Pulse News

# The Very Best Sleep and Health Tech for Kids

A sock that monitors rest, a ring for ruling over all the data and more.

By Paris Martineau

Mar 1, 2025, 6:00am PST

The last decade brought the beginning of the biohacking era, prompting American adults to fill their homes with trackers and smart devices to better study and fine-tune their health. It was perhaps inevitable that the same interest would lead to a mound of similar technology aimed at a different target market: kids.

In a recently published survey of over 1,500 parents of kids 8 years old and younger by Common Sense Media, it was found that for the first time a small percentage of parents reported giving their young children smart monitoring devices that track health-related metrics like sleep quality or step count. The survey found that 2% of children aged 5 to 8 and 1% of children aged 2 to 4 now have such devices.

The results, while taken from a small group, reflect how consumer interest in an array of health monitoring products for adults is slowly but surely spreading to children. Sleep tracking devices have particularly taken off in recent years among parents of infants, spurred by concerns about sudden infant death syndrome. While there is little to no evidence that these devices reduce the risk of SIDS, they can be useful for parents looking to better understand the sleep habits of their children and as a sort of anxiety aid for those comforted by reams of data.

## Nanit Camera Bundle

The Nanit Camera Bundle includes a camera, breathing band, wall mount (or floor stand), and travel case. The fabric band wraps around a baby's torso and boasts a bold pattern designed to be easily detectable by Nanit's highly rated baby monitor camera. When an infant is wearing the band, the Nanit Pro camera picks up chest movements to detect breaths per minute and charts the data in the app. If the app senses the child isn't breathing, it will trigger an alert. It also provides a daily recap of how the child slept, along with an analysis of breathing and sleep patterns.

Nanit's breathing monitoring services are designed for kids who are under two years old and weigh 6 to 30 pounds. Nanit's Camera Bundle starts at $303, not including the cost of a subscription plan, which offers extra video storage and analytics options. The company's Sleep plan is $50 a month.

## Owlet Dream Duo 2

One of the most popular products on the market comes from Owlet, a publicly traded firm founded in Utah in 2012. Owlet's Dream Sock helps parents monitor their child's sleep by tracking pulse rate and oxygen saturation levels using a sensor attached to a fabric sock. If either reading comes back abnormal, a loud alarm goes off. The FDA has approved the Dream as a wellness device for healthy infants up to 18 months who weigh 6 to 30 pounds.

The sock pairs with a high-definition monitoring camera to track the baby's sleep cycles and provide parents with notifications when their child is crying. Owlet uses data from the sock and camera to provide detailed sleep analytics, tracking metrics such as wakings and feeding the data to an algorithm that can help parents predict their next ideal bedtime. The Owlet Dream Duo 2 (which includes both the Dream Sock and an HD monitoring camera) is available for about $400.

## Lookee Smart KidsO2 Monitor

Parents looking for Owlet-like data for kids between the ages of 3 and 10 should check out this device from health tech firm Lookee. It's a silicone ring designed to fit a child's fingers or toes that measures blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and sleep movement. The Lookee monitor provides access to real-time and historic health data through an app, and it alerts parents if levels drop outside preset ranges. It also provides sleep insight reports, but they are less intuitive to read and interpret than those from Owlet and Nanit. The Lookee Smart KidsO2 Monitor is available for $150.

## Whoop 4.0

Another option for teens is the Whoop 4.0, which collects an array of data about the wearer's sleep and activity levels. The Whoop offers more in-depth tracking and analysis options for fitness fanatics, so it may be a better choice for young athletes. Like the Oura Ring, it requires a subscription. The Whoop 4.0 is available with a one-year subscription for $239.

## Oura Ring Gen3

Older kids and teens looking to better understand what happens when they hit the hay can be well served by the Oura Ring 3, the popular health tracking device from Finnish brand Oura Health. The device tracks and analyzes a slew of metrics, including heart rate variability, respiration rate, body temperature, and sleep duration. It uses that data to calculate three daily scores measuring the quality of sleep, activity levels, and likely readiness for the day to come.

Last fall, the company released a new model, the Oura Ring 4, which boasted moderate improvements to battery life and wearability. But ultimately, the distinctions are minor, despite a $100 price difference, making the Oura Ring 3 the best choice for most teens. The Oura Ring Gen3 starts at $299. To access most data-tracking features, you'll also need a subscription, which costs about $6 a month or $70 a year.

Paris Martineau (@parismartineau) is a feature writer and investigative reporter for The Information's Weekend section. Have a tip? Using a non-work device, contact her via Signal at +1 (267) 797-8655.