bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Kylie Knott

Hongkonger Stephanie Huen was working crazy hours in Shanghai when she started to dig deep into the science of sleep.
“I couldn’t get eight hours a night because my schedule was crazy – I would be called into work at 3am, which was nuts,” says Huen, who has worked with start-ups and businesses around the region.
That’s when she woke up to the fact that she needed sleep to function properly.
“Growing up, I never prioritised sleep or thought about how it affects other aspects of life,” she says, adding she often pulled all-nighters at secondary school and university.

Now the business of sleep is her life.
In 2018, together with her husband Rick Chen, she launched bedding company Hush Home after shopping for a mattress in Hong Kong left them frustrated.
They were looking for an affordable mattress and bedding that combined comfort and support, but were also light and breathable to suit Hong Kong’s humid climate. When they couldn’t find what they wanted, they set up their own company.
The secret to a good night’s sleep: listen to your body clock
Hush Home now offers several different mattress, with its top-end versions using materials such as organic cotton, natural bamboo fibre and organic latex.
Huen urges people in Hong Kong to prioritise their sleep. While diet and fitness play a big part in shaping sleep quality, she says the sleeping environment – a quality mattress, with sheets suited to the climate and a person’s body temperature – are vital.
“Some of us run hotter than others.”

This year Hush Home launched an infant and toddler sleep range, Little Hushies, the move stemming from Huen’s complicated pregnancy in 2021 when Hong Kong was on high Covid alert.
Huen had placenta previa, a condition in which her placenta – the organ supplying oxygen and nutrients to the growing baby – was too low. “Mine covered my whole cervix.”
Symptoms include vaginal bleeding in the second half of the pregnancy and severe bleeding during labour and birth.
Huen was hospitalised at 26 weeks and stayed until after giving birth to her son Elliot at 34 weeks.
‘Logic was out of the window’: giving birth in Hong Kong in the pandemic
“Because of Covid, my husband couldn’t attend the birth and I only saw him a few days afterwards,” says Huen, who is just weeks away from giving birth to her second child.
“The doctors knew I was going to bleed a lot so I had a blood transfusion and was put under general anaesthesia. I remember my anaesthesiologist holding my hand to do something and I was like, ‘Wow, this is the most comfort I have felt for a long time.’”
Elliot spent a week in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hooked up to breathing machines and feeding tubes.
‘It’s all a blur’: mum trains as sleep consultant after baby kept waking up
Covid rules meant she couldn’t see him, let alone cradle him.
“When he moved out of ICU I could visit every other day to breastfeed for one hour – that’s when I could hold him.”
Two weeks after giving birth, Huen and Elliot were allowed to go home. She was excited. But a few weeks later, she experienced a parent’s worst nightmare.
“One night, around midnight, I was breastfeeding and it felt like Elliot had stopped breathing … My confinement nanny was hitting him on the back and I was calling for my husband.
“About a minute away from the hospital Elliot made a noise, a burp, and woke up, but I don’t know how much time had passed … It felt like a very long time.”

Elliot, 20 days old and weighing just 1.8kg (4lb), was diagnosed with apnoea, a condition in which breathing pauses for a short time.
He stayed at the hospital in Sha Tin for a month, with Huen in a cycle of pumping and delivering breast milk. There was lots of stress and very little sleep, her anxiety triggering with every ring of the phone.
“I was convinced it was the hospital with bad news. It was traumatising.
“I only got to see him for 30 minutes every other day. So I was worried about a lack of skin-to-skin contact, which is so important to a baby that has had neonatal care,” she says of a method, also known as kangaroo care, that involves parents holding their baby directly against their bare skin to encourage bonding.
“The Prince of Wales [Hospital] staff were amazing … Obviously, I wanted to hold my baby, but the most important thing was finding out the reason for the apnoea.”
When Elliot wakes we take him to a downstairs playground so he gets direct sunlight. That kick-starts your day, so your body is like ‘OK, I’ve got to wake up now’
Stephanie Huen
As it turned out, that night in January 2022 was the only time Elliot would have an apnoea episode: today he is a healthy and happy toddler.
Elliot’s medical emergencies were a catalyst for Huen’s dive into paediatric sleep science, both to help him flourish and to create a brand to assist parents in getting their own kids to sleep better, too.
“I knew how important sleep was for adults but I wanted to find out everything about how important it is for a baby’s mental, physical and emotional growth, which it is,” she says.
She took courses and delved into sleep hygiene, and the pros and cons of sleep training.
The big picture we’re not seeing when we obsess about sleep
“Dealing with a newborn from zero to three months is different from three to six months because they have different sleep cycles when they’re newborn and haven’t yet developed circadian rhythms,” she says of the body’s internal clock that manages a range of functions including alertness, sleepiness, appetite and body temperature.
As parents, Huen says they put as much thought into Elliot’s sleep as other parents might put into a child’s primary education. They adjust his eat-wake-sleep windows as he grows, modify nap durations and times for his age range, and ensure he has a consistent bedtime routine.
Room temperature greatly affects sleep, Huen stresses. She also removes stuffed toys and pillows from the cot at night – a decluttered sleep environment is best, she says.

Sunlight exposure also plays a role in the sleep cycle.
“When Elliot wakes we take him to a downstairs playground so he gets direct sunlight,” she says. “That kick-starts your day, so your body is like ‘OK, I’ve got to wake up now.’”
Huen, who is also now a health and wellness consultant and hosts sleep workshops in Hong Kong, says there are many little things we can do to optimise the quality of our sleep and that of our family members – including dimming the lights in a room and on devices before bedtime, and drinking less alcohol and caffeine.
Every year she also organises blood donation drives.
“I had a blood transfusion during my pregnancy, so now I work with the Red Cross and instead of me just donating blood, I want to get all my friends together each year to donate.”
Like what you read? Follow SCMP Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also sign up for our eNewsletter here.


She’s a 95-year-old world champion powerlifter. Her advice for ageing well? ‘Keep moving’

How tingling sensation in fit man’s arm revealed heart problem that could have killed him

Style Edit: Grown Alchemist unveils exclusive May offers at Hong Kong’s IFC Mall for Mother’s Day, including the Facial Reboot Myo-Code treatment and special prices on curated product collections

Ageing Hong Kong needs a more accountable public healthcare system

Wellness

How to help your child sleep better: baby’s crisis triggers Hong Kong mother’s awakening on infant sleep science

Hush Home co-founder Stephanie Huen’s baby son Elliot, whose medical emergency was a catalyst for the Hong Kong mother to study how to help children sleep better. Photo: Courtesy of Stephanie Huen

Stephanie Huen at a Hush Home store in Kowloon Bay. Photo: Edmond So

Stephanie Huen with her husband Rick Chen and son Elliot. Photo: Courtesy of Stephanie Huen

Huen says a decluttered cot is best for a baby to have a good night’s sleep. Photo: Courtesy of Stephanie Huen

Huen works with the Red Cross to get people together every year to donate blood, spurred by a blood transfusion she had during her pregnancy. Photo: Courtesy of Stephanie Huen

How Instagram’s ‘glimmers’ trend is helping people manage stress and anxiety with comforting life moments that feel ‘like a hug’

Instagrammer Lizzie Holson wih her son. Comforting moments like the ones she posts about are trending on social media, and advocates reveal how they are beneficial to mental health. Photo: Lizzie Holson

Lizzie Holson with her son. The amateur photographer has made a daily practice of capturing “glimmers”, an Instragram trend described as micro-moments of joy and comfort that punctuate our day. 

This post, for which the caption reads “Fluffy baby goslings spreading the joy”, is typical of Holson’s feel-good content, in which she captures the glimmers that punctuate her days. Photo: Instagram/@bizzie_sharing_joy

Social media posts on glimmers depict a range of things, from the first sip of morning coffee to the sound of turning the page of a book. Photo: Instagram/@Wellspa360

An Instagram post shows a nook in someone’s home with the caption “...just catching a glimpse of this pretty area lifts my mood”. Photo: Instagram / Yvette Marsh

Dr Brent Horner is a clinical psychologist at Therapy Partners Hong Kong. Photo: Dr Brent Horner

Tanya Rasquinha started to add journal entries about little things that gave her joy, such as eating spicy pani puri Indian street food and dancing to Taylor Swift songs. Photo: Tanya Rasquinha

Jennifer Jones’s Instagram account showcases her life with her son Hudson, who has Down’s syndrome. Photo: Jennifer Jones

Do you have insomnia? Why your heart health depends on getting a good night’s rest, and 5 expert tips to help you end sleepless nights

New studies give another reason to get enough good-quality sleep: your heart health is affected by the length and quality of your rest. Photo: Shutterstock

Sleep is the foundation of wellness, says Hong Kong sleep and functional medicine health coach Cavan Chan. Photo: Cavan Chan

Not everyone finds it easy to get a good night’s sleep. Photo: Shutterstock

Frequent travellers including pilots and flight attendants, who often experience jet lag from being in different time zones, have a particularly difficult time getting good-quality sleep. Photo: Shutterstock

Problems such as obstructive sleep apnoea and heart failure are associated with sleep disruptions. Photo: Shutterstock

The ideal temperature range for sleeping is 16 to 21 degrees Celsius. Photo: Shutterstock

If you can’t sleep, get out of bed, sit in a dark, quiet corner and try to relax. Photo: Shutterstock

Anxiety and depression hit this wellness influencer when she was 11. Now, on Instagram, she raises awareness of mental health and helps others

Wellness influencer Katie Eu leans on her own experiences with mental health to reach out on Instagram to others looking for answers and guidance. Photo: Instagram/@katie.eu

Eu hosts a weekly podcast called Solidarity on the Bench. Photo: Katie Eu

Eu (left) and her two older sisters. Photo: Katie Eu

After years of struggling with symptoms of anxiety and depression in Hong Kong, Eu moved to California for a fresh start. Photo: Instagram/@katie.eu

Eu posts about the topics she discusses in therapy and the issues she is working through on @katie.eu. Photo: Instagram/@katie.eu

Eu graduated from Scripps College in May, 2023. Photo: Katie Eu

Eu is now pursuing a master’s of science in behavioural science at the London School of Economics. She is pictured with her best friend, Sophia Carter, who also posts about her recovery process on Instagram. Photo: Katie Eu

Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

Health

Family & Relationships

Stephanie Huen, co-founder of bedding company Hush Home in Hong Kong, took a deep dive into the science of paediatric sleep after her son Elliot’s apnoea scare
Her tips include early morning sun exposure, having a decluttered cot, adjusting eat-wake-sleep windows as a child grows, and a consistent bedtime routine


Stephanie Huen, co-founder of bedding company Hush Home in Hong Kong, reveals how her son’s apnoea scare saw her take a deep dive into the science on how to help babies and children sleep better.


Parenting: newborns to toddlers

Hong Kong

5050

Disease