An in depth and honest Owlet sock review. I used the Owlet Smart Sock on my own infant after testing other breathing monitors on the market. I have had to contact customer support and found Owlet’s Customer Support Team to be very helpful.
Home breathing and heart rate monitors for infants have become a priority for many parents over the past few years. I used the Owlet Smart Sock, and wanted to provide an honest, straightforward and thorough review for my readers. I am not affiliated with Owlet and they are not paying me for this review. This is my personal experience.
**It should be noted that these devices cannot claim to prevent SIDS, and are not designed to be medical devices, but they can give you some peace of mind. The Owlet website says it is intended for “healthy infants” and does not replace safe sleep habits. The best way to prevent SIDS is to follow the AAP guidelines and put infants to sleep alone, in an empty crib, on their backs in a crib or bassinet. This article is not sponsored by Owlet, this is my honest review as a purchaser of this product. This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if a purchase is made from my website. Please see my Disclaimer Policy for more information.**
First, are breathing monitors necessary for babies?
Breathing and heart rate monitors can be a very controversial topic. Many pediatricians do not recommend them as they can give false alarms and send parents into a panic.
When they work, however, they can save lives and notify you of dangerously high or low heart rates or low oxygen levels. It can alert you that your baby needs immediate care, even when you’re asleep or away from your baby.
I know of several people who say the Owlet Smart Sock saved their baby’s life.
One person I know discovered a cardiac issue in their child that had not (and possible would not have been) detected without this monitor. Another was woken to low oxygen alarms and found her baby struggling to breathe.
The website and reviews of the product is full of parents sharing similar stories. Personally knowing babies whose lives had been saved due to this monitor was a huge push for me. I needed to know it was beneficial before I spent the money.
Why I Started Using the Owlet
When I was about 33 weeks pregnant, my obstetrician heard a cardiac arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, on a doppler check in the office. Later scans showed the arrhythmia had resolved, as they often do in fetuses, but it still scared me.
This is when I ordered my Owlet Smart Sock 2. I was terrified something was wrong with the baby’s heart that they couldn’t see on ultrasound.
Though an EKG after birth showed no arrhythmia, I am so glad I purchased the Owlet Smart Sock! It helped me feel reassured and confident that she was fine, especially with my slight postpartum anxiety. She is 19 months old now, but she wore the Owlet every night until she grew out of it.
Our third child is 6 weeks old, and we use the Smart Sock on her every night. It’s not only great for tracking her heart rate and oxygen levels, but it also keeps track of her sleep patterns. I find this to be extremely helpful and informative since I have a hard time keeping track of her wake times at night.
Owlet Smart Sock vs. Snuza
With my first child, we used the Snuza monitor, which clips to the child’s diaper and monitors movement. If the baby is breathing, the monitor is moving and doesn’t alarm. If the baby stops breathing, the monitor alarms.
Snuza Review
The benefit of the Snuza is it’s significantly cheaper than the Owlet. It retails for $99, and we actually bought ours used for about $30.
This worked great for the first few weeks, but once they really start wriggling around, sleeping on their belly, etc. the monitor comes loose and alarms as if the baby has stopped breathing.
These false alarms happened often with the Snuza, and after a moment of panic we’d just shut it off for the rest of the night. We have never had a false alarm with the Owlet Smart Sock 2.
Obviously, you are are supposed to keep the monitor on all night. But when you’re already exhausted, you don’t want something alarming (and sending you into a panic) for no reason!
We were able to use the Snuza until somewhere between 2-3 months old. Per the manufacturer, you can safely use the Owlet until the child is approximately 18 months old.
Benefits of the Owlet Smart Sock
- It is very easy to use. You just put the sock on your baby’s foot and push the power button on the base station. It lights green when it’s on, flashes green when the baby is moving, and will alarm red when there’s a problem. If it is having a hard time getting a reading (usually because the sock is not on the baby or has come loose), it plays a loud lullaby to grab your attention without panicking you.
- It gives a sense of security. I’m not looking at the baby’s monitor all night long, but I know Owlet is working when the light is green. The alarms and alerts are loud enough to grab my attention.
- The app is easy to navigate. We traveled out of town for a wedding when the baby was 3 months old, and I was a nervous wreck! I was able to log into the app to make sure her numbers looked good and she was sleeping soundly while I was away. It has a really straight-forward interface and is FREE in the app store!
- It tracks more than just heart rate and oxygen saturation. Did you know it can also monitor the baby’s sleep?? The app can tell you how much the baby was up at night and how often they were in deep or light sleep.
This was so great in the beginning when the baby was up a lot and I couldn’t keep track of what time(s) or for how long. The app does that for you! It also helped me assess trends in her sleeping patterns. If I knew she would be up at 1am and 4am, I could plan my husband to get up and warm a bottle at 12:45 so I could get a decent stretch of sleep. - It’s easy to clean. Inside of the sock is a little plastic piece that slides out. Then the sock can be thrown in with the regular laundry and then you slide the plastic part back in. It’s really a great design!
Cons of the Owlet
- Cost. This is a big one that almost caused us not to purchase. It currently retails for $299. However, you can use HSA/FSA dollars, even if you order from Amazon! We used HSA money which definitely lessened the blow. Also, there are usually deals on pairing the camera video monitor with the sock as well, but I have never tried their video monitor and so I can’t testify to how well it works.
- The sock has to be close to the base station to work properly. This was a hard adjustment for me when the baby transitioned out of the bassinet and into her nursery. I liked looking over and seeing the green light when I stirred throughout the night, but the base station needs to be close to the sock to work properly. We ended up putting the base station within range of my baby monitor’s view so that I can peek in and see the green light. I could also check the app, and I know there would be alarms if there was an issue.
- The battery life is not very long. It will last through the night, but will need to be plugged in during the daytime. This is just a slight inconvenience, but in the chaos of my mornings the sock doesn’t always get charged right away. The app will beep to let you know it’s getting low as a reminder.
- False alarms can occur. We had one false alarm shortly after starting with the device. My false alarm was because the sock was on incorrectly, but it still scared me and my husband (even though the baby was in my arms). Once we realized why the false alarm happened, we never had a false alarm again. It was truly user error, not device error.
Owlet Customer Service
I had an issue with my Smart Sock in December 2020. I am currently using the sock with my third child, and had used it for awhile before it stopped holding charge.
I used the sock for a year with my second child, and then it sat idle for almost a year before I was ready to use it with my third child. One day when I plugged it in to charge, the device didn’t flash a white circle like it is supposed to. I didn’t immediately notice it wasn’t charging, and when I went to put the baby to bed I learned the sock was dead.
I immediately hopped onto the Owlet website and followed their troubleshooting instructions. When that didn’t work, I started an online chat with a customer service representative. She was quick and responsive, and within 10 minutes had ordered my replacement piece. The conversation happened at 11pm, so I was relieved at how fast and simple it was.
I was very impressed with their customer service representative and how easy it was to get in touch with someone. Given that my problem occurred late at night, I really didn’t want to spend a long time with someone on the phone. Instead, a few messages back and forth with a customer service representative (shout out to you, Kay!) was all I needed.
My Overall Thoughts
We love our Owlet Smart Sock 2, and are using it now with our third child. Both my husband and I feel it helped us by:
- giving us restful sleep and peace of mind
- helping us monitor sleep trends
- giving us confidence that my baby is OK while traveling
We totally feel it was worth every penny. Both my husband and I rested much easier knowing my baby is being monitored while I’m sleeping. I have had only one false alarm, and many many nights of good sleep! It is a great product and I truly love it!
If you’re on the fence, I recommend just going for it. It has really been a help for me and many others I know. I plan on using it until my daughter outgrows it.
I purchased mine from Amazon because I knew it would be easy to return (this Kohl’s drop-off return program is great!!) if I decided I didn’t love it.
You can still use HSA/FSA dollars when purchasing from Amazon which is a big bonus. You can also purchase directly from Owlet, or any big-name baby store!
I hope this Owlet Smart Sock 2 review gave you some clarity! Have you given the Owlet a try?
What other baby products do you love? Comment below and let me know!
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