I was too worried about my baby to sleep until I put a nice sock on him

‘116 beats per minute and 94% oxygen. Rory’s readings are normal. Relief.’

Not for the first time, reading the app connected to my son’s foot has calmed my anxiety.

I thought because I’d already had two kids that I’d be in a good place and I’d be calmer if I had another newborn. Unfortunately, that was not the case and my anxiety began to mount.

It started in September 2020 when I got pregnant with my third child.

This was my fifth pregnancy but my third baby. I was paranoid that something would go wrong again.

Rory was conceived after an ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, so I went into mama bear mode after he was born.

He was a hard-fought and coveted rainbow baby and I wanted to protect him at all costs.

Enter the Owlet, a smart sock that slips over your baby’s foot to monitor their oxygen levels and heart rate, as well as their sleeping patterns.

When baby is asleep, you can sleep too, knowing that an alarm will sound if something is wrong, because the sensor connects to an app on your phone.

Others may be skeptical, but I don’t care – I believe the owl saved my son’s life.

He has slept on his face a few times and his oxygen level has dropped below 74%. I was awakened by an alarm and went in to check on him and flip him onto his back. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I hadn’t known.

It has also helped boost my confidence when it comes to sleeping with Rory. I know many parents worry that they might roll onto their baby, that a comforter might cover their face (I remove the covers to make sure this doesn’t happen), or that their baby might fall out of bed.

With the Owlet, I have the peace of mind that the alarm would alert me if something like this happened.

I wanted to buy the device when I had my daughter in 2017, but my husband thought it was overkill.

With Rory, my husband understood that things had changed. When the worst has happened, it’s harder to shake things off.

I was concerned and wanted to keep our precious rainbow baby safe.

While it helps with my safety concerns, Owlet also provides great insights that can help with sleep training.

The app shows how long the baby slept and how deep the sleep was. It even lets you know how fast they fell asleep and how often they woke up.

This is useful because you can change the length or times of your naps.

I have had three children in seven years and I know how important good sleep is. Now I realize I haven’t had that since my firstborn.

Even when my other children were asleep, I couldn’t rest and was constantly checking on them.

My husband would never miss it now and wish we had bought it for our other children.

I heard about the socks in one of those maternity kits that midwives give mothers – booklets full of pregnancy and childbirth tips and a buying guide too.

No one in my pregnancy group had bought one, but a few had heard about it and considered buying it.

That’s the good thing about knowing other parents – being able to try things out and make mistakes as a group, and get instant product reviews before committing to them.

Technology has come so far since my first child was born seven years ago. There are so many great products that I have used to ease my worries and burdens.

There’s the Elvie – a breast pump that you tuck into your bra – that lets you walk around and get on with your day.

I’m also testing a new product called Glow Dreaming, a light that doubles as a humidifier while delivering pink noise and aromatherapy at the same time.

But the owl is my favorite piece of technology because it keeps my baby safe. The tranquility it offers is incomparable.

I’m not quite sure when I’ll stop using a smart sock.

They have a larger sock that children up to five years old can wear, although that seems to guard the age.

It will be a sad day when I stop using the Owlet. The security it brings has been a huge benefit as I continue to raise three young children.

And it has given me that precious commodity that all parents crave and few can get on a regular basis: sleep.