Being a first time Mom is hard. Heck, being a second, third or fourth time Mom is hard! It’s especially tough if your babies had a stay in the NICU after their grand entrance.
Enter the best breathing monitor for babies: Owlet Smart Sock and Monitor.
This was the best investment we made early on in our twins’ little lives. Keep reading this Owlet Smart Sock 2 review to find out why.
Table of Contents
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Why We Chose the Owlet Smart Sock 2
Pregnancy Journey
My IVF journey was like everyone else’s – an emotional and physical roller coaster. For a couple of months, I felt like a human pin cushion. I had become numb to the poking and prodding that my body was enduring.
The embryo transfer was done on June 4, 2019, and a couple of weeks later, we found out I was pregnant! After being together for 8 years, we were finally having a baby, or so we thought.
When they told me I was pregnant, my hcG levels were way above 1000. The nurse said these levels were pretty high and to be prepared that there was a possibility of twins.
I finally went for my first ultrasound and they found that both embryos that were implanted had attached and I was, in fact, pregnant with twins.
I’m pretty sure I went through the 5 stages of grief all within 5 minutes.
Fast forward to 30 weeks gestation. I developed gestational hypertension and was the most uncomfortable I had ever been in my life. I couldn’t sleep, walk, or move.
My doctor told me I had the beginnings of pre-eclampsia so he decided it was time to call it, for my safety and the safety of my babies.
NICU Stay
I delivered my twins via c-section on January 14, 2020 at 34 weeks and one day. They were pretty healthy, but since they were early, they spent some time in the NICU.
While there, they were on oxygen monitors, heart rate monitors, and were observed around the clock for 6 days.
Right before they were discharged, I was talking to my husband about how terrified I was to take them home. We didn’t have a baby heart monitor for sleeping or breathing monitors for babies. Since they had issues with that, it was extremely important for me to be prepared for their first night home.
We researched a few different monitoring devices and my sister, being a NICU nurse herself, mentioned the Owlet Smart Sock. We read one Owlet Smart Sock 2 review (the newest model at the time) after another and researched the Owlet Sock warranty.
Its science and technology were miles ahead of its competitors. We ultimately decided that it was the perfect device and it checked off all the boxes that we needed.
Owlet Sock Placement
Since our babies were born prematurely, they were tiny, even when discharged from the hospital. My daughter weighed 5lbs 2oz when born and my son was 4lbs 15oz.
I came across a couple of comments, when reading the Owlet Smart Sock 2 review, regarding preemie babies and the socks not fitting properly. My husband and I ran into this issue as well and since I knew that the Owlet Sock placement was vital, it did concern me.
We always placed the Owlet Smart Sock on their left foot to where the sensor was on the bottom of their foot as opposed to on top. I figured it would be more comfortable for them since they would be laying down anyway.
The sock was wrapped as tightly as possible without it being too tight, but we would still get alerts by the base that it was having trouble getting readings.
After sending our issue to Owlet’s customer service, who was extremely helpful, we placed an actual sock over the Owlet Sock and it worked perfectly. The sock kept the Owlet Sock sensor in place so that it was more stable.
Once my babies got bigger, around 4 or 5 months old, we no longer had to use the additional sock that went over the Owlet Sock.
Functions of the Owlet Smart Sock 2
Data and Distance Range
The main reason we bought the Owlet Smart Sock 2 was the fact that it alerts you whenever the baby’s breathing or heart rate gets out of range. Ranges for the sock are predetermined by the producer so you don’t have to worry about figuring out ranges for your baby.
Luckily, we only had one instance where we had quite a scare. The base starting making an extremely loud noise and was flashing red. I immediately starting getting notifications on my phone stating that one of the monitors was reading a high heart rate. It took me a second to figure out which baby it was (both of my babies wore the Owlet Socks and we had to put their initials on the socks and bases so we knew which baby went with which sock/base) and I finally found that it was my daughter. Upon checking her vitals, her heart rate had exceeded 220, which is the upper limit of the range.
She was fine, but the fact that I actually was able to see the Owlet in action was a huge relief because I knew it was doing what we bought it to do and I was able to sleep so much better.
The Owlet Smart Sock 2 can reach up to 100 feet in distance. So we kept the bases on the dresser in the nursery while the twins laid in their cribs in the same room. It was a perfect set up.
Owlet Smart Sock App
The app that comes with the Owlet Smart Sock is pretty amazing. It has a guide on it that will walk you through the process of setting the device up, which can be complicated. It also shows you what each color means if it alerts you.
This is where you are provided with the data that is being monitored by the sensor and it will show you the heart rate and oxygen level in real time. I always checked this screen religiously before I went to sleep each night.
You can check the battery life of the socks in the app as well. Once the battery life reaches a certain percentage, you’ll receive a notification that it needs to be charged.
I was thoroughly pleased with the battery life because it lasted a lot longer than I had anticipated. We would keep it unplugged for roughly 16 or 18 hours sometimes and we never had an issue with the battery dying.
Comparing Owlet Smart Sock 2 to Owlet Smart Sock 3
At the time of our purchase, the Owlet Smart Sock 2 was the newest model available. The company has since come out with a newer generation, the Smart Sock 3.
While the appearance is still the same, the placement is a little different. With the Smart Sock 2, you would use the same sock on the left or right foot by inverting it. The Smart Sock 3 has separate socks for each foot.
There were 3 sizes of socks with the Owlet Smart Sock 2 and only 2 sizes with the Smart Sock 3. You get more socks in the package because each foot has a different sock (2 socks for the left foot and 2 for the right).
One of the biggest differences is that you no longer have to plug in the sock to the base for it to charge after a session. You just place it directly on top of the base and walk away, thus dealing with less cords.
Another difference between the two is that the Owlet Smart Sock 3 will monitor through gentle motion. The Owlet Smart Sock 2 wouldn’t send a notification if the child was moving and it couldn’t get a reading. Instead, the vitals would just read “[baby’s name] is wiggling”.
All of the Owlet Smart Sock 2 reviews and Smart Sock 3 reviews are similar in that both generations are comparable in design and function.
Peace of Mind in a Chaotic Time
All-in-all, the Owlet was the absolute best purchase we made. Would I do it all over again and buy two more? Absolutely. I would buy 50 million of them if I had to.
The peace of mind it gave me at night was priceless. We, as mothers, are already dealing with a lot. If this one item can help you rest a little easier, then it is undoubtedly worth it.
I’ve heard a lot of people ask ‘where to buy the Owlet Smart Sock’. If it’s the Owlet Smart Sock 2 you want, click this link. If the Owlet Smart Sock 3 is the one you want, you can find it here. Even though we used the Smart Sock 2, I would recommend the newest version because it’s newer, obviously. But there is nothing wrong with purchasing the Smart Sock 2.
Is there a cheaper version to Owlet? Sure, but you get what you pay for and I’ve always been a big believer in that. My babies’ lives are my priority and I was willing to pay a little extra knowing that we had the best device available because you can’t put a price on peace of mind.
I hope that this Owlet Smart Sock 2 review was helpful in your decision making about the best device to keep your baby safe. The peace of mind it gave was invaluable.
