Have you been wondering whether to try an app to help with your baby's sleep? Or perhaps you’re already using a sleep app, but you’re feeling disheartened because it’s not quite living up to it’s promise.
There are oodles of sleep apps out there that promise to help babies sleep well without excessive expense or hassle. But the real question is–do they work? Can a sleep app really help improve your baby's sleep?
Let's dive into it by taking a look at the different types of sleep apps that are available, how they work, and which ones you should (or shouldn’t!) invest your time and money into.
The different types of sleep apps
Sleep aids
The first type of app you may have come across falls under the category I call 'sleep aids'. In different ways, these apps are designed to help aid your baby's sleep.
They include:
Tracker apps.
Sleep sounds and white noise apps.
Baby monitor apps.
Tracker apps
These are more generic apps in that they're not specifically for sleep but can help you keep track of your baby's daily habits, including sleep. So you can track your baby’s feeds and nappy changes, as well as their naps, and their night sleep. Examples of these are My Baba or The Wonder Weeks.
Sleep sounds and white noise apps
These apps provide background, soothing sounds (including white noise) designed to calm your baby and encourage them to fall asleep. The idea here is that your baby is familiar with these noises. They find them calming and comforting because of how they resemble the type of muffled sounds that your baby was used to hearing while in the womb.
If you Google "white noise baby sleep sounds", you'll find plenty of apps you can download onto your phone.
My advice would be to pay for an app that plays the white noise until you switch it off at the end of your baby’s sleep. Most of the free white noise apps on the market only play for 40 minutes and then stop. While some babies may be fine with this, others may notice the silence when they rouse between their sleep cycles, and this could lead to them waking fully.
Baby monitor apps
These apps connect with a video monitor and help you keep an eye on your baby while they sleep. Examples include Baby Monitor 3G, Baby Monitor Annie, Bibino Baby Monitor, Cloud Baby Monitor, and Simple Nanny just to name a few.
Of course, safe sleep guidance in the UK states that babies shouldn't sleep alone within the first 6 months of their lives. However, after this, video monitors can be really helpful.
As well as providing reassurance when you're downstairs in the evening (or when you wake to find they've had a rare 3-hour stretch, and you're convinced there must be something wrong!), they can also help you decide how to respond when hear your child rousing in the night.
For example, if you hear your toddler grizzling but can see on the monitor that they are shuffling around, trying to get comfy again, you might want to give it a few moments to see if they can resettle themselves. However, if you can see that they are standing about rattling the bars, you know that's your cue!
Sleep guidance apps
Another type of app you might have looked into are 'sleep guidance apps'. These are designed to give you advice and guidance about your baby's sleep routine.
A popular example that comes to mind is Huckleberry, which is described as a ‘sleep consultant in your pocket’. Created by a team of sleep experts, data scientists, and parents, the app claims to be able to improve your child's sleep by creating a custom sleep plan that works for your individual circumstances and family.
After a period of tracking, the app analyses the data you input in it. It then considers your baby's habits and developmental stage and makes predictions that they claim will help you both with daytime napping and sleep transitions.
Do sleep aid apps work?
While it's fantastic that these apps are available for parents to use, do they really work? Here’s my view:
I’m all for white noise apps. I find that they can be effective for a lot of babies. Soothing noises and sounds can help you create a calming environment that breeds longer and better sleep. They are also great for masking external noises (show me a parent who’s never had the dilemma of whether or not to flush the loo?!)
I’m also all for Baby monitors. When I had my first baby 13 years ago, all you could get were monitors that allowed you to hear your baby! Technology has come on so much since then! Nowadays, you can see exactly what your baby is doing, even when you’re at work or out for the evening! This can not only put your mind at ease but also alert you as to when your baby might need you to help them resettle.
Mixed feelings about tracker apps
When it comes to tracker apps, I have mixed feelings. Some parents who I have worked with have used them and said they found them helpful. I do get it. If you’re totally exhausted, having everything recorded in one place can help you feel more in control. It might help you start to see the wood from the trees and give you some practical information on what you could change or optimise in your baby’s routine.
However, for parents who are already exhausted and stressed, seeing exactly how many wake-ups there have been every night could very easily exacerbate negative feelings around sleep. If this starts to happen, in my opinion, any benefits that may have been gained from tracking a baby’s sleep would start to be heavily outweighed by the stress that the tracking was causing.
If you can relate to this and find that using a tracker app is causing added stress for you, please know that you’re not alone. Give yourself a few days off from using it (maybe just use it for nappy changes and feeds), and see how it feels to take the pressure off a little.
Do sleep guidance apps really work?
When it comes to sleep guidance apps such as Huckleberry, do they really work? Are they likely to transform a baby who wakes 10 times a night into a 12-hour sleeper within a week or so?
In short, no! Nothing, and no one can promise you that! In fairness, not even the most experienced Sleep Consultants and Coaches would or should!
An app such as Huckleberry may help you establish a more predictable sleep routine (as many guidance tracker apps might also do). It may also be useful for spotting patterns and opportunities for tweaks and changes. To read more about this topic, here's an honest review from a mum who used the app with good success.
The downside of sleep guidance apps
A downside to sleep guidance apps is that they tend to be quite rigid, giving quite specific (and often overestimated) ideal sleep and nap lengths that babies should be having at each age. They also rely heavily on the concept of fixed 'awake windows'. This is the idea that babies should be awake for a certain amount of time between each nap throughout the day.
So when a parent relies heavily on guidance from the app, they might end up experiencing anxiety, which is driven by the idea of having to stick to the schedule. Instead of enjoying time with your baby, you might end up feeling stressed and overwhelmed because your child isn't sleeping for the length of time the app predicted or advised. Plus, you're also probably worrying about the chain reaction that a missed nap or short nap might trigger and what that might do to your baby's night sleep! And that's never a good place to be.
All babies are different
The reality is that all babies are different, so rigid 'awake windows' will never work perfectly for everyone or every day. While they may be a rough indication, the same baby will be likely to have a different nap pattern depending on what's happened during a particular day. Was the previous sleep a mega nap, or just a short cat nap? Were they busy playing on a mat burning energy, or were they in the pushchair for a while while you got some errands done? Factors such as these will affect the length of each awake window, and apps aren’t sophisticated to take these variables into consideration.
Babies aren't a species of their own - they are young humans! So, much like us, they won’t be able to sleep or wake up at exactly the same time every day. If you've had a particularly busy day, packed with things to do, you're going to be more tired and ready for bed earlier than you would if you'd been sitting on the sofa watching TV all day. (And doesn't that sound like a dream right now?)
But the point is that each day is different, and just like with adults, your baby's levels of tiredness may vary. So it's perfectly reasonable that some days your baby will have two longer naps and others they'll have three shorter ones. Neither scenarios are anything to worry about.
As sleep guidance apps such as Huckleberry take quite a rigid stance on this concept of fixed 'awake windows' and how many naps your baby needs in a day, they certainly can't easily accommodate the day-to-day variety in napping schedules. To find out more about 'awake windows' and whether they truly work, head over to this article.
Relying on apps can be stressful
My personal opinion as a qualified Sleep Coach working with families in different circumstances and situations are that apps can be useful to an extent. But solely relying on a sleep app can lead to a stressful experience. Being told when your baby is meant to be asleep or awake often leads to frustration, disappointment, and feelings of inadequacy when things don't go 'according to plan'.
As well as this, although a sleep guidance app might help you work towards a more predictable routine, they’re not going to be able to help you with all the other sleep concerns you may have, such as how to transition from co-sleeping, how to help your baby get used to napping in their cot, or how to help your partner be able to settle your baby at bedtime or throughout the night.
If these are the type of challenges that you’re facing at the moment, then working with a Sleep Coach may be a better alternative. A Sleep Coach will be able to help you establish an effective but flexible routine for your baby, as well as help you reach your wider sleep goals so that you can start to get the sleep you need!
Should you use a sleep guidance app?
Sleep guidance apps can be useful. They can give you a good indication of when your baby might get sleepy at first, and they can help you track what's happening. But I would always advise taking them with a pinch of salt.
My advice to all parents is is to get outside, be active with your baby, and enjoy time in the sun (when it's out) and the fresh air whenever you can. Let your baby fall asleep on the go, almost ‘accidentally’ when they are ready. You'll see that their natural rhythm will follow. Not to mention that this will also do you (and your mental and physical health) a world of good!
A client's experience with a sleep guidance app
To conclude, I'd like to share this story from a recent client of mine, Kate. Kate had a 5-month-old baby had been using the Huckleberry app for about four weeks before contacting me. Before she started using it, she had no predictability or rhythm to the day. Every day started at a different time, sometimes there would be 5 naps, other days 2, and bedtime was anything between 7pm-10pm.
Kate found that the app helped her create more structure and routine around her days, which was really helpful to begin. However, she soon started feeling worried that her baby wasn't sleeping enough because he rarely hit the sleep totals or nap lengths suggested by the app. One of the reasons for Kate getting in touch with me was because she was worried her baby might experience developmental delays due to lack of sleep.
After analysing her baby’s sleep diary, I was able to reassure Kate that her son was getting plenty of sleep for his age. He was generally happy and content in the day (other than when Kate tried to put him down for naps at the time suggested by the app, rather than when he was tired), and the total amount he was getting was well within the range of normal for his age.
After explaining some of the science behind naps, I suggested to Kate that she could try to 'go with the flow' a little more during the day. Soon enough, she stopped worrying about her baby not getting enough sleep if he woke after just 40 minutes (i.e. one sleep cycle). When we spoke again, Kate told me that the advice I gave her had taken a huge weight off her shoulders. She went from feeling panicked and anxious about naps, to feeling a lot more at ease, relaxed, and confident about her ability to help her baby get the sleep he needed.
So while sleep guidance apps can be useful, they probably can't 100% 'fix' your baby's sleep.
Would you like some support from a Holistic Sleep Coach?
If you're currently in the thick of sleep deprivation, feel you've tried everything, and are at the end of your tether, I want you to know that there's light at the end of the tunnel! However tough things are at the moment, I can help you take a gentle path to reach your sleep goals.
As a qualified and experienced Holistic Sleep Coach, I provide evidence-based sleep coaching support to families across the UK. Working with you, I can help you achieve peaceful and improved sleep - for your child, yourself, and the whole family.
If you’d like to chat, you can book in a free no obligation 15 minute call with me. I'll listen to your unique situation and give you some tailored suggestions to help you nudge things forward with your baby’s sleep. If you’d like to continue to work with me after that, then great. Either way you will come away feeling calmer and knowing that there will be a gentle path that you can take to each your sleep goals.
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