SleepSafe automates anticipatory (scheduled) awakening, a drug-free technique with strong evidence in children, delivering a gentle Apple Watch wake-up shortly before the usual time of a night terror so nobody has to set a manual 1 a.m. alarm every night.
The technique clinicians use
The established behavioral treatment for childhood night terrors is anticipatory awakening: you briefly rouse the child around 15 to 30 minutes before the terror usually arrives, interrupting the deep-sleep cycle it grows out of. An early BMJ report (Lask, 1988) settled persistent night terrors in children within weeks, and a 2023 systematic review found nearly every participant improved.
Doing it without staying up all night
For years the only way to do this was by hand: set an alarm for 1 a.m., go in, gently rouse them, go back to bed, every night for weeks. SleepSafe does that job on the wrist, silently, so nobody has to stay on the clock. It also deliberately shifts the wake-up by 5 to 10 minutes each night so the body cannot learn to sleep through it.
SleepSafe is a complementary tool, not a replacement for professional medical treatment. If nightmares or night terrors affect your health or daily life, speak with a healthcare provider.
Try SleepSafe
Free on the App Store. Detects nightmares and night terrors on your Apple Watch and gently intervenes, entirely on-device.
