Sleep. Does anyone ever get enough these days? I know that being a dad to two boys, one a toddler and one a teen, there is a huge differential in the times that they sleep. Little J is often asleep by 6pm and up again ready for the next day at 5am whereas Big J will be in bed by 10pm on a school night and much later at weekends. I get to sleep in-between these times but generally I have some ‘Dad’ time that means actually I think I average around 6 hours each night. I know that's not enough, but how can we monitor and improve our sleep? I have tried a few apps from the google play store over the years, with mixed results. I have never stuck to one app to try to improve my sleep as I haven’t yet been convinced that any of them actually work. I have been trying the S+ by ResMed to try and improve my sleep.
The S+ by ResMed is the worlds first contactless sleep monitor with the aim of improving your quality of sleep. The smart technology built in means no wristbands or mattress strips. Instead the device syncs with your phone or tablet to provide its analysis and advice. The S+ monitors your breathing and physical movements during sleep and provides feedback via the app installed on the phone or tablet. I used my Samsung phone with the app installed from the google play store.
The S+ claims to offer personalised advice on how to improve your sleep through the following features
Improvement Of Your Room
Optimise your bedroom environment through feedback on how light, noise and temperature levels are affecting your sleep.
Relax To Sleep
Specifically designed rhythmic sounds synchronise with your breathing, gradually slowing it down, to help you fall asleep more easily.
Mind Clear
Clear your mind by recording the things you need to do tomorrow.
I tested the S+ over an initial weekly timeframe and my results are as follows.
I found the setup easy, with the device needing to be plugged in close to your bedside cabinet. The plug offers usb ports for both the device and your phone - handy. Installing the app was simple enough and the syncing process was straightforward.
From there it was a case of putting some initial data into the app, height, weight, exercise patten and then ready to go. Press sleep on the app and the monitoring begins.
The first night, I knew wasn’t great, Little J was up a few times in the night and I expected poor results. When I checked in the morning they weren’t actually too bad - not much deep sleep and 5 disturbances but not a bad score. Initially the app doesn’t tell you too much. The light level and temperature in the room was measured and the app was happy wth what we have so that was good. I worked out that the S+ app doesn’t begin to make recommendations until after the third sleep cycle, based on the fact that it wants a useable amount of data to work with.
After 3 nights of variable sleep, the S+ mentor recommendations started to come through. One of the recommendations made early to me was to drink more cold water during the day and avoid caffeine, aswell as to take a walk one an half hours before sleeping. Now this is great advice I am sure but I haven’t tried it out yet
The Mind Clear feature works really well - you record the things that you want to do tomorrow, safe knowing you won’t forget them, ensuring you don’t wake in the middle of the night thinking you have forgotten something. I found this really useful.
I also liked the idea of the personalised wake facility, with the S+ waking you within a given time frame when its best to do so. Whether this actually works I have no idea, as the alarm goes off and then you wake up! You can also have the monitor help you drift off to sleep by helping you slow your breathing to an audible rhythm. I didn’t try that feature as I was concerned it might wake either Little or Big J up while sending me to sleep.
By the end of my week I had moved my sleep from around 6 hours to nearly 7 hours a night on average. A Good start I expect this will improve when I start following the recommendations too. Simply being aware of you sleep type and pattern can help a lot on its own. Thanks ResMed, heres to more sleep in the future.
*****
What We Loved
Lovely design - looks good on the bedside cabinet
Double usb port on the socket to make sure you can keep your phone plugged in too
Easy to use App with lots of supporting data provided.
What Could Improve
I would have preferred the option to charge the device and not have plugged in overnight - just a personal choice for the safety conscious side of me
*****
The S+ by ResMed is available to buy online and you can read more information by clicking S+ by ResMed
No comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comments. I love reading them :)