I was honored to be asked by The American Sleep Association and Pampers to review a baby sleep tracker that can help everyone not only track their baby’s sleep patterns, but help improve overall sleep routines and consistency.

As a parent, you are probably aware that sleep is important for your baby. But did you know that sleep is not only useful to keep your baby from feeling tired and cranky, but it is also crucial for brain development?

During sleep, your baby’s brain is developing and growing which has a direct impact on memory and how he or she will learn and behave.

Sleep is especially important in brain development for babies and toddlers during the first 3 years of life. It helps to consolidate memories and learnings from the day, fosters grey matter growth in the brain, and increases the rate at which synapses are formed, which are the connections between brain cells. These connections affect a child’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development.

Ways to Promote Positive Sleep Patterns In Your Infant

Help your baby get as much sleep as possible in the first few months of life by creating an environment that is conducive to sleep, establishing sleep routines, and keeping the periods of wakefulness short.

The sleep environment should be dark and cool (68-70 degrees F), with white noise to help infants’ brains more easily fall into and maintain sleep. Additionally, establishing sleep time routines help your baby learn to associate the routine with sleep which, over time, will make it easier to fall asleep on their own. By repeating the same ritual every evening, such as reading books, singing songs, or doing a gentle massage with lotion, your baby will eventually learn these “cues” and know it is time to sleep.

A brief and consistent sleep routine will help your child fall asleep quicker and easier. Having an age appropriate and consistent sleep schedule will help regulate your baby or toddler’s internal body clock (Circadian Rhythm) and then maintain it (it will usually develop around 3-4 months old).

As an adult, you have a natural instinct to want to sleep at night and be awake during the day. This is because your internal body clock, which is mostly guided by darkness and light, is sending signals to your body to release the hormone Melatonin to make you feel sleepy, or decrease its production to make you feel awake.

Getting your baby into a proper sleep routine early in life can help ensure he or she is getting the sleep they need for their growth and development. But for many, the busyness of life can interfere with regular bedtime routines, making it harder to get the sleep we all need!

Promoting Positive Sleep Just Got Easier with Lumi By Pampers

Fortunately, there are some helpful tools that can track your babies sleep patterns day and night, and even provide personalized insights about your baby’s patterns. One of the new products on the market, as reviewed by ASA Board member and founder of Baby Sleep Pro, Dr. Rebecca Kempton, is Lumi by Pampers.

Lumi was developed with the help of pediatricians to not only monitor your little one during sleep, but to also give you a clear picture of your baby’s overall sleep patterns. A small a noninvasive, fully encapsulated, movement and wetness sensor is securely attached to your baby’s diaper, which tracks sleep using movement and proprietary algorithms that can differentiate between awake movement and sleep movement. It even alerts you when your baby’s diaper is wet, taking the guessing out of whether to change your baby.

In the intuitive app, the home screen illuminates when your baby last slept, ate, and had a diaper change. You can also view your baby’s sleep pattern over the course of the day. One of the most popular features is a weekly insights report showing your baby’s sleep patterns day and night over the course of a week to help you determine whether your baby is getting enough sleep and to help you identify your baby’s sleep patterns and find the right nap schedule.

This includes data such as:

What times does your baby sleep the longest during the day?
What bedtime optimizes the night sleep?
When should you change your baby to avoid unwanted sleep patterns?
& more!
Another amazing feature in addition to the 24-7 sleep tracking, is the personalized insights based on your baby’s age and sleep patterns. Lumi has worked with pediatricians and sleep experts to provide evidence-based tips which it incorporates into its app, giving you tips on ideal bedtimes, routines, and other helpful sleep information.

Creating A Personalized Parenting Plan

In addition to tracking sleep patterns, and wet diapers, you can also manually add events such as when you last fed your baby, when he or she was last fussy – allowing for a wide range of data inputs to customize your Lumi experience. You can even add in a caregiver or relative to ensure your receiving a comprehensive view of your babies’ care and patterns.

Although there are several sleep tracking devices on the market, Lumi is the only one that provides 24-7 sleep pattern data for your baby, accessible in an intuitive app, making it one of the most useful, intuitive, informative, and helpful sleep trackers on the market today.

Sleep changes so much in the first months of life, so don’t worry if your baby doesn’t seem to be following any patterns or schedules. It’s common for babies to have some good sleep days and some you’d rather not repeat. The great news is sleep habits can always be improved. If you are struggling to know what to do next to help your baby sleep better, check out my free download:  8 Steps To Great Sleep.