Ever since I was young, my parents, teachers, and doctors have always told me to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. If I could do that, they said I would wake up feeling ready for whatever life has in store for me.
So, naturally, I followed suit – and did what they said.
It didn’t take me very long to realize that getting enough sleep is only half the battle. Just because you get your eight hours of sleep each night, doesn’t mean you’ll wake up feeling like you got your eight hours.
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That’s because sleep quantity doesn’t always equal sleep quality.
Where sleep quantity refers to how much sleep you’re getting, sleep quality is a measurement of how well you’re sleeping on a nightly basis. Understanding the difference is the ultimate key to a good night’s rest.
How to Measure Sleep Quality
Measuring sleep quantity is easy – all you need is a timer, and you’re good to go. Measuring sleep quality, however, is a little more complex and requires a calculator – unless you’re some kind of a math wizard.
For the most part, sleep quality takes four unique measurements into account:
- Sleep Latency – how long it takes you to fall asleep
- Sleep Waking – how often you wake up after falling asleep
- Wakefulness – how long you’re awake after falling asleep
- Sleep Efficiency – how long you spend asleep through the night
To measure sleep quality, subtract the amount of time it takes to fall asleep and the amount of time you spend awake during the night from the total amount of time you spend in bed. Then take that number, divide it by the total amount of time you spend in bed, and multiply it by 100 to give you a percentage.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say you get snuggled up at 10 p.m., and it takes you 30 minutes to fall asleep. You wake up twice in the middle of the night, and it takes you 10 minutes each time (20 minutes total) to fall back asleep. You finally wake up for good at 6 a.m., but don’t actually get out of bed and start your day until 6:30 a.m.
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In this hypothetical, you spent a total of 8.5 hours (510 minutes) in bed, but you weren’t sleeping for 80 of those minutes (30 min. to fall asleep, 20 min. in the middle of the night, and 30 min. after you woke up).
510 minutes in bed – 80 minutes awake = 430 minutes asleep. Dividing 510 into 430 gives you a score of 0.84, and multiplying it by 100 gives you a sleep quality of 84%. Anything above 80% is considered good.
10 of Our Favorite Sleep-Tracking Apps
It’s okay, you can admit it – math is overrated these days. Especially when we live in a world where there’s almost always an ‘app for that,’ there’s no need to do any math when technology can do it for you.
In fact, that’s what sleep-tracking apps are for.
Sleep-tracking apps usually use the sensors already included in your smartphone or mobile device to monitor sleep patterns and sleep cycles. Some apps also utilize data from a wearable device, like a ring.
Here’s a brief look at what sleep-tracking apps can do:
Movement Tracking. They use your smartphone’s accelerometer to detect movement and identify sleep stages throughout the night.
Sound Detection. They use your smartphone’s microphone to detect sounds, such as snoring and other breathing irregularities.
Sonar Technology. They use your smartphone’s microphone and speakers to speakers and microphone to emit inaudible sound waves to detect movement.
Heart Rate Monitoring. Usually only available with a wearable, but it can help detect sleep phases by monitoring changes to your heart rate.
Sleep-tracking apps are quickly growing in popularity – not just for moms who want to get the most out of their sleep, but for parents who want to monitor just how well their child sleeps at night. It’s a family affair!
With that said, let’s take a look at five of our favorite sleep-tracking apps on the market today.
10. SleepWatch
The SleepWatch app is a popular sleep-tracking application for Apple Watch and iPhone devices. It offers an array of features to monitor and enhance sleep quality – tracking everything from total sleep time to sleep rhythm, heart rate dips, sleeping HRV, sleep disruptions, sleeping blood oxygen, and much more.
According to their website, science has shown that there are universal markers and measurements for healthy, restful sleep. The app turns your Apple Watch into a ‘sophisticated tool that tracks and analyzes these markers,’ allowing them to ‘decode your sleep’ and ‘provide powerful, personalized insights.’
9. Sleep Cycle
The Sleep Cycle app has a variety of tools to help you understand, improve, and enjoy sleep – including a Smart Alarm Clock that wakes you up gradually, and a Sleep Aid that offers soothing music, sounds, and guided meditations to help you fall asleep at night. You can also keep track of notes in your sleep journal.
That’s not all. The app also offers Sleep Programs that are backed by science and created by sleep experts – including Li Åslund Ph.D. and Professor Mike Gradisar. There are four unique programs to consider in the app – Relax from Stress, Daytime Hacks, Relax the Mind, and Bedroom Hacks.
8. Oura
Your finger provides the most accurate reading for over 20 biometrics, such as heart rate, blood oxygen, body temperature, and more. While Oura requires users to wear a ring during the day and throughout the night, the ring helps unlock a wide range of data and insights that can help improve your sleep quality.
The ring is made of titanium, which means it’s durable, lightweight, and water-resistant – you can wear it virtually anywhere. It provides three daily scores for you to monitor, including a sleep score, readiness score, and activity score. Together, these scores tell you everything you need to know about health.
7. ShutEye
ShutEye is a sleep tracker that offers a variety of sleep sounds, sleep stories, a smart alarm clock, and a full sleep analysis. It’s available on both the Google and Apple app stores and helps you understand your sleep cycles from a scientific perspective. All you need to do is set the phone by you while you sleep.
90% of ShutEye sleepers experience longer, more satisfying sleep after just three to six weeks with the ShutEye sleep improvement program. 91% of users fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer, 84% see their stress reduced and mood improved, and 88% wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy.
6. RISE
RISE is an energy and sleep tracker subscription app created by the team of sleep experts at Rise Science. It tells you the best time to do everything, from when to have your final cup of coffee to when you should wind down for bed and when you should plan on waking up, all based on your own biology.
RISE is built around the two principles that sleep researchers agree affect how we feel and perform: sleep debt and circadian rhythm. Sleep debt tells you how much sleep you owe your body and helps you pay it back, while your circadian rhythm predicts your daily energy schedule and helps you take control of it.
5. Calm
Calm is one of the most popular mental health apps designed to help you manage stress, sleep better, and live a happier, healthier life. It has a wide variety of research-based tools, including more than 250 Sleep Stories®, soundscapes, and guided sleep meditations to help you fall asleep and stay asleep.
The app is available on iOS, Android, and the Web, as well as Apple TV, Apple Watch, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Google WearOS, Samsung Health, Samsung TV, and Sonos. It’s everything you need in a sleep tracker, but also gives you everything you need to better monitor your mental and emotional health.
4. BetterSleep
According to its website, the BetterSleep app is designed to help people improve their sleep quality and overall well-being by providing a range of tools, content, and features aimed at enhancing sleep habits and promoting restful nights – including bedtime stories, popular meditations, and music playlists.
90% of users see an improvement in their well-being, 87% of users wake up feeling more refreshed and rested, and 81% of users report feeling less stress and anxiety. More than 55 million people have already given it a try and it’s already one of the most popular sleep-tracking apps available on the market today.
3. SleepScore
The SleepScore app utilizes your smartphone’s microphone and speaker capabilities to track and measure your breathing rate and body movement. It rates your sleep based on duration, time to fall asleep, light sleep, REM sleep, deep sleep, and wake time – giving you a final sleep score out of 100.
You’ll not only receive personalized advice and recommendations for improving sleep, but you’ll discover products that have helped thousands of others with a sleep profile similar to yours – including sleep masks, supplements, scented pillow inserts, nasal strips for snoring, and mouthguards for grinding.
2. Sleep Reset
The Sleep Reset app offers an eight-week program that helps you figure out why you’re not sleeping well and overcome sleep anxiety. As a result, you can sleep deeply through the night without pills or grogginess. It only takes 15 minutes per day to monitor, optimize, and personalize your sleep routine.
According to its website, the Sleep Reset app helps users gain more than 1.5 hours of sleep each night. 41% of users spent less time awake during the night, 53% of users took less time to fall asleep, and half of all users saw a reduction in awakenings throughout the night – meaning no more tossing and turning.
1. Pillow
The Pillow app is only available on the Apple app store, but it works with your Apple Watch to monitor a wide range of data designed to help you get the most out of your sleep routine. It offers an expanding collection of Meditations, Stories, Soundscapes, and Music to help you prepare for a good night’s sleep.
Whether you need to get a full night’s rest or need a quick, 20-minute power nap, the Pillow app can help you get there. You’ll find yourself getting into deep and REM sleep more often, and will be guided into waking up at the lightest possible sleep stage – allowing you to wake up on the right side of the bed daily.
5 Apps to Help Children Fall Asleep
Not being able to fall asleep can negatively affect you and your child’s ability to get a good night’s rest. Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest issues parents face when tucking their child into bed each night.
Even if you have a bedtime routine, sticking to it might seem impossible.
But don’t worry – there’s an app for that too, and I like to call them bedtime apps.
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Bedtime apps can remind kids when it’s time to start winding down and guide them through a series of pre-sleep activities like reading or relaxation exercises, which can make the transition to sleep smoother.
Here are five of our favorite bedtime apps to help your child fall asleep faster and more efficiently!
5. Moshi Kids
The Moshi app is a comprehensive digital platform designed to improve relaxation and sleep quality while also offering educational and interactive content. It includes more than 400 audio stories, meditations, soothing music tracks, sounds, puzzles, coloring and matching games, and other engaging activities.
Moshi is particularly noted for its effectiveness in helping children manage big emotions and transitions, making it a valuable tool for parents. The content is designed to be engaging and relaxing, which can be particularly helpful for children with challenges such as anxiety or difficulty settling down at bedtime.
4. Headspace for Kids
Headspace is one of the most popular meditation apps today, but did you know they have a section in their app specifically dedicated to kids? It’s one of the best ways to introduce your child to the art and science of meditation and mindfulness – helping them foster calmness, focus, kindness, and relaxation.
With the right approach, parents, educators, caregivers, and relatives can teach kids meditation to help them understand how to calm their minds and settle into their bodies – allowing them to better process their feelings, retain new information, and improve focus – and do that much sooner than we’d think.
3. Bedtime Stories for Kids
The Bedtime Stories for Kids app includes more than 240 Bedtime stories, Aesop’s Fables, Fairy tales, Early reading stories, Moral stories, and more—all designed to prepare your child for a good night’s rest. The app also offers a variety of characters, themes, and worlds for your kids to discover during bedtime.
What we really like about this app is that there are two different modes. The ‘Read By Myself’ mode allows the parent (or the child) to read the story themselves – which helps kids improve their reading skills. The ‘Read for Me’ mode boosts listening skills by reading the story to your child with or without you.
2. Baby Shusher
When your child starts crying or is getting fussy during bedtime, a parent’s natural reaction is to ‘shhh’ them into calming down. The Baby Shusher is a device designed to help soothe fussy babies by emitting a calming “shhh” sound, mimicking the natural sounds babies hear in the womb or in their parent’s arms.
This sound activates a baby’s natural calming reflex, helping them to stop crying and settle down. The device is simple to use, with features that allow you to set a timer for either 15 or 30 minutes and adjust the volume to match the baby’s level of fussiness. You can find it on Amazon or at a department store.
1. Stella Sleep
The Stella Sleep app offers a variety of content tailored for kids aged 0 to 10, including sleep stories, social and emotional learning stories, music and lullabies, and relaxing sounds. It also has a recorder that allows you to record your own stories, and an AI feature that can make up a new bedtime story in a hurry.
If your child doesn’t want to hear your voice, they can choose between a variety of voices – including those of famous celebrities, such as John Cleese (one of the most successful English actors of all-time). The content is not only engaging but also beneficial for children’s overall growth and development.
Don’t Bargain With Sleep – We All Need It!
Sleep plays an essential role in our ability to live a happy, healthy, and normal life. It’s a foundational pillar of health, just as critical as nutrition and exercise, and can be the difference between a good and bad day.
That’s why we’re glad one of our readers brought this topic up in our Answers by Mamas Uncut forum.
Quality sleep isn’t easy to obtain, but it’s becoming much easier now that we have the help of technology. And thanks to the many sleep-tracking apps and bedtime apps we discussed above, we can now monitor our sleep habits and optimize our bedtime routine in ways we couldn’t before – right at our fingertips!
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Before we let you go, just remember that getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night is ideal, but it’s only half the battle. If you’re not feeling refreshed after a long night’s rest, try changing your sleep environment – sometimes, the smallest imbalance can make the biggest difference. Find the imbalance, then fix it!
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