Best Owlet Alternatives

Best Owlet Alternatives For Peace Of Mind

disclosure

Since the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) sent a letter to Owlet saying that their Smart Sock if not in compliance with FDA guidelines, Owlet discontinued selling this popular product. The FDA did not indicate any safety concerns. Instead, the FDA said the Smart Sock should be classified as a medical device because of the heart rate and oxygen notifications it provides. So until Owlet can get marketing authorization from the FDA, new parents are frantically searching for Owlet alternatives

Update! Owlet received FDA clearance for its medical pulse oximetry modern wire-free sock dubbed BabySat. With BabySat, which is available through prescription, parents will receive alerts if their baby’s heart rate or blood oxygen saturation goes outside the recommended range. Does this mean health insurance and HSA/FSA funds will cover parents’ peace of mind, too??

What is an Owlet Smart Sock?

The Owlet is a baby monitor that uses pulse oximetry to track a baby’s oxygen levels and heart rate. The Owlet can also give real-time notifications if a baby’s oxygen levels or heart rate fall outside of preset levels.

How does an Owlet work?

The Owlet uses a pulse oximeter, which is a sensor that attaches to a baby’s foot and measures the amount of oxygen in their blood. The Owlet also has a base station that acts as a WiFi hub, sending information from the sensor to a smartphone or tablet.

Piece of Mind = Priceless

While this is technically a personal finance blog, we all know that some things in life are priceless, and one of those things is peace of mind. Below is my story about how an “old school” heart monitor, similar to how the Owlet works, gave me peace of mind almost thirty years ago. 

When I had my first child, I remember checking to make sure my beautiful baby boy was breathing many times while he slept. I’m sure other new parents can relate. When my twin daughters were born prematurely three years later, they were sent home with monitors that were attached to their chests with long lead wires.

Twins with monitor wires

It was a struggle to haul around those big bulky monitors, for twins so less, plus we also had an oxygen tank to lug around. But we were thankful for those monitors as several times Mallory would “forget” to breath, and the monitor would scare the bejesus out of us (it sounded similar to a smoke alarm going off). We would run and yell and shake Mallory to get her to start breathing again until the alarm went off. 

Fast forward to 28 years later, and two of my daughters are now pregnant, including one of the twins shown above. One of the items on their baby registries is an Owlet Smart Sock, which is obviously no longer available for sale. 

Until Owlet gets FDA approval for the Smart Sock, which will likely require a physician prescription to obtain, they have released a Dream Sock.

Smart Sock and Dream Sock Difference

The Owlet Smart Sock is the original Owlet product that monitors a baby’s oxygen levels and heart rate. The Dream Sock is a newer product that monitors “Sleep Quality Indicators” which can only show averages of heart rates and oxygen levels. Therefore Owlet is now advertising a whole Dream Duo system that includes a camera that streams HD video from anywhere and is available for $369.

8 Best Owlet Alternatives For 2024

If you are like my pregnant daughters and looking for an alternative to the Owlet’s Smart Sock, here are the best options of top sellers of smart baby monitors currently being sold on Amazon.

Are we missing Owlet alternatives that you know and love? If so, please contact us to review about adding to the list. 

Conclusion

With the popular Owlet Smart Sock now off the market, I hope we’ve provided some good alternatives for peace of mind with your newborn baby. Because when Mom’s happy from getting some restful sleep without worry, everyone’s happy! 

Best Owlet Smart Sock Alternatives For New Babies