Inaccurate Sleep Log? Change your settings!

[CallieM]

Hi sleepy Community members!

Does your sleep log look something like this?

If you think your log is inaccurate when it shows this much restlessness, you're not alone! A lot of Fitbit users have sleep logs like this, and many times it's due to the fact that Sleep settings are on "Sensitive" mode instead of "Normal" mode. A little about these two modes:

• The normal setting counts significant movements as being awake (such as rolling over) and is appropriate for most users.
• The sensitive setting will cause your tracker to record nearly all movements as time spent awake. This setting may be helpful for users with sleep disorders, or those who wear their tracker somewhere other than the wrist while asleep.

We strongly suggest that most users use the Normal setting. To change your settings to Normal, follow these steps, or visit our help article!

• To change your setting in the Fitbit iOS app, go to Account > Advanced Settings > Sleep Sensitivity.

• To change your setting in the fitbit.com dashboard, go to Settings > Devices > scroll down to Sleep Tracking.

I hope this helps - let me know if you have any trouble changing this setting or if you have seen a difference in the accuracy of your sleep log after switching!

[loaftray]

Hello, my own view and experience is that Fitbit is not accurate. Sorry, but I think it's a waste of time and a swizz.

[NarniePoo]

Inaccuracy of the sleep log and every other aspect the Fitbit watches is what happened when Google took over, it doesn’t matter if you are set to Normal or Sensitive it is still inaccurate. It no longer reads the heart rate accurately either. 

[GandalfIAm]

My FitBit is set to sensitive in hopes that it will pick up my insomnia - when I am in bed, awake but unable to sleep.

My hands and feet move as I fidget trying to settle myself down but FitBit tracks me as asleep - even though it is set to sensitive.

I have spent night's where I am awake for 3 or 4 hours but it is all recorded as me being asleep - I am tossing and turning, fidgeting, checking my FitBit for the time, etc.

But FitBit records me being asleep.

[apsp]

Sleep setting is set at normal but recently,15th March I slept for 11 hours from 10pm, yet the Charge 6 recorded just 4 hours (6.07am-9.04am)!

Is it faulty do you think?

[PJAP]

I am on the Normal sleep setting but my Fitbit charge 5 is detecting a large number (15 - 25) awakenings per night, mostly very short (1-2 mins each). I think it is over estimating them. Anybody else having this experience or know how to interpret this number? thanks

[RiekoC]

Hello @PJAP 

This page has an explanation about awake minutes (<-- click link) that you might find helpful.

I often get numerous awake times in my sleep log, most of which I don't remember being awake.

[ADKzip]

This was very helpful BUT there are still a few issues.  For example, the first section of the explanation states: “When you don't move for about an hour, your tracker or watch assumes you're asleep.”  OK, but the opposite should also be true yet isn’t.  As I and others have previously reported, there are occasions when a Fitbit says a person awoke minutes or (in my case)  close to an hour AFTER said person was up, making coffee, showering, whatever.  This has happened to me several times.

Also, even though the explanation claims that “Your device needs at least 3 hours of sleep data to estimate your sleep stages, so you won't find sleep stages for shorter naps,” the reality is that – again as has happened to me and others – Fitbit will show a person falling asleep for the night at a time when the person is quietly watching TV or reading for less than 3 hours, after which the person is moving around for some time prior to actually going to sleep.  In other words,  Fitbit is also capable of over-estimating total sleep time and the stages.

So keep that grain of salt at hand.

[801]

Everything you say is accurate. The fact is the devices are not reliable and seem to change what they will do randomly. I've had lose 4 hours of time or added and extra hour for no reason. I can only guess what the thing is trying to measure and how but I do know all the info is based on movement and heart rate. My usual comment is these things are toys not medical devices. All the info you get from them is more a  guess than positive facts. If you have ever had a medical sleep study you will understand just how much gear it takes to get the best results. I've had four of them and I don't even believe those are that accurate because you have so many wires and straps all over your body and head its impossible to sleep naturally. I never felt like I fully fell asleep in any of them. It did identify that I had periodic limb movement and restless leg syndrome which are more or less the same thing. I could have told them that with out the torture of the sleep study because my wife told me and filmed it in real time. Same with OSA, I knew I had it before the test but had to endure it to get my CPAP machine.

[Nancy618]

Then just don't reply! 

[GandalfIAm]

My FitBit is set to sensitive but overcalculates my sleep.

I go to bed amd though I do not fall asleep for a good hour (tossing and turning and trying to settle down my body and mind) and I stay in bed about an hour after I wake up because I wake up too early, FitBit counts the whole time as sleeping even though it otherwise shows my numerous wake ups during the night.

It is not like I am in bed and remain still or immobile - I am restless and recently sciatica pain has wreaked havoc on the inability to fall or stay asleep but FitBit though set to sensitive (and yes, worn snug and properly) counts it as though I had a full sleep - Oh! If only that were true - it would be bliss).

[DRLHL-HOOAH]

Fitbit is NOT the most accurate sleep monitor (he says sarcastically) The
best thing I have done is actually go in and adjust the time asleep to
reality as opposed to Fitbit's version. I also know that it is just a
number. When I wake up I will mentally add or subtract numbers to my score
depending on how I feel. I might try the Google watch next?!?!?

[LZeeW]

@DRLHL-HOOAH   The Pixel Watch uses the Fitbit app for sleep tracking.  I'm not sure you will see a difference with a PW.

[GandalfIAm]

Agreed! Fitbit is not the most accurate sleep log but for someone working on a tight budget trying to get fit (I used to be a dynamic but hubby's health issues set me back some as I cared for him & neglected myself) - so, I had hoped to utilize it to help me.

However, because it tracks me sleeping when I am not, it also has my daily readiness score etc. all out of whack.

Sigh.

I had hoped for better accuracy without having to go an expensive and at this time, not plausible route. Albeit, it is light years' ahead of those waist clip-on step counters. *Grin.*