Owlet Baby Monitor Review

A baby monitor was not something that we intended to purchase, and we purposefully left it off of the baby registry. I still had the old-fashioned idea that they were Walkie Talkie-like devices, and in my house, which is all of 900 square feet, it seemed very unnecessary.

After she ended up in the hospital with RSV, she was on oxygen for a week and it was very reassuring to be able to look up at the monitor to see her vitals. After reading about the Owlet, I decided to order one so it would be waiting for us at home after she was discharged.

What sets the Owlet apart from others is that instead of just monitoring if your baby is breathing or moving, it measures their oxygen levels as well as their heart rate. It comes with a base station and a “smart sock” that your baby wears, with 3 sizes for babies up to 18 months. The base station is color-coded, and each has its own alert to make it simple for you to know what’s going on. It all hooks up to your home Wifi, and when we upgraded our router, she can be anywhere in the house and the base station is able to track vitals (We had a very old router, so prior to that she had to be in the same room as the base).

The base station only alerts you if something is wrong--it doesn’t give you any stats. But when you download the Owlet app, you can check at any time to see what your baby’s heart rate and O2 levels are. It also tells you if your baby is “wiggling” which gives me an edge before she fully wakes up and I’m able to quickly soothe her back to sleep. Through the app there is also a chat feature so you can contact technical support very easily. I will say they have amazing customer service and they also respond directly to any comments and questions that are posted to their Facebook.

The only issue I had with the Owlet was the original sock design was a little difficult to get on, and my daughter was able to kick it off fairly easily. They have since redesigned the sock (and offered it to existing customers for free!) and it is now very secure.The downside is that the Owlet does have a heavy price tag, but you can use layaway at MMB.

When it comes to the peace of mind, being able to rest easier at night with a newborn, the amazing customer service and overall product quality, I really can’t say enough good things about the Owlet and would recommend it to any parent–to-be. 

Lisa is a breastfeeding, baby wearing, stay-at-home mom of a new baby girl. She loves running, yoga, video games, craft beer and hopes to one day see those things again when the new mommy fog lifts!