Do you sleep best with some background sound from music or radio or TV, but don't want to disturb your bedmate? You can try wearing headphones -- until the first time you roll over on your side. And it's not a good idea to spend all night with earphones / earbuds inserted in your ears.
Instead, try out the AcousticSheep SleepPhones -- a Polartec fleece headband with integrated speakers so you can wear them comfortably all night ("like pajamas for your ears").
The SleepPhones are adjustable, since you can slide the roughly 1 inch speakers within the headband. They're available in three sizes and a variety of calming tones (lavender, gray, black). You even can remove the speakers (though a Velcro seam) for washing.
Other uses include muffling snoring with music or even white noise, setting a personal alarm clock (timed alarm track with programmable music players), or exercise headphones (since they absorb sweat and are washable).
SleepPhones were created in 2007 by Dr. Wei-Shin Lai, a family doctor now at Penn State, who was interested in using binaural beats (see free downloads and references) to help get back to sleep when on call and woken in the middle of the night.
Along with the SleepPhones headband for $49.95 and $54.95, AcousticSheep offers bundles with music, nature sound, and hypnosis CDs for $64.95 and $69.95 (see free track downloads), plus other sleep-inducing materials including lavender soap and sachets with relaxing aromatherapy scent.
The CDs have acoustic binaural beats to induce relaxation and drowsiness (progressively slow over 30 minutes).
It's the acoustic equivalent of counting sheep.
See the Portable Audio Accessories Gallery for details and related products.
Find the AcousticSheep SleepPhones on Amazon.com