Amazon launches Sleep Studio to help kids wind down for bedtime

Amazon folded bedtime stories, meditations and sounds into Echo speakers, pitching Sleep Studio as a way to make the nightly handoff to sleep less fraught for families already using Alexa. The new feature launched on Echo and Echo Kids devices and combines content from Calm, Headspace and Moshi into what Amazon called a “complete bedtime system.” For Amazon Kids+ subscribers in the U.S., it comes at no additional cost, and Echo Kids devices include a 6- or 12-month Amazon Kids+ subscription.

Parents can set sleep schedules and build playlists through the Amazon Kids Parent Dashboard, then let a 30-minute wind-down begin automatically as bedtime approaches. Children can also start the routine themselves by saying, “Alexa, play Sleep Studio.” Amazon said Echo Glow, sold separately, can add color-coded light cues to help children understand when their sleep window begins and ends.

The launch landed against a larger sleep problem that stretches well beyond one household. The National Sleep Foundation says 44% of U.S. children do not consistently get the recommended amount of sleep for their age, and parents often underestimate how much sleep their child needs by more than an hour a day. The group also says 95% of parents agree good sleep is essential to overall family functioning, 86% say it improves behavior and mood, and nearly half rarely or never talk with their children about the importance of sleep.

Amazon Kids general manager Eric Kuhn framed Sleep Studio as an attempt to make bedtime easier with simple scheduling, stories and sounds kids already like, using a device many families already have in the home. Headspace said its sleep and mindfulness content is available in Amazon Kids+ without a separate subscription or app download, including Wind Downs for children under 5, sleep meditations for ages 6 to 8 and Sleepcasts for all ages, including the Slumberland series. Calm vice president of partnerships Fergal Walker said Calm built a library of meditations, lullabies, soundscapes and Sleep Stories for children.

The broader question is whether Sleep Studio is mainly a family wellness tool or another step in Amazon’s long effort to make its voice assistant central to childhood routines. Amazon says children ask Alexa more than 20 million questions a month, and it already markets Echo Dot Kids, Echo Show 5 Kids and Echo Pop Kids as kid-specific devices. Amazon also introduced Create with Alexa on Nov. 29, 2022, on Echo Show devices, letting children co-create stories at bedtime or anytime. Sleep Studio extends that strategy into the quietest part of the day, where convenience and deeper device dependence are now arriving together.