Wearable tech for babies shows that night awakenings more common than parents believe

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Helsinki reveals that wearable technology provides a more accurate assessment of infant sleep than parental reports. The smart wearable system, called NAPPA (NAPping PAnts), measures body position, respiration, and activity at home, offering insights into sleep disturbances without disturbing daily life.

Researcher Sofie de Sena compared parental assessments with NAPPA results and found that parents often miss brief awakenings and overestimate the duration of longer ones. Accurate measurement is crucial for understanding infant sleep, as parental estimates may not reflect the actual sleep quality. For example, a baby's movements and vocalizations during sleep may be perceived as wakefulness by parents, even though they are typical in active infant sleep.

The study also found a correlation between sleeping position and variation, and infant motor development, indicating that movement during sleep is part of broader neurological development, particularly for motor skills. This finding paves the way for more precise sleep monitoring and improved support for children and families. Objective, long-term sleep monitoring at home can help investigate early development in children and identify sleep characteristics that parents may overlook in their reports.

In the future, sleep assessment using smart wearables could potentially be integrated into everyday healthcare, such as maternity clinics and family guidance programs. De Sena's doctoral thesis, titled "At-home Assessment of Infant Sleep—A Smart Wearable Approach from Feasibility to Insights," will be defended on August 13, 2026, at HUS Park Hospital.