15 Gadgets, Supplements And Apps To Help You Sleep Better
Up your bedtime routine and improve your sleep quality with these nifty items
By Rachel Eva Lim -
Let’s be honest, most of us are probably nowhere near getting the recommended eight hours of shut-eye each night. Between squeezing in various tasks after putting the kids to bed to binging on one too many Netflix shows to having to wake up at the crack of dawn the next morning, it’s all too easy to push sleep down to the bottom of the priority list. And that’s not even considering those who suffer from insomnia.
But to commemorate World Sleep Day, which falls on 17 March, we’ve put together a list of some handy sleep aids to help you snooze better. With these additions, regularly getting a full and solid night’s rest may no longer be a pipe dream.
For a tasty sleep aid, try OLLY Sleep Gummies, which are flavoured with fruity blackberry and zesty fresh mint. Its active ingredients include melatonin, which works with your body's chemistry to fuel healthy snooze cycles; L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes calmness and can help mellow you out; and soothing botanicals such as chamomile, passionflower and lemon balm. The gummies contain no artificial additives, and are suitable for those following a gluten-free diet.
If you’re particularly sensitive to sounds, then try using the LectroFan EVO Machine to block out pesky background noises. It offers different dynamic variations of white, pink and brown noises, as well as 10 types of fan sounds to mask disruptive noises. Want to drift off while listening to the soundtrack of the ocean? Simply press play and the machine can emit calming surf sounds that are sure to send you off to dreamland in no time.
Given that we harness tracking devices to monitor countless aspects of our wellness journeys, it makes sense to adopt the same approach when it comes to sleeping. The SleepScore app uses just your smartphone microphone and speaker to monitor various aspects of your resting hours. It works by tracking and measuring your breathing rate and body movement, and analyses the data-driven insights to offer personalised suggestions for how to improve your shut-eye.
Not quite ready to invest in blackout curtains, but can’t stay asleep if the sun’s out? A much more affordable alternative to blocking out the light is the practical, comfortable and oh-so-stylish Lunya Silk Sleep Mask. Simply slap it on and you’ll be plunged into complete darkness, even if it’s blindingly bright outside. The machine-washable item comes with an adjustable elastic band and is available in a range of gorgeous colours, including Enamoured Pink, Meditative Grey and Tranquil White.
Switch things up from your usual diffuser set-up with the stylish MUJI Aroma Stone, which achieves a similar result without the need to plug in the device. All you need to do is place a few drops of your favourite, calming essential oils in the small indentation on the stone’s surface (we like chamomile, peppermint, lavender and ylang ylang). The essential oils will seep into the ceramic and evaporate slowly, allowing the fragrance to permeate your entire bedroom.
Weighted blankets are all the rage these days, as they can help combat anxiety for better sleep quality. Homegrown company &Snooze has designed one specifically for Singapore’s tropical climate. It’s made from a cooling Tencel material – rather than the more commonly used cotton or polyester – which is much more suited to hot and humid conditions. It’s also hypoallergenic and breathable, and is available in Slate Grey, Royal Blue, Oatmeal and Flamingo shades.
A session inside a hyperbaric oxygen cocoon is known to improve deep, restorative sleep as well and offer a host of other health benefits. A favourite wellness treatment among celebrities like Christiano Ronaldo and Justin Bieber, this treatment is available in Singapore courtesy of Cocoon by O2genes. Inside a hyperbaric oxygen cocoon, you breath up to 100% oxygen while under increased atmospheric pressure. This is known to accelerate healing and recovery and has anti-ageing benefits in addition to boosting your metabolism and encouraging brain health.
Sleep meditation has been shown to help improve the quality and efficiency of your shut-eye. To that end, the Headspace app provides a selection of guided meditations (including breathing exercises, visualisations and body-scanning activities) and audio experiences that are geared towards helping you knock off at the end of the day. You’ll also find the likes of podcasts, music and stories – including one narrated by EGOT winner and musician John Legend.
Out of all the sleepytime teas available on the market, this is one of our favourites. The caffeine-free, herbal concoction contains a soothing blend of herbs including lemongrass, chamomile and spearmint to help you mellow out and wind down before bedtime. It has a grassy and pleasant aroma, and goes well with a squirt of honey. Besides this OG version, the brand offers other sleepytime teas in a myriad of flavours, including peach, lavender and vanilla.
Have a partner that snores too much and keeps you awake? Frequently get woken up by external noises such as traffic and your neighbours shuffling about the corridor? Perhaps the Bose Sleepbuds II can help. These wireless earbuds pair with the Bose Sleep app to offer a library of over 50 calming and relaxing tunes – including Bose-engineered noise-masking tracks – to help you fall asleep, while passively blocking out other noises. You can also configure an alarm to make sure that you don’t oversleep.
For those who tend to get congested nose at night, consider trying sleep nose clips. Contrary to their names, nose clips don’t clasp onto your nose and tighten them. It does the exact opposite - there are often magnets or dilation mechanisms in these nose clips that help to open up your nose airways so you get more air through your nose.
It’s also supposed to help reduce mouth breathing while you sleep.
Nose clips are most known to help improve sleep apnea - a disorder that causes your breathing to stop and start while asleep. Sleep apnea is, however, a very serious problem and can be identified by loud snoring, chronic lethargy even after long hours of sleep, and obesity.
Most of these nose clips are called anti-snoring nose clips or strips. Prices range from $7 to $12:
Breathe Right Original Nose Strips ($12.96 for pack of 30): Reduce snoring and nose congestion
Mobi Lock Magnetic Anti-Snore Nose Clip ($7.63 for pack of 12): Reusable
Do you tense your jaws at night while sleeping?
If you’re not aware of your jaw tension, how about this: do you often wake up with sore jaws, tension headache around the temples, in ear aches, neck and shoulder aches, and lethargy?
You may be clenching your jaws and grinding your teeth at night. You can get your suspicions confirmed by your dentist. He or she will clearly be able to tell from the shape and sensitivity of your teeth if you have been grinding them down (they will look worn out).
One of the easiest ways to get rid of jaw clenching and teeth grinding is to get jaw botox to relief the muscle movements. Again, this method comes with its pros and cons.
Another less invasive way is to try night mouth guards. Night mouth guards are a set of retainer-like teeth guards that you wear over your teeth at night. They cushion your teeth from the impact and tension of the jaw clenching, and reduce the physical consequences of bruxism.
Sleeping with night mouth guards should give you jaw, face, and neck muscles some relief from the intense clenching.
Prices of night mouth guards are quite reasonable, ranging from $35:
The Doctor’s NightGuard ($35.07): Moldable for custom fit
Plackers Grind No More ($40.09 for 16 pieces): 3-day disposables
Signature Night Guard ($29.99): Smaller teen size
If you’re in need of some melatonin but find those drugstore pills and supplements way too strong for you (those mild melatonin pills can make me drowsy for two days!), consider using these non-invasive melatonin stick-on patches instead.
The Good Patch’s Dream patch contains 10mg of melatonin, valerian root, and hops - all ingredients you’ll usually find in sleep supplements and shots.
You get to stick the patch on to your skin, remove them when necessary to control or limit the amount of melatonin you’re exposed to.
For $33.44, you get eight patches in resealable patches.
The least invasive form of melatonin sleep aids is the melatonin sleep spray. There are two types of melatonin sprays - aerosol pillow sprays, and sublingual (under the tongue).
For pillow sprays, Dr Teal’s melatonin sleep sprays are some of the most reviewed online. Reviews are generally great with users saying the pillow spray works well, lulling them to sleep within minutes (sounds great, honestly). While the price is pretty steep, users said they only use two pumps per night.
Prices range around $50 for a 177ml bottle:
Dr Teal’s Sleep Spray with Melatonin & Essential Oils ($52 for 177ml)
NatureGenx Liquid 3mg Melatonin Spray ($32.07 for 30ml): Child-safe, sublingual
Dr Teal’s also carries a melatonin sleep body lotion with shea and cocoa butter ($13.97 for 240ml).
Heated or warm eye masks and compresses are surprisingly pretty beneficial for tired, dry eyes.
These warm eye masks reportedly help to hydrate and lubricate dry eyes, and improve your natural oil glands’ productions, and prevents water (tears) from evaporating too quickly.
That aside, the warmth promotes blood circulation, reduces puffy eyes, and relaxes your eye muscles, removing stress.
There are, honestly, lots of heated eye masks around - ranging from disposable MegRhythm Japanese eye masks to microwave-heated eye compresses, to electronic heated eye masks:
Microwave Heated Flaxseed Eye Masks ($21.28 for pack of 2): Reusable
Renpho Heated Eye Massager ($60.19): Reusable, electronic, massage function
Optase Moist Heat Eye Mask for Dry Eyes ($45.05): Microwave heated, reusable