A Review of Owlet Baby Monitor: A Baby Breathing and Heart Rate Monitor

*I received a complimentary product for purposes of this review. However, as always, my opinions are honest and up front, just like my disclosures. There are also affiliate links in this post*

If you don’t follow me on social media you may not know my obsession and true love story with my Owlet baby monitor. It is revolutionary in my opinion and more than worth its $249 price tag. I would honestly pay more. Though to be completely up front, I was gifted the Owlet baby monitor for purposes of review for my readers. I have recommended it to friends and family though and probably am responsible for at least 20 people buying it that I know of.

The Owlet uses pulse oximetry to monitor your baby’s heart rate and can alert you if she stops breathing. The technology is essentially the same as the clip that goes on your finger at the hospital, but it’s now designed for babies at home. Owlet cleverly created a sock that can stay on your baby’s foot to do the same job. The sock then pairs with both your smart device and an alarm that you place next to your bed, and each will alert you if anything changes with your baby’s heart or breathing and oxygen rates.

There are plenty of skeptics out there who may question whether babies will kick this off or be uncomfortable, but I can happily report that is not the case. The sock fits comfortably on (and comes with 3 sizes) and can fit easily inside a onesie with feet—and that will help keep the sock from going anywhere. Being able to monitor our baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels is invaluable.

Of course there are the naysayers that say it’s crazy to monitor at this level, but for those of us who gain peace of mind from more information rather than less, I think this gadget is priceless. It saved us from having to get up every two minutes to check and see if our child was breathing and lets me get a few extra minutes of necessary sleep knowing that Owlet would notify me via an alarm if anything went awry.

So, of course the product isn’t perfect, and you do run the risk of the sock coming off or being notified for a false alarm, but it is absolutely worth it to me.

Unintentional suffocation is a leading cause of death for children under the age of one in the United States, so of course parents are experiencing restless nights. With the Owlet monitor, I relaxed knowing I would hear an alarm if the baby was in distress.

I have had a few issues with the Owlet. First, the sock has left little marks on my daughter’s foot when we tightened the sock too much. It took a couple days for the mark to go away but my daughter didn’t seem nearly as bothered as I was. I also had an issue where my phone was having trouble connecting to the base station. What that means is that my notifications on my phone may not work. However, the base station alarm will still go off (and trust me it is loud so you won’t miss it, it will wake you). I called the Owlet help center and they were beyond helpful. They downloaded new something to my Owlet remotely and the problem was fixed. The staffer i spoke with was extremely proficient and also a pleasure to deal with.

My only wish for this product is that the base station could move further from where my baby sleeps. Our daughter is no longer in our room and I wish I could bring the base into my room instead of having to rely on the phone notifications. Though luckily since I have tiny real estate, my room is still very close to my baby’s and I can always hear the monitor.

My final wish is that Owlet make these socks for kids all the way up through college so I can always rest easy knowing that my baby is sleeping safe and soundly.

Happy to answer any questions in the comments. Even though I got this product for free, as I said I have recommended it to my closest friends and family and truly believe in it. It is probably my number one product I recommend to expecting mothers.

For more of my mommy picks, check out my baby must-haves and mommy must haves!