My daughter’s not much of a sleeper. When she was a baby she consistently slept an hour less than whatever the low-end number of hours babies her age were supposed to sleep. So, while other moms’ babies slept 18 hours a day, she only slept 13 or 14.
I googled everything from ‘my baby won’t sleep’ to ‘my baby won’t nap for more than 20 minutes at a time’ and somewhere along the way, I read that babies who wake up a lot are actually associated with higher levels of intelligence and better mental health. And since she said her first words at 10 months and could speak in full sentences by the time she was 18 months old, I decided the studies were right and consoled myself with the lack of downtime and sleep I was getting.
As she got older the trend continued. When she went to daycare, we asked them to please not let her nap, because on the rare occasions when they managed to get her to sleep in the afternoons, she easily stayed wide awake until 10 or 11 p.m. And now that she’s 8 years old, her mind is still constantly racing with ideas, anxiety-fueled questions and big dreams for the future and we’re lucky if she falls asleep by 10 p.m. even with a schedule packed with dance, swimming and hiking.
A regular sleep routine, turning devices off at least an hour before bedtime, reading a bedtime story together every night – we’ve tried everything. Then we turned to sleep apps and lo and behold, they work! She is falling asleep more quickly and bedtime soundscapes, sleep stories and meditations fill her mind with beautiful thoughts and images as she drifts off to sleep.
Top 3 Sleep Apps for Kids:
Moshi– The Sleep Mindfulness App for Kids
Moshi is an award-winning, audio-only app that claims to help kids get to sleep faster and to stay asleep longer. In a recent study of 30 children over 10 days, scientists at New York University discovered that on average, when using Moshi, kids fell asleep 28 minutes earlier and slept for 22 minutes longer. And it works!
The first mindfulness story we chose was Goldie The Mindful Moshling narrated by Goldie Hawn. “Remember the Christmas movie we watched with the really cool Santa?” I asked my daughter, referring to the 2018 movie Christmas Chronicles starring Kurt Russell as a svelte, super cool, Saint Nick. “The one who sing’s Santa Claus is Back in Town. The woman reading us this bedtime story is his wife – in the movie and in real life!” I added. I realize Goldie Hawn has had far more exciting and challenging acting roles than her cameo in that movie, but I’m excited that my daughter has some idea of Goldie Hawn is and I want her to feel the same connection and recognition I feel to Goldie’s familiar voice.
Goldie takes her listeners to the “sleepiest, dreamiest corner of the magical world of Moshi.” She speaks with her beautiful, soothing voice of this magical place where nothing is as it seems – especially at night. It’s a place where Goldie and the other mindful Moshlings discover that mindfulness and sweet dreams go hand in hand. The Moshlings are super cute animee-like characters and one glimpse of the art work sets the comforting tone for the soothing, ethereal music and accompanying meditation. The recording is 30 minutes long and even my restless daughter falls asleep about 20 minutes in.
Other faves on the app include Patrick the Performing Moshling narrated by none other than Sir Patrick Stewart. “Friends, Moshlings, sleepyheads, lend me your ears,” he begins. He then goes on to tell listeners a rhyming story about his very good friend, a little Moshling called Patrick. Moshling Patrick is a performer who is on a mission to calm his busy mind at bedtime. The calming music coupled with Sir Patrick’s deep, soothing tone have been especially crafted to induce sleep and they are very effective. With subtle references to Shakespeare and Star Trek, Sir Patrick’s performance is totally magical and the tale enchanted both my daughter and I.
The Moshi app also includes soundscapes – we love Seagulls on the Seashoreand The Sound of Moosic, a medley of cowbells on the hillside as Moshi cows wander back to their barn (What can I say? Working for CMT in the mid 2000s left a lasting impression). But if cowbells and seagulls are your jam, Moshi’s musical tracks also include playlists of chilled beats, 80s fantasy, jazz and magical symphonic overtures performed by the Magnificent Moshiphonic Orchestra. These beautiful tracks remind me of weekend mornings at the cottage when I was a child. Soft, classical beats reigned in the living room until about noon when popular music took over.
Moshi is free to try for 1 week, after that the app is $8.99/month.
Calm– Sleep Stories, Soundscapes and Meditations
Those of you who’ve read my Top 3 Apps That Actually Work review know I’m a big fan of the Calm app. So is my 8-year old. Her favorite sleep story is Dream with Me narrated by Harry Stiles. Yes, singer, songwriter and actor Harry Stiles, formerly of the boy band One Direction whose soft, British accent is “just dreamy,” according to Coco and her friends.
“With all the business of your day, I know how hard it can be to get to sleep,” the heartthrob says in his beautiful, deep voice, “So thank you for choosing this story, and me, to help you.” Along with Harry, your kids will wonder about what happens when you sleep and when you start to drift away. Underscored by sleep-inducing and soothing music, they’ll travel together to places more celestial until they drift off to sleep. The sleep story is 40 minutes long and my daughter’s only managed to stay awake through it once because she “wanted to find out what happens.” She’s usually out within about 20 minutes.
Another favorite in our house is The Magic Hotel narrated by Eva Green. The beautiful French actress and model whose many roles include playing one of three Bond Girls opposite Daniel Craig as “Vesper Lynd” in the 2006 adaptation of Casino Royale, has a wonderful voice that can only be described as a cross between Angelina Jolie’s soft, British inflection in Tomb Raider and journalist and television host, Christiane Amanpour’s, beautiful, husky elocution. Her sleep story is 30-minutes long and our daughter has yet to hear the end of the tale.
Other sleep stories include classics such as Jack in the Beanstalk narrated by Trekina White whose voice is warm, sincere and down to earth, Beauty and the Beast narrated by the deep voiced Alan Sklar – I love that man’s pitch, and The Velveteen Rabbit narrated by Anna Acton of Eastenders fame, to name a few. Other familiar voices include Erik Braa, Nick Offerman and Levar Burton. Okay. Enough about actors with to-die-for voices. I’m beginning to sound like a groupie.
Soundscapes include all the standards from white and pink noise (not my thing) to evening crickets and calm island sounds (love!). And finally, the app also has age-appropriate meditations for kids aged 3 to 17 that will have the little ones taking deep belly breaths and encourage older children and teenagers to explore everything from body scans to focus and kindness.
Headspace for Kids– Bedtime Stories, Sounds and Meditations
Headspace is also an app with content for both adults and children. It includes bite-sized meditations that teach children the basics of mindfulness. They’ll practice breathing exercises, visualizations and even try some focus-based meditation. Meditations are split up in five different categories: Calm, Focus, Kindness, Sleep (yes, please!), and Wake Up. The sessions are customized for three age groups: 5 and under, 6 to 8 and 9 to 12 and they last between three to nine minutes.
If you’re already a Headspace user, and want to include your children in your mindfulness practice, this could be the app for you. Meditations for the under 5 set, last between 1 to 5 minutes and include Sesame Street Mindfulness activities like belly breathing with Rosita and saying Goodnight Body with Elmo. Other meditation exercises for that age group include Calming, Cooling Off, Resting & Relaxing and Practicing Kindness & Appreciation. I know a few adults who could use some of that.
Meditations for the 6 to 8-year-olds are between 3 to 6 minutes long, the average being about 3 minutes. After our first Goodnight meditation my 8-year old said, “That’s it?” In her defence it was only 2 minutes long and she’s gotten accustomed to half-hour long sleep stories. So, we listened to the Sleep Tight one as well, then decided to switch to the meditations for the 9 to 12-year old set. Those last between 3 to 9 minutes and echo the same themes with language that’s a bit more “grown-up”. She didn’t fall asleep right away but was noticeably calmer and asked to listen to them again the following night, and the night after that. Goodnight and Sleep Tight for 9 to 12-year-olds have become a part of our bedtime routine and set the tone for the sleep story that usually follows (and ultimately lulls her to sleep).
Headspace also includes interesting soundscapes – Ocean Pier, Frog Chorus and Indoor Fireplace top our favorites list, and also provides a fun twist on the soundscape/meditation combo with sleepcasts such as Midnight Launderette. Turns out washing machine sounds are a recurring theme on sleep apps and I find that rather intriguing because, well, it’s laundry for Pete’s sake! Does anyone really want to listen to the rocking of a washing machine after they’ve already done half a dozen loads of laundry in a day? Apparently, some do. If the smell and sounds of clean laundry take you to your happy place or back to the days when you or your children were little and that you love “laundry day”, you’ll probably enjoy listening to Midnight Launderette to wash away all the worries of the day. It combines the ambiance of a laundromat with a man’s deep voice to help you wind down, relax your mind and find sleep.
Have you tried sleep apps to lull your kids to sleep? Which sleep stories, mediations and soundscapes do your children favor?