never even heard such thing as the owlet existed. No one here in austria I know has anything like that. My baby is almost one now, so luckily quite out of the risk of SIDS, but I was sometimes anxious during several nights in the first couple of months. I often woke up in the morning, relieved that my baby was still alive and breathing. I guess losing your baby to SIDS is the worst you can experience and I totally can understand that one wants to do anything to prevent that to happen with products like the owlet and I am happy for you it gives you peace of mind, totally can understand that. Still I think -and we had to painfully learn during my pregnancy and the horrible birth of my baby- that with children one can’t control everything… it is all just a big big gift to us, health especially. So let’ enjoy those gifts we got, we can’t take them for granted.
    Best of luck to you and your family, Molly is so so so cute and I can so relate to your joy of the first weeks of motherhood that you wrote of before. As my birth experience was so dramatic and we were in a lot of danger I was just on cloud nine with my baby to during the first weeks and months, despite all exausting and super difficult things. I am glad you experience so much love and joy with molly as well. It is such a beautiful time…glad I can sometimes re-live and be reminded through your posts.
    Love from austria all the way across the sea!

    1. We honestly haven’t had a single false alarm in the five weeks we’ve been using it! It also has never fallen off. We just make sure it’s on her nice and snug

  23. We use it too, and love it! Had our first baby in May and I don’t think we got any real sleep until we ordered ours in June. Our baby sleeps so soundly (when he’s really deeply sleeping) that we’d want to wake him up to check on him. I just look at the app now (through one sleepy eye cracked open lol). The owlet comes with us when we travel, too!

  24. Thank you so much for sharing this product and your scare. I am a mother to three kiddos. A eight year old daughter , five year old daughter and a son who is four weeks old today. Our new born was born at 34 weeks and spent some time in nicu and had resp distress on top of other things. Since he has come home I have not slept in my own bed because I am terrified he will stop breathing again. This product sounds amazing but it is not something we can afford. It is so kind of you to share products and experiences so we know we are not alone out there ?

  25. My daughter has some food allergies and of course, you don’t know that until they try the food for the first time. We had a big scare with a horrible (call 911) reaction at 7 months and another one at 18 months. Both times (and many other times when she was sick, especially if it was a vomiting kind of sick), I’d sleep next to her crib on the floor of her room. I didn’t have the owlet, she is almost 5 now, it wasn’t around, but anytime I feel anxious about my children, my husband or I (or sometimes both) sleep with them. I think we’ll always be anxious about our kids, no matter how old they are.

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