Dreampad Memory Support Pillow with Music & Sleep Technology review

REVIEW – For many years, I have struggled with getting a good night of sleep and it usually starts with difficulty falling asleep. I have tried many things including sound machines, but I have found that listening to Contemporary Jazz music that I love gives me the best chance to easily fall asleep. The problem is that although my wife enjoys that type of music as well, she needs the room to be quiet when she is really ready to sleep. So, what do I do? The Dreampad Memory Support Pillow with Music & Sleep Technology validated by SleepScore Labs seems like a possible solution.

What is it?

The Dreampad is a 20" x 28" pillow that utilizes embedded transducers to deliver music through gentle vibration that only the user can hear and will not disturb anyone sleeping nearby.

What's in the box

1 x Dreampad Pillow1 x AC Adapter and Micro USB Charging Cable1 x Bluetooth Adapter1 x Quick Start Guide

Design and features

The Dreampad pillow is covered in a very soft and smooth white cover that is 100% cotton. There is a zipper on one side that reveals a pocket that includes a built-in wire with a 3.5mm plug that connects to the Bluetooth adapter. They also include an extension 3.5mm cable so that you have the option of a wired connection to maybe a larger radio or music source on your nightstand or otherwise some distance away.

The Bluetooth adapter connects to the micro USB cable to be charged and has a touch plower/play/pause button on the front.

On one of the thin sides, it has a volume up/down control.

On the other side if the 3.5mm port for connecting the adapter to the pillow.

Performance

The Dreampad is very easy to set up and you can quickly start to enjoy the benefit of it. The Bluetooth adapter arrived with some amount of charge and I charged it the day before I started using it. Once I turned on the adapter, it showed up in the list of the available Bluetooth devices on my phone as Dreampad. The pairing was easy, and it was ready to go. My first test was to play music wirelessly from my iPhone. At first, I could not hear anything, then I realized that it is designed to be used with very little to no ambient noise and that for me, I could only really hear it with my head turned to the side with an ear on the pillow. If I was lying flat with the back of my head on the pillow, I could not hear it. Maybe someone with better hearing than I have might. This was not a big issue for me since I tend to sleep on either side but rarely face up with the back of my head on the pillow. I was also able to test the pillow using a transistor radio with a 3.5mm output auxiliar y jack since you can use the 3.5mm cable that is built into the pillow to connect directly to the music source as opposed to the Bluetooth adapter. I went back to my iPhone, and I opened my Pandora app and started playing my Contemporary jazz selections, and soon dozed off to sleep. For me, it is a very soothing experience and it does help me to fall asleep easier and faster. One important point to note is that I decided to purchase a zippered pillow cover to cover the Dreampad and then I put the pillow cover on. I did this to keep the Dreampad clean and to protect it in case I spill water on it while taking a sip during the night and especially so if I fail to completely close its zipper. I am not sure how water resistant it is.

APP

The Dreampad also can be managed via a mobile app, that can broadcast any selection of music or sounds you select. It comes with 10 songs that are designed to specifically support sleep. The app also features volume control, play time control, and an alarm. The following are some screenshots from the app:

What I like

The quality of the pillow

The design and capability to connect to various audio sources and in multiple ways

What can be improved Final thoughts

When I first heard about the Dreampad, I was not certain that I would actually use it regularly, but I was willing to try it because of the difficulty I have sleeping. While it does have its limitations, it actually works quite well and succeeds at helping me to drift off to sleep. I do think that it is the kind of product that you will either use regularly if you like it or not at all if you are on the fence about it. Having said that, I personally like it. However, the sample I received is the medium support version, and  I do need it to be much firmer for me to use it as my only pillow. I checked the ordering process on the website, and they do offer a selection of levels of firmness that includes a firm support version, and apparently a variety of material types that includes memory foam. I use the Dreampad almost every night along with another pillow, even when at times I fall asleep before actually connecting it to music.

Price: $127.20Where to buy: SleepScore LabsSource: the sample for this review was provided by SleepScore Labs.

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Ed Sheeran’s songs about coke and hookers put people to sleep

Ed Sheeran is "perfect" for making people nod off.

A new study from the University of Sheffield says 62 percent of people listen to music to fall asleep — and the ginger singer-songwriter's relaxing acoustic love songs about doing coke and sleeping with hookers are No. 2 with a bullet.

A total of 545 musical artists were referenced in the research published by the journal PLOS One.

The big sleep soundtrack was Bach — who outranked Sheeran. Other common bedtime companions were Mozart, Brian Eno, Coldplay and then Chopin.

It's no surprise classical artists charted so high. The study found that it's the most snooze-inducing genre, with 31.96 percent of respondents noting it as their comatose choice. Other popular genres included rock (10.82 percent), pop (7.47 percent) and acoustic (6.7 percent).

Sonic strange bedfellows such as metal (3.35 percent), electronic (2.58 percent) and house music (0.77 percent) received alarming mentions.

A total of 35.98 percent of respondents said they use music to fall asleep at least weekly, with 4.22 percent of people cueing up lullabies every night.

More than half of people surveyed said music helped them fall asleep faster.

Although this study took place in the UK, Americans don't fare much better when it comes to slumber success. The Post recently reported that six in 10 Americans are sleep-deprived.

While music is clearly a helpful sleep aid, other techniques from experts include sleeping in a cold room and staying off your phone 30 minutes before bed.

No worries — you have Sheeran to keep you warm.

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Nurse practitioner explains how much sleep kids need and how to help them fall asleep

GREER, SC (WSPA) - Putting children to bed at night can be one of the biggest challenges that parents face.   

Sandra Olson, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner with Bon Secours Primary Care in Greer, said, "Getting a goodnight's sleep for all ages, promotes better health and a better immune system, which as parents, that's what we want."  Olson continued, "If [children] are getting adequate sleep, they do better in school, they have better behavior, better attention, better focus." 

Olson says infants need 12 to 16 hours of sleep.  She says children ages one to five need 10 to 14 hours of sleep and that these time recommendations include naptime.   As children age, they need less sleep and often stop napping.  Olson said, "School agers six to 12 need about 9 to 12 hours of sleep.  By the time they're a teenager, they need 8 to 10 hours." 

Olson said one of the most important things parents can do is keep their kids on a consistent schedule and establish a bedtime routine.   She gave recommendations for how parents can help their children wind down.  "Start working on things like warm baths, reading to children, and dimming the lights." Likewise, she suggested what children could listen to, to help them relax.  "Soft music or nature sounds kind of get the body calmed down in order to establish rest."   

Any kind of screens, like televisions, phones, and iPads should not be in the bedroom, according to Olson, and she had suggestions for helping teens wind down before bed.  "For older kids, I like to tell them, especially teenagers, to journal: write down the negative things that happen during the day, maybe their worries."  Olson said then they should "end their journal note with something that's inspiring, something that's a positive, on an upbeat note prior to going to bed." 

For more information on sleep recommendations for children and teens, visit: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/American-Academy-of-Pediatrics-Supports-Childhood-Sleep-Guidelines.aspx.  

To learn more about staying healthy, tune in to hear the experts at Bon Secours this Saturday, on 106.3 WORD radio.  

To submit a question to the Ask the Expert series, visit: https://www.wspa.com/ask-the-expert 

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An African-American synagogue in Philly: ‘We don’t want people to come to shul and go to sleep

PHILADELPHIA â€" Mikaela Pleasant, clad in a white sequin dress and a purple tallit, poked her head around the large blue Torah she carried as she walked carefully up the aisles of Congregation Temple Beth’El. Rabbis and young children trailed behind her, greeting every member in attendance as if they were old friends reunited. The band struck up a quick and jubilant beat.

The cry was met with clapping as the drums slowed and the sound of the final metal cymbal reverberated in the air. Finally, everyone took their seats, and Torah readings began for Mikaela’s bat mitzvah.

“It’s innate within us to praise the Almighty with vigor, with joy, and that’s sometimes quite unique,” said Rabbi Debra Bowen of the predominantly African American synagogue in West Oak Lane, the largest of its kind in the Philadelphia area. “Many of the songs I have comprised myself to make it more apropos to us because of the way we enjoy music. We don’t want people to come to shul and go to sleep.”

Bowen said visitors will often confuse their music with gospel, which is associated more with Christianity, but Beth’El’s charismatic music is emblematic of their being both black and Jewish: Their band includes an electronic keyboard, electric violin, piano, drum set, bongos, a bass guitar, and an organ.

“We stand out,” said Eudora Burton, president of hospitality at Temple Beth’El. She said the upbeat music is their minhag, or tradition. Other unique customs the congregation follows: a dress code for members â€" white in the summer and navy blue and black in the winter. Bowen will often wear special colors depending on the occasion; for Mikaela’s bat mitzvah, she wore purple to match the 13-year-old. The synagogue also makes a conscious effort to incorporate their youth into their service, either as ushers or by asking them to retrieve the instruments.

The synagogue was founded in 1951 by Bowen’s mother, Rabbi Louise Elizabeth Dailey, who was the daughter of a Baptist minister â€" although one who always wore a hat, who always salted his meats before cooking, and covered the mirrors when there was a death in the family. When Dailey came to Philadelphia to work as a domestic in a Jewish household, she recognized their traditions mirrored her own family’s, and, according to the temple’s website, sought to learn “the ways of the Hebrews.”

Bowen said it was when blacks in America were free to develop their own culture and expression in a post-slavery U.S. that many turned to Judaism.

“When we were practicing Christianity, we did it because our slave masters told us,” Bowen said. “We always felt something was missing. Then we turned to Torah and suddenly we began to know.”

Mikaela’s mother, Hope Pleasant, 43, said the congregation is not affiliated with any one branch of Judaism, but rather identifies as “conservodox,” having attributes of both Orthodox and Conservative Judaism. Bowen warned not to categorize the congregants, though, because they simply won’t fit into a prescribed box. She said they are Jews, and as long as a person is intent on honoring Hashem, or God, and following Torah, they will be accepted at Beth’El.

“Our teaching is it’s not what a Jew looks like, it’s what a Jew does,” said Bowen. “You can’t escape your heritage because of how you look. So we are accepting of Jews of color. We also are accepting of Jews who are not of color, and we at no time will question whether or not they are, quote end quote, real Jews.”

According to the latest numbers from the Pew Research Center, people who identified as white made up 90 percent of the racial and ethnic composition among Jews in the U.S. in 2014. People who identified as black comprised 2 percent. In the latest study conducted by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia from 2009, around 6,500 of the 215,000 Jewish population in the Philadelphia region are Jews of color. An updated report will be released in late 2019.

Mark Leuchter, director of Jewish Studies at Temple University, said that oftentimes people within the Jewish community are sequestered, and find it unusual to meet other Jews who are not of European or Middle Eastern descent. Leuchter said there are various intersecting ethnicities within the Jewish religion, despite the common perception of what a Jew is supposed to look like in the U.S.

“A majority of Jews in the U.S. tend to be of European descent, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only way to be Jewish,” Leuchter said. “I don’t think there’s necessarily a sense of rejection, but there is a sense of ‘Whoa, what’s going on? I’m not used to it.’ ”

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8 Sleep Podcasts To Listen To When You Can’t Drift Off

If you spend more of your nights tossing and turning than you do actually, well, sleeping, it might be time to consider a sleep aid. And if you love podcasts to help make your morning commute pass by faster, consider sleep podcasts, which are basically the same thing but for catching zzz's.

It's clear many Americans aren't getting the recommended seven hours or more of sleep per night, with more than a third of adults reporting not getting enough shut-eye on a regular basis, according to a 2016 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

You may think you've tried everything to help you finally get some rest, from weighted blankets, to staying off technology before bed, but there may be one avenue that you haven't exhausted just yet: podcasts. Podcasts aren't just vehicles to get your true-crime fix or keep you updated on world events — the industry has expanded to include podcasts for therapy, self-help, and, of course, sleep.

While podcasts are never a substitute for appropriate therapy or medication if you're dealing with a diagnosed sleep disorder, they may be a useful tool to help the average sleep-deprived person doze off. As a bonus, they are also free.

If you're new to the world of podcasts, the process is as easy as plugging in your headphones into your phone and tuning into one of the many shows designed specifically to help you snooze. These programs vary from ASMR-y streams, to guided meditations and grown-up versions of bedtime stories. Admittedly, though, navigating the hundreds of offerings can be a bit daunting if you're just starting out. To help you find a podcast that may be the right fit for you, here are nine sleep podcasts to help you get one step closer to a good night's sleep.

1Sleep With Me Podcast

Sleep With Me started in the fall of 2013, and has dominated the sleep podcast genre since, with a tagline that literally states, "The podcast that puts you to sleep." The show is updated twice a week and hosted by Drew Ackerman, who struggles with insomnia himself. It features stories designed to distract listeners and help lull them to sleep by getting progressively more boring.

2Sleep Meditation Podcast

Another podcast with a very literal name, Sleep Meditation Podcast is a regularly-updated show that offers "relaxing sleep triggers," aka nature sounds, ASMR, and relaxing music galore. The episodes can be paired with yoga, mediation, or just as background noise while you try to go to bed.

3Sleep Whispers

The premise of Sleep Whispers is exactly what it sounds like: the host whispers about topics, ranging from the history and physics of roller coasters to readings of famous short stories, to help simultaneously engage your brain with ASMR and quiet your thoughts. If you are prone to racing thoughts at night and like your sleep podcast with a side of knowledge, this is the show for you.

4Story Not Story

If you like your podcasts on the quirkier side, Story Not Story revolves around a married couple regaling each other with bedtime stories that they create on the spot. Notable episode names include "The Invasion of the Potato People" and "Princess Emily and the Alien Selfie."

5The New Yorker: Fiction

For the highbrow insomniac, The New Yorker: Fiction podcast is like a monthly book club, except for short stories from the magazine's archives. If you've ever dreamed about famous authors like David Sedaris reading you a bed time story, this is the next best thing.

6In Our Time

While In Our Time is not exactly marketed as a sleep-focused podcast, host Melvyn Bragg's recounts 50 minute slices of history in the soothing drawl of the elegant British grandfather you always wanted are like a digital melatonin. This BBC 4 podcast can make you more informed while also boring you to sleep, and I mean that as a compliment.

7Deep Energy Podcast

For the person who struggles to sleep but doesn't want to listen to voices, Deep Energy Podcast offers hour-long episodes chock full of ambient noise and new age music that can assist with making you sleepy.

8Welcome to Night Vale

Welcome to Night Vale is a fan favorite podcast, and for good reason. The episodes tell offbeat stories about a small desert town (Night Vale) where "every conspiracy theory is true." The podcast's subject matter is at times creepy, hilarious, and entertaining, while also acting as an escape from the real world. The host's steady, calming voice is a bonus.

Happy listening, and may these podcasts bring you sweet dreams (or at the very least keep you entertained while you try to get some Zs).

Additional reporting by Kristin Magaldi.

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Viral 'Ellen' Child Star Sophia Grace Is Now a Rap Star - Watch Her 'Can't Sleep' Music Video

AceShowbiz - Sophia Grace, who rocketed to fame after she rapped along to Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" nearly a decade ago, has said goodbye to her iconic tutu and fully reinvented herself as a rap artist. The former child star, now 15, recently released a music video for her song "Can't Sleep" and successfully got many people shook.

Clad in a bright yellow bomber jacket, pink nails and hoop earrings, Sophia is seen in the video strolling around a mansion and hanging out with friends as she declares that she's a changed person now. "It annoys me because I'm not that person anymore and they always ask me to go back to how I was, but I'm different and that's not who I am," she says in the beginning of the visuals.

"So I want to show people I'm a different person now and I've changed, but that's OK because everyone changes," she continues saying, before beginning to rap about how she is asserting her independence now that she's a teenager. "I've been on a leash, now I'm taking control/ I've been under pressure, but that's just how it goes," she spits.

Many couldn't help but be shook to see her all grown up after the video made headlines on January 2. "Just yesterday she was 6," one commenter wrote as another similarly said, "She was so adorable but now she turned into a gangster. I can not believe it is the same person." One other noted, "I think this is her 'Miley after Hannah Montana' stage."

After going viral for rapping to "Super Bass" with her cousin Rosie McClelland on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2011, Sophia and Rosie made multiple appearances on the morning talk show to interview celebrity guests during a segment titled "Tea Time With Sophia Grace and Rosie". They even starred in their own movie titled "Sophie Grace & Rosie's Royal Adventure" in 2014.

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