When it comes to hormonal fluctuations as a mom, I’ve experienced all of them at some point in my life: pregnancy, postpartum, and eventually, perimenopause and menopause.
It’s been a roller coaster (of the most annoying kind, as far as I’m concerned), with one of the worst parts being the effect it’s had on my sleep. No matter what age or stage you’re in, there’s almost nothing harder than dealing with sleep deprivation when you’re a busy mom, am I right?
I consider myself incredibly lucky to have partnered with Eight Sleep, who recently sent me a Pod 4 to try out, to see if it would help me to finally get some decent sleep despite my hot flashes and night sweats.
(Spoiler alert: It did.)
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After using the Eight Sleep Pod 4 for a few months, I’ve come to realize just how much it can benefit not only moms in perimenopause/menopause, but those dealing with hormonal fluctuations at any point in their life. So here’s my Eight Sleep review for hormonal moms and why I think it’s worth trying yourself.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What is the Eight Sleep and How Does it Work?
The Eight Sleep is a literal climate control system for your bed, and the basic models include a mattress cover and “hub,” which looks an awful lot like a desktop computer. The Eight Sleep hub sits off to the side and essentially controls the cover that goes on your mattress.
The gist of how an Eight Sleep works:
- The mattress cover has water channels throughout the inside, and these are what conduct the temperature changes along the entire surface.
- Through the Eight Sleep app, the hub adjusts the surface temperature of the mattress cover across a range from about 55ºF (-10 setting) to 110ºF (+10 setting).
- Eight Sleep’s Autopilot app is designed to control and automatically adjust the temperature of your sleep surface based on biometric data from your body all throughout the night, which helps to promote more restful sleep night after night.
If the Eight Sleep sounds a little futuristic, it kind of feels that way. It’s one of those things that I never really knew I needed until I actually had it.
It arrived in two big boxes, one that had the mattress cover and one that had the hub, and although it took almost an hour to set up (which included the app-driven walk-through and required steps for establishing WiFi connectivity and all that jazz), once everything was in place, you can’t even tell it’s on my bed:
That is, of course, until you’re sleeping in it. I’ll tell you everything you need to know about that shortly.
Eight Sleep Pros
- Provides absolute control over the temperature of your sleep surface and includes dual-zone control, which means both sleepers can have their side of the bed set (and auto-adjusted) to their body’s needs.
- Hot Flash Mode provides rapid on-demand cooling when you need it, automatically returning the Pod cover to its normal temperature setting.
- The mattress cover doesn’t change the way your existing mattress feels in terms of softness or firmness level.
- The Eight Sleep app provides a very simple step-by-step walkthrough that makes it easy to set up.
- Every morning, you’ll get insightful sleep data that tells you everything you need to know about how your previous night of sleep was, including sleep duration, the time spent in each sleep cycle, your heart/breath rate, snoring, and even hot flash reporting.
- Eight Sleep offers a 30-night trial, along with warranty periods that range from two to five years based on your selections.
Eight Sleep Cons
- Has a rather high price point; depending on the bed size and model (Pod 4, Pod 5 Core, or Pod 5 Ultra), the cost ranges from $2,449 to $5,249.
- The full capability of the Eight Sleep, including automatic temperature adjustments and sleep data, relies on an Autopilot subscription (ranging from $17 to $33 per month depending on the option you choose), which is purchased separately.
- Internet connectivity is required for it to function, even without an Autopilot subscription.
- The mattress cover is spot-clean only.
How Does an Eight Sleep Actually Help Hormonal Moms?
In general, women are especially sensitive to temperature fluctuations overnight, but this isn’t something that “only” happens during menopause.
Your body’s thermoregulation can get wonky:
- After ovulation, during the luteal (second phase) of the menstrual cycle when your body’s core temperature rises.
- During pregnancy, as a result of hormones along with other changes in the body, as well as external factors.
- Postpartum, when the sudden drop in estrogen and progesterone can lead to hot flashes and night sweats, especially if you’re breastfeeding and prolactin lowers your estrogen levels even further.
- During the menopause transition, which similarly sees a drop in estrogen and progesterone that leads to hot flashes, night sweats, and other symptoms.
I know, it feels like we get the short end of the stick when it comes to all of this hormonal nonsense. But even if your hormones are actually in a decent place, sleep deprivation can have the opposite effect on your body, making you feel colder at night.
I don’t think I’ve ever met a mom who hasn’t experienced sleep deprivation at some point during parenthood. It’s a rite of passage we all go through, sometimes again and again, but I digress.
That’s what makes the Eight Sleep system so beneficial to moms of any age or stage. No matter what is going on with your body or your sleep schedule, the Pod mattress cover and hub can help you to manage and maintain a comfortable sleep temperature, night after night.
One pretty major upgrade to the Eight Sleep app came with the release of Hot Flash Mode in 2025, which provides a rapid cooldown that’s easily activated through the app, or by tapping the button on the side of the Pod cover:
Hot Flash Mode releases a flood of cold water through the Pod cover, and after a short period you set (from 5 to 30 minutes), the mattress cover gradually returns itself to whatever the temperature was set at before it was activated.
And it’s crazy effective. Eight Sleep’s Clinical Research team did a study over two weeks, involving 16 women in menopause transition, and the data was later presented at the 2025 SLEEP Conference. The results: Eight out of ten reported experiencing hot flash relief within ten minutes of using Hot Flash Mode, and 78% said that it “was more effective than other solutions they had tried for managing nighttime hot flashes.”
It’s the real deal.
There was even a research study published about the general efficacy of the Eight Sleep’s continuous cooling during menopause, which found that the Pod reduced hot flashes overnight by 55%.
So whether you’re struggling with the menopausal transition, postpartum hot flashes, luteal phase warm spells, or overheating during pregnancy, the Eight Sleep system can keep your body cool and comfortable. And with dual zone control, the Hot Flash Mode only kicks in on your side of the bed, so your partner’s settings remain undisturbed.
Beyond that, if you’re dealing with sleep deprivation and find yourself getting cold easily, the Eight Sleep does more than just cool the surface of your bed—it can make it warm and toasty, too.
You can set your bedtime temperature manually, however you like (or need) it, and then through Autopilot, the temperature self-adjusts while you’re asleep, based on biometric data (including your body temperature and sleep stage) and the ambient room temperature. The changes it makes throughout the night are designed to promote the most restful sleep possible, counter-balancing your body’s less-than-stellar thermoregulation.
Plus, you get a sleep report each morning that lets you know how much sleep you got, how long each sleep phase was, and a bunch of other helpful data that includes how many hot flashes you experienced. (Yes, really!) The insight is really useful not only for your own knowledge, but providing documentation should you need to share that data with your doctor, especially if you’re considering going on HRT.
But data aside, the fact that the Eight Sleep helps to stop hot flashes before they happen, and offers a quick-cooling mode to kick them to the curb whenever they do, it’s a game changer.
At this point in my journey, I can’t imagine sleeping without it. I wish the Eight Sleep had been around when I was pregnant and breastfeeding, but those days came and went way before its invention.
Better late than never, and at least it’s here now!
My Best Tips for Moms Using an Eight Sleep
There are a few things to know about the Eight Sleep, especially if your kids spend time in your bedroom or creep into bed at night.
- The Eight Sleep mattress cover is NOT washable. To protect your investment, I highly (highly!!) recommend putting a thin waterproof cover over the top of the Pod cover and beneath your fitted sheet, to protect it from spills and accidents. The warranty doesn’t cover those kinds of things.
- There are no buttons on the hub and the primary means of controlling the Eight Sleep are through the app, so that’s pretty childproof. However, there is an area on either side of the mattress cover that allows you to manually adjust the temperature up or down (based on the number of taps), activate Hot Flash Mode, or to turn the vibration alarm off if you have one set. It’s possible a child might inadvertently tap that (or kick it), so just keep an eye on your settings through the app if anything feels “off” at some point.
- Make sure that the water hose that runs between the hub and the Pod cover is out of sight and reach from little hands.
Where Can You Buy an Eight Sleep?
To make sure you’re actually buying a legit Eight Sleep (rather than a knockoff), it’s best to purchase this system directly from the Eight Sleep website.
There, you’ll pick your model, bed size, the Autopilot subscription (paid annually) and warranty length, and everything will be established directly with them, including access to customer service should you need it.
As of this writing, there are a few options available when it comes to purchasing an Eight Sleep: paying for it outright, financing it over 36 months through Affirm, or using HSA/FSA funds if you have those available.
Rentals are also available on Pod 5 Core and Pod 5 Ultra models, and the monthly rental fee includes the Autopilot subscription.
Conclusions on My Personal Eight Sleep Review
I know the Eight Sleep is an investment, but getting actual rest at night is more important than many of us realize until we find ourselves in the throes of sleep deprivation.
If your hormones are keeping you up at night, an Eight Sleep might just be the solution you’ve been looking for. It’s made all the difference for me.