Sleep Gadgets

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ben ... mg00000032

The graphic has some interesting info, but scroll down below it and find "22 Gadgets to Help You Sleep." (I only found 17 items there, not 22, but whatever.) Some of the products are free apps to help combat insomnia or add white noise; there are also several products to help with babies' sleep. Other tools can monitor your sleep in some detail (sleep stages, efficiency, etc.) and seem less intrusive to wear (a ring, a watch, a comfy-looking nightcap) than you might expect.

Saw a couple that interested me, particularly the headband style earphones. Look more practical for sleep. But still trying to imagine as a young mother using an app to track a baby's eating, sleeping and diapering activities. Maybe if there are shifts of caregivers or there is a medical need for tracking - ok, maybe there is a market for that.

I tried a white noise generator (good brand) now I can't stand the thing, very artificial sound. I don't think I'd like anything but recorded sound. Actually is a sound generator (but I don't like the white noise any better).

If you have a smartphone or tablet, there are many free APPs that have recorded sounds and different noises. ("Pink" noise has been proven to be more effective than white noise BTW.) If you do have a smart device, then all you will need to buy is a cheap speaker, either wired or Bluetooth connected. We use an old smartphone and use its Bluetooth capability to "connect" to a $30-$40 speaker on the other side of the room. Very easy, effective, and cheap, setup.

One type of item not mentioned in the slide show is a bed cooler/heater. There are two brands on the market that I know of: ChiliPad or ChiliCube as it is now called, and the NuYu Sleep system. Both are similar, but are different in application. We have both, but as of now prefer the ChiliPad. The ChiliPad is a mattress top mat that has small tubes embedded in the mat that are connected to one (or two for king size) control units that pump water through the small tubes. The temperature of the water is set by the user(s) to any temperature between about 50 to 110 degrees. This really works well at keeping the temperature of your bed to your preferred sleeping temperature. Remember that the recommended bedroom temperature for sleeping is in the low to mid 60's. This can be very difficult, and expensive, to maintain this low of temperature during the summer months. When we had the ChiliPad on our bed, I kept the temperature set at 60-65 degrees year around; my wife sets her side higher by a few degrees.

The NuYu Sleep System is very new to the market and uses a similar method to control the bed temperature (water pumped through a mattress pad), but also uses a "smart" APP (via Bluetooth) to control the temperature more inline with what is really recommended (warm at first, then cooling down over night, then warming the bed back up towards your set wake up time).

As noted, we have both systems with the NuYu Sleep System currently installed. It is OK, but not as good as the ChiliPad at this time. The main problem is that the APP needs some work to improve the system. Hopefully, they will correct these minor issues.

Both systems are expensive; expect to pay up to near $1,000 (more for the ChiliPad) for a king size bed. One thing that we did to offset the cost, was to get our doctor to write an Rx for the device as a sleep aid and for back pain issues. As you may know, any OTC device or medication, can be deducted from your income taxes if a doctor writes a prescription for it.

If you have any problems with bed temperature I highly recommend that you look into these products. They can be easily found by doing a quick "search."

kteague wrote:Saw a couple that interested me, particularly the headband style earphones.

Our hosts have it! Your Flex might possibly cover it; it did my Zeo, bought there.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/acoust ... hones.html
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/acoust ... eless.html

Wear headphones every night. Switched to these in Sept as the last set wire broke. Previous head phones were NC but these aren't and really don't make a difference. The cable is much more durable and no batteries. They are also a lot lighter in weight.

Connected to my Android phone all night long. I use a number of difference "sounds" depending on how active my brain is that night.

Most of the time is a small playlist of some ASRM sound tracks.... most of the other times I use an app I have used for years White Noise an Android app. Has large set of recorded sounds, tend to use surf or beach sounds. If I am really having trouble sleeping because of a lot on my mind I have a playlist of music that I play very low volume.

For me, not falling asleep inside of 15 mins or so is not normal now. Anything longer than 30 mins and I just get up and wait a bit before starting over.

No pets, cats or bugs allowed where I sleep. While on Vacation since mid Dec I have had great sleep, every night....