When it comes to keeping a close eye on your baby, there are analytics—and then there are analytics. Nanit’s Advanced Analytics falls under that second option. For new parents, there’s so much information to take in—and we understand how overwhelming that can be. At Nanit, every metric we provide, every piece of data we serve up, comes with the goal of improving parents’ confidence, with functionalities that benefit the baby at the same time.
The result? You embrace the parenting journey feeling assured and informed, so that you can take a breath and better understand the nuances of your baby, especially in the first few months. Below, we’ll dig into what Advanced Analytics can tell you about your baby that you might not already know, along with how each of these features have helped other parents along the way. Remember, if you think Advanced Analytics can benefit your family, you’ll want to upgrade to an Insights Plan.
Baby’s Bedtime
Supporting: You might have put your little one down at 7PM, but what time did your baby actually fall asleep? With this feature, you can view daily, weekly, or monthly bedtime patterns.
Did you know? Giving your baby a consistent bedtime has been shown to improve how well and how long your baby sleeps.
Real Talk: “Before Nanit, bedtime was a guessing game, but now I can see exactly what routines work best for getting my baby to sleep. I feel more in control of everything.” - Janie, mother of Leo, 8 months
Baby’s Wake-Up Time
Supporting: Is your baby the type to let you know the moment they wake up? Or do they hang out and look at their mobile for a while? With this feature, you can view your baby’s daily, weekly, or monthly wake up patterns—with statistics specifically speaking to their sleep onset, time asleep, number of visits and sleep efficiency.
Did you know? A consistent wake-up time can often keep your child on track with other parts of their daily routine.
Real Talk: “Before, I was constantly estimating when Harry would wake up, but now I can finally get a decent night's sleep. The alerts are just early enough to get me there before he starts crying, and it's made mornings so much smoother.” - Tali, mother to Henry, 4 months
Room environment
Supporting: It’s no secret that babies are particularly sensitive to changes in their surrounding climates. With this feature you can maintain your nursery’s climate settings exactly how you and your baby like. The recommended range for a nursery’s temperature is around 68-72°F and humidity around 40-55%.
Did you know?: When the humidity in your baby’s nursery is too high, the risk for mold growth increases, but when humidity is too low, your baby could suffer from dry skin and a stuffy nose—so it’s important to strike the right balance. You can learn more about how temperature impacts your baby’s sleep from Nanit Lab study.
Real Talk: “No more sneaking in to adjust the thermostat in the middle of the night – now I can see exactly what's going on from my phone. And, I now know those cranky nights last week were because the room got a bit too stuffy. Once we adjusted the temperature, it’s been so much better.” - Evan, dad to Margot, 9 months
Baby’s Head Position
Supporting: Our head position feature will show you what proportion of the night your baby’s head faces to the left, right or straight. Spending time in all positions can help the development of your baby’s neck muscles.
Did you know? If your baby spends too much time facing to the left or the right, they may develop a common condition called torticollis and or plagiocephaly (flat head), which may need to be treated with physical therapy. If you notice your baby has a preference to face one side, talk to your healthcare provider. Practicing tummy time during the day can help by strengthening their neck muscles and making it less likely for them to develop a directional preference. Changing the position you place them down in the crib can help them avoid developing a side preference since many babies will turn their heads to face the door where the caregiver comes from.
Real Talk: “My husband was convinced our baby favored his right side. We used the Head Position tile to monitor it for a few days and were able to see that he did! So now we move him at night and it’s improving already! It's so cool to see and it makes you feel empowered, and also without Nanit, I probably wouldn’t have believed him!” -Melanie B., mom to Beau, 2 months & Louie, 2 years
Baby’s Body Position
Supporting: The body position tile within our app shows what proportion of the night your baby has spent sleeping on their back, belly or side. It can be interesting to see how their patterns change over time and as they become more active in the crib.
Did you know? The Safe Sleep Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend always putting your baby to sleep on their back. Once your baby shows signs of starting to roll, it is important to take them out of the swaddle, if you were using one. Remember that each baby has their own timeline, so look at signs from your baby for readiness to roll. Once they start to roll independently, continue placing your baby to sleep on their back but don’t worry if during the night your baby ends up on their tummy - they will find the position they are most comfortable in.
Real Talk: "I love this feature because I could see that she went from spending most of the time in her crib on her back to being on her side, which indicated that she might be getting ready to roll. It gives me a sense of confidence and makes it easier to predict whats next!" -Caroline, mom to Sadie, 5 months
Activity Score
Supporting: We all know that babies fill their days with rolling around, gurgling and napping, but do we know what they’re actually up to or how much your baby is actually doing? The activity score tells you if your baby was more or less active in the crib overnight compared to the previous week.
Did you know? When infants are about to reach a new motor milestone, they might become more active while they sleep. If you see a spike in activity, your baby might be getting ready to show you some exciting new skills.
Real Talk: “It makes so much more sense that the little moves my baby’s been making are that he’s actually trying to roll over! I love staying informed and a little less worried about nighttime wiggles." - Joni, mom to Gemma, 6 months
Nanit is dedicated to delivering high-quality, reliable content for our readers. Our Parent Confidently articles are crafted by experienced parenting contributors and are firmly rooted in data and research. To ensure the accuracy and relevance of the content, all articles undergo a rigorous review process by our team of parenting experts. Additionally, our wellness-related content receives further scrutiny from Nanit Lab, our think tank of scientists, engineers, physicians, academic experts, and thought leaders.
Our primary objective is to furnish readers with the most current, trustworthy, and actionable information concerning a host of parenting topics. We strive to empower our readers to make informed decisions by offering comprehensive and respected insights.
In pursuit of transparency and credibility, our articles incorporate credible third-party sources, peer-reviewed studies, and abstracts. These sources are directly linked within the text or provided at the bottom of the articles to grant readers easy access to the source material.
CONTRIBUTORS
Natalie Barnett, PhD serves as VP of Clinical Research at Nanit. Natalie initiated sleep research collaborations at Nanit and in her current role, Natalie oversees collaborations with researchers at hospitals and universities around the world who use the Nanit camera to better understand pediatric sleep and leads the internal sleep and development research programs at Nanit. Natalie holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of New England in Australia and a Postgraduate Certificate in Pediatric Sleep Science from the University of Western Australia. Natalie was an Assistant Professor in the Neurogenetics Unit at NYU School of Medicine prior to joining Nanit. Natalie is also the voice of Nanit's science-backed, personalized sleep tips delivered to users throughout their baby's first few years.
Kristy Ojala is Nanit’s Digital Content Director. She spends way too much time looking at maps and weather forecasts and pictures of Devon Rex cats and no-cook dinners. A former sleep champion, she strives to share trustworthy somnabulism tips with other parents—praying for that one fine day when no tiny humans wake her up while it’s still dark out. Her kids highly recommend 3 books, approximately 600 stuffies, Chopin’s “Nocturnes,” and the Nanit Sound + Light for bedtime success.
Mackenzie Sangster is on the Brand and Community team at Nanit. She supports content development and editing for Nanit’s Parent Confidently blog as well as other marketing initiatives. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her friends, cooking, being active, and using the Pro + Flex Duo to keep an eye on her fur-baby, Poppy!
Holly Hays is a contributor and writer for Nanit, channeling her years as a mama and former magazine editor to create fun, useful content for fellow busy, trying-to-do-their-best parents and caregivers. Holly has written for a wide range of brands and media outlets (Ergobaby, HGTV, Manhattan Toy Company, OXO), loves to cook and read mystery novels, and leans heavily on her two daughters to keep her up to date on all the latest slang.