Sleep Phones

i've always been a light sleeper. every aspect of sleeping for me has to be controlled; temp, light, sound, everything around me has to be just right in order for me to stay asleep; it's.so.frustrating. i've always been so envious of my friends who could fall asleep anywhere in any situation. pretty much my whole life i've just had to deal with not getting quality sleep. temp and light have always been pretty easy to deal with when it comes to controlling my sleep environment, but sound hasn't. living in an apartment in a big city, there are just things out of my control. even the white noise of a fan often isn't enough to drown out sirens, horns, or garbage trucks.

i used to sleep with a pair of earbuds connected to my iphone, which has an amazing sleep application. while the earbuds would help me fall asleep and drown out all the noise, i'd never be able to sleep the entire night through, because unfortunately, i mostly sleep on my side. of course being a light sleeper, the tiniest discomfort of the earbuds pushing into my head would unfortunately wake me up. after exhaustive searching, there really was only one product on the market catered to me, and that was this product.

i had very low expectations for the sleepphones, but really had no other options. for some reason, they just didn't seem like they were going to work. i felt like i had to have something deep inside my ear to really block out all the noise, and figured that with the headband, sound would still be able to leak in. i also thought that they would definitely come off during the night, or end up around my neck. but i decided to give it a try, and i'm so happy i did.

i first bought the medium/large ones, and found out quickly that they were too big (guess i have a small head). they didn't really fit right and were pretty loose, so i had to order the small headband. once i got the right fit headband, the quality of my life has completely changed. they fully block out all the noise, in fact, i never have to turn my volume up full blast, they definitely produce enough sound. the speakers inside the headband can be moved around, so you can have them either directly on your ears for complete noise blocking, or you can move them forward/backward of your ears and get a more ambient noise. they're extremely comfortable, and i have no issues with sleeping on my side. sometimes during the night they come down a little on my forehead, but they don't ever fall off.

i finally can sleep completely through the night. what's even more interesting, is that i'm actually in bed LESS than i was before. i used to be in bed 8-10 hours, constantly being woken up, going back to sleep, being woken up again. imagine my surprise when the first night using the sleepphones i slept 5 hours and felt incredible the next day. it was 5 hours of quality sleep, not being woken up once, something i hadn't experienced in years. i'm now sleeping 6-7 hours a night, and again, the sleep is such good quality that i feel wonderful in the morning.

there is only one drawback however, which has less to do with the sleepphones themselves, and more about the technology. since there is a cord, you do run the risk of it wrapping around you. i have woken up a few times with the cord wrapped around my neck, which was a little scary. it's definitely not discouraged me from using them, and it's only happened a few times, but it's just something to be aware of. having a cordless version would be the most ideal thing, but that too would come with it's own set of drawbacks, at least right now. having a wireless sleepphone system would mean integrating a long-lasting (6+ hours), rechargeable battery into the headband, as well as a bluetooth receiver, all in way that would be comfortable to sleep with. this i'm sure could be done, but the cost would be substantially higher. until that day comes however, the wired version is almost perfect in every way.

there are very few products that i can conclusively say have increased the quality of my life. without a doubt, the sleepphones have totally changed a huge part of my health and well-being. after an entire life of dealing with poor sleep and trying everything possible, this is something that has truly helped me. i hope that this company continues to innovate in the area of sleep headphones.

I've had three of these (that's right 3) and am about to get my fourth. The reason for this is hat while the concept and design are really good, they typically last less than two years. My first two had had a different design where they were washed with the headphone inside the band and the wire came off the forehead. The wiring shorted out on the first one within the warranty period and on the second one in about 2 years. I believe the company was sold and the design was changed so that now the headphones fit into a sleeve inside the headband and the wire comes off the back. The headband is washed with the headphones taken out. Well my third one just died after about 18 months. The headphones began to short out about a week ago and died last night. All that said, I can't live without the darn things. I attach them to a sound machine that produces a continuous white noise. It drowns out everything and really helps me sleep. So as far as I am concerned they work really well, but you need to adjust your expectations to the fact that you'll probably need to replace them at a minimum of every couple of years. It would be great if the headphone were wireless.

I adore my Audible (audio books) account and often fall asleep while listening. These headphones are perfect for side sleepers or anyone that simply hates the discomfort of ear buds and headsets. They are amazingly soft and warm. The only downfall could come in summer when they may be a little too warm, so I will make a plea to the manufacturer to make some with a still-soft-but-cooler material so I can have an excuse to buy a second set.