Inventions That Are Helping Children and Adults to Sleep Better
When sleep is insufficient, people do not function fully. Low-quality sleep can lead to anxiety, low energy, stress, bad mood and more.
To help people sleep better, technology has been invented as a result of the growing awareness around the importance of sleep. The technology can help get a better night of high-quality sleep, feeling more refreshed and clear headed the next day. These sleep technologies ensure restful sleep and can work for you, if you just try!
We have put a list together of the best sleep technology around to help you:
- Weighted blankets
- Night lights
- Sleep stories
- Heated blanket
- Smart pillow
WEIGHTED BLANKETS
At a time where we are all experiencing high stress levels, weighted blankets have been seen to be helping people. The calming effect of the deep pressure help you feel as if you are being hugged or swaddled.
Weighted blankets are blankets that weigh between five to thirty pounds. The pressure from the extra weight of the therapeutic blanket mimics the principles of deep pressure stimulation. By using this blanket, you can increase serotonin, melatonin production, decrease cortisol production, relieve pain, lessen anxiety and improve mood.
By owning a weighted blanket, you can sleep better, whilst being cozy and snug. They work for everyone, and have shown benefits for several conditions including autism, ADHD and anxiety.
NIGHT LIGHTS
Night lights are designed to sync with your circadian rhythm and help promote patterns of sleep that are healthier. The light adjusts to the right-light at wake up, bedtime and during the day.
The light helps people wind down at night, helping you get into a deep sleep for more hours, as well as wake up gently by the soft light filling the room in the morning. Night lights are popular for small children - see also our guide on how to get your children to sleep.
SLEEP STORIES
Sleep apps with stories have become very popular. They help people to fall and stay asleep. By visualising calming experiences, these stories are helping people wind down and drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Each story is written in a way that the person listening should not make it to the end of the story. The story is soothing enough to make someone fall asleep, putting you in the right mindset.
HEATED BLANKETS
Temperature can highly affect our sleep. Heated, electric blankets are designed to provide heat to allow someone to sleep warmly during the colder months.
During sleep, our body goes through different stages of sleep. As we progress through each stage, we want to ensure that we get a good-quality night sleep, feeling well rested the next day. To achieve this and avoid your sleep cycle being interrupted, a heated blanket can help keep your body at the same temperature throughout the night.
An additional benefit of a heated blanket is that it can help with pain relief. Heat helps basic forms of pain release as well as increasing circulation. All in all, a heated blanket can help you fall asleep faster at night, ensuring you feel wide awake the following day.
SMART PILLOW
Smart pillows allow for a better night sleep, tracking sleeping habits, adding a range of sounds to help you sleep and helping to avoid snoring problems. They often have built-in speakers to allow you to listen to white noise or music, without disturbing those in the same room, which is embedded in foam making the sound muffled.
An additional benefit is that you can track your sleep, helping you to decide when it is best to wake up. See also sound sleep pillow.
Sources:
https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/how-to-help-kids-sleep-better-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak
https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/do-weighted-blankets-work
https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/i-tried-using-weighted-blanket-stress-less-here-s-what-ncna872846
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/08/rise-of-sleep-story-apps-talking-books-that-send-you-to-sleep
https://www.thesleepjudge.com/benefits-of-a-heated-blanket/
https://theangle.digitaltrends.com/sleep/best-smart-pillows-with-sleep-tracking/
https://www.reviewgeek.com/17481/what-on-earth-is-a-smart-pillow/