Bio: Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a mum of two, when I’m not
looking after the little ones I help run The Sleep Advisor blog. We believe
with all our hearts in the immense power of a good night’s sleep and our aim is
to help everyone get more of them.
5 popular Smartphone Apps for Sleep and Relaxation
Sleep. Remember that?
For most of us mums, sleep is
something that happened to us when we were younger – and childless.
Across the world mums are exhausted and this sleep-deprivation
has a real impact on every single facet of our lives.
Fortunately technology,
specifically our smartphones can here to help. At least it can when you tame the amount of blue light they
emit.
And while the boffins in Silicon Valley have yet to install a
button on our smartphones that sends us instantly to sleep, they have been
working on a few other useful apps.
Below are five of the most popular, in no particular order.
While not all are designed with sleep or mum’s specifically in mind, all can
help us survive…
Sleep Cycle
Sleep Cycle is
just one of many sleep-tracker apps on the market today, but in terms of users
numbers and reviews it’s certainly one of the most popular.
While you sleep, Sleep Cycle sits under your pillow gathering
data. Using the information it collects, it then wakes you at the perfect time
in your sleep cycle to stop you feeling groggy.
Sleep Cycle has a great user interface and provides a plethora
of easy-to-read graphs to help you make sense of your sleep patterns.
So, on those rare mornings you’re not rudely awoken by kids
jumping on the end of your bed demanding breakfast, Sleep Cycle could be your
perfect alarm clock.
White Noise
If years of sleeping with one
ear open to check on the little ones has left you the lightest of light
sleepers – waking to the slightest creak or most distant siren – then White
Noise could be the app for you.
White Noise does exactly what it says on the tin and provides
white noise. The fuzzy static sound has been proven to help light sleepers
drown out unwanted sounds, relax and focus on the task at hand – getting some
sleep.
The White Noise not only has white noise, it also has pink
noise, brown noise (like white noise but lower in frequency), and many more
soothing sounds – from an oscillating fan to a cat purring.
And if these sounds aren’t enough the app also allows you to
record your own relaxing sounds. Maybe the sound of a nearby waterfall could
work for you, or even the sound of your partner droning on about cricket. That
last one would certainly work for me!
Baby
Shusher
Like White Noise, unsurprisingly Baby Shusher also does exactly what you the names
suggest it does – it shushes your baby for you.
We’ve all been there, swaying
and shushing for literally hours, shushing until our lips frankly can’t
generate a single sound more. Well, this is exactly where the Baby Shusher app
comes to your rescue.
This handy app replicates a
rhythmic shushing noise. It has a useful timing feature that allows you to keep
the noise going for as long as you like and it has a smart equalizer function
that adjusts the volume of the shush should your baby begin to stir and cry
again.
Baby Connect
Baby Connect is one of the most popular and most
comprehensive baby-tracking apps out there.
Now just to be clear
baby-tracking doesn’t involve planting a tracking device on your child and then
releasing them into the wild. Baby-tracking is the process of using data to
improve your child’s life.
By inputting information
regarding feedings, diaper changes, medicines and a whole variety of activities
you’re able to keep tabs on every aspect of your child’s life. Particularly
sleep.
Baby Connect allows you to track
your child’s sleep cycles, when they go down, when they wake, how long they
napped, etc., etc. The app then allows you to use this data to plot graphs and
spot problems, trends and patterns.
Headspace
Headspace ranks as the highest quality mindfulness
meditation app out there on the market.
If you haven’t heard the news,
meditation is no longer just the domain of unwashed hippie types, it’s for
everyone and it can be especially useful for mum’s looking to get a little
relaxation. Countless mum’s I know sweat by it.
And if you’re a newbie to
meditation, like I was, Headspace is the perfect way to get started. It provides
a series of guided meditations, slowly introducing you to the concepts behind
mindfulness and building up your capacity to meditate.
This one isn’t just for mum’s
it’s for anyone trying to find a little oasis of clam in this hectic modern
world.
Final Words
There you have it – five of the
most popular apps out there for busy mums. Give them a go. Let technology
providing a helping hand because let’s face it, when you’re a busy mum
sometimes we need all the help we can get!
If these five don’t work for you,
don’t give up, they are just a fraction of the almost endless number of apps
out there for mums. Keep trying until you find the one that works best for you.
And if all the apps in the world aren’t helping you get the rest
you deserve, then there are a few places to go for tips and advice. Try the Sleep Advisor, for some more helpful hints.
