One excellent quality of the Fitbit trackers is that they help you monitor your sleep by tracking how much time you spend awake, restless, or sleeping. However, some customers have complained that the device’s sleep tracking is inconsistent and even stops tracking their sleep. Lets know Why Did the Fitbit Stop Tracking the Sleep?
If you are also troubled by this, you can try restarting the device, ensuring that the battery is completely charged, adjusting how you wear your Fitbit, or changing the sensitivity setting. This article will give you an overview on the sleep tracking feature and what may cause your Fitbit to stop monitoring your sleep.
How does Fitbit sleep tracking work?
Some older versions have a manual sleep tracking mode, but in the newer models with the automatic feature, you must sleep for at least an hour before your Fitbit begins collecting data on your sleep quality. It classifies your sleep as either restless, awake, or asleep.
Fitbits with heart sensors also record your sleep stages as light, deep and REM once you sleep for more than 3 hours. By monitoring these stages, it calculates your sleep score. Not all Fitbits track your sleep stages. Only those with heart-rate sensors can track your sleep stages (for instance, Fitbit Charge HR has sensors but do not track sleep stages).
What causes your Fitbit to stop tracking sleep, and how to make it work?
Now that you know how the feature works let’s take a look at the factors that can cause inconsistency or stop the sleep tracking feature in Fitbits.
- Restart
Like any gadget, the first troubleshooting advice is to reboot the device. If you are facing any issue with the Fitbit, try restarting it and see if it fixes the problem.
- Steps to restart your Fitbit:
- Plug in the charging cable and connect it to your Fitbit, ensuring the connection is secure.
- Press the side switch of the Fitbit for about10 seconds.
- Depending on the Fitbit version, you notice a Fitbit symbol. Release the switch and plug it off.
- Low battery
Check the battery of your Fitbit, and if it is very low, it may have switched off the sleep tracking feature to retain the battery during the night. So, to make sure it tracks your sleep at night, you must charge it before bed so it may have enough battery to last through the night.
- Adjusting the way, you wear Fitbit
Another reason can be that you are not wearing the Fitbit correctly. Wear it in your non-dominant hand on the inside of your wrist while sleeping, and ensure it’s firm enough (but not too tight).
- The On-clip mode
If your Fitbit has a feature allowing you to wear it in a clip (like Inspire 2), then it automatically sets itself to on-clip mode once you wear it in a clip. It can then only track whether you are awake, restless or asleep, and you don’t get your sleep score.
So, make sure you wear it on the wrist and set it to wrist mode before you sleep. To change it to wrist mode, go through these steps:
Hold the button for about 2 seconds > Quick Settings > Tap on-clip > It goes to on-wrist mode > Press button to return.
- Sleep Sensitivity settings
This is a tricky feature of Fitbit; the device does not function properly if not set correctly. Now, the default setting is “normal”, tracking only significant movements when sleeping. Still, if it is on sensitive mode and you make a lot of movement during your sleep, it may look like you aren’t sleeping.
Steps to modify settings on your phone:
- Go on your profile on the Fitbit app.
- Click on “Advanced Settings”.
- Select “Sleep sensitivity”.
- Choose the mode (Normal or Sensitive) as per your preference.
For desktop, follow these steps:
- Sign in to your account on fitbit.com.
- In the top-right corner of the dashboard, click the gear icon.
- Click on “Settings”.
- Go to “Sleep Sensitivity” and choose the mode (Normal or Sensitive).
- Select “Submit.”
Factory Reset
You can attempt a factory reset if other methods don’t work for you. However, it will wipe out all your previously saved data, so think before choosing this option.
Conclusion
Fitbits are excellent devices providing multiple features for leading a healthy lifestyle. Its feature that helps you track your sleep helps you be more mindful of your sleeping habits. The methods provided in the article should assist you in resolving your Fitbit’s sleep tracking difficulties, regardless of the model.
Frequently asked questions
Q1) What does the sleep score in the Fitbit app mean?
Ans. It is calculated based on your three sleep stages to give you better insight into your sleep quality.
Q2) Which Fitbit is best for tracking sleep?
Ans. Fitbit Charge 4 Fitness and Sleep Tracker. It is the best among all the sleep trackers. Amazon reviews can be checked here. Versa 3 and Fitbit Sense are good too.
