Rest easy. Listen safely.

01What Lalai is, and isn't

Lalai is a relaxation and entertainment app: long, slow stories, night sounds and music to listen to at bedtime. It is not a medical device, and it has not been evaluated, cleared or approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or by any other medical regulator. Relaxation, stress management and sleep management are among the general wellness uses the FDA describes in its guidance on low-risk wellness products¹.

Lalai is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, prevent or monitor any disease or condition, including:

• insomnia, and other sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy and circadian rhythm disorders;
• tinnitus;
• anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or any other mental health condition.

Everyone is different, and we don't promise that Lalai will help you fall asleep, stay asleep or feel more rested. Lalai doesn't measure your sleep or collect any health information.

02When to see a doctor

Most people have a bad night now and then. Talk to a doctor if:

• you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking too early on at least three nights a week for three months or more, even with enough time in bed. That is how doctors define chronic insomnia². See a doctor sooner if it's affecting your days;
• you snore loudly, or someone notices that you stop breathing, gasp or choke in your sleep, or you often wake with a headache. These can be signs of obstructive sleep apnea³;
• you often feel very sleepy during the day, or fall asleep when you don't mean to;
• you get an irresistible urge to move your legs, with uncomfortable feelings in them, that comes on at rest or in the evening and eases when you move. This can be restless legs syndrome⁴;
• worry, low mood or stress are keeping you awake.

Good to know

For long-term insomnia in adults, the American College of Physicians recommends a structured talking therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) as the first treatment⁵, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine strongly recommends it⁶. Your doctor can tell you how to get it. A relaxation app is not CBT-I.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least 7 hours of sleep a night for adults⁷:

03Never listen while driving

Lalai is made to make you drowsy. Never listen while driving, cycling, operating machinery or doing anything else that needs you alert. Don't listen in the bath, a hot tub or anywhere else where falling asleep could be dangerous.

Drowsy driving kills. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration counted 644 deaths involving drowsy drivers in 2024. It also estimates that in 2017, 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers, injuring about 50,000 people⁸.

04Protecting your hearing

Long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels (dBA) can cause hearing loss, while sounds at or below 70 dBA are unlikely to. Normal conversation is about 60 to 70 dBA, and music through headphones at full volume can reach 94 to 110 dBA⁹. The World Health Organization estimates that more than a billion young people are at risk of hearing loss from unsafe listening¹⁰.

• Keep it quiet. For falling asleep, set sounds just loud enough to hear. If you don't need them all night, use the sleep timer, which fades the sound out gently.
• With earphones, keep the volume low, and stop if your ears ring, hurt or feel blocked. See a doctor if it doesn't pass. If you listen all night, a speaker at low volume saves having earphones in for hours.
• Use your phone's own limit. On iPhone, Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Headphone Safety → Reduce Loud Audio lowers any headphone sound above the level you choose¹¹. Many Android phones have a similar volume limiter in their sound settings.

05Babies and young children

Lalai's stories are written for adults. If you play sounds to help a baby settle, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises keeping the source as far from your baby's head as you can, and using it for a short time¹². In practice:

• Keep the phone or speaker out of the crib, off its rail and edges, and well away from it. We suggest at least 7 feet (2 metres).
• Keep the volume low. Distance alone isn't enough (see below).
• Don't leave it playing longer than you need. Use the sleep timer, or turn the sound off once your baby is asleep.
• Keep cords out of reach. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission advises keeping cords at least 3 feet (1 metre) from a crib, because a baby can get one caught around the neck¹⁴.

Why the volume matters: a 2014 study in the journal Pediatrics tested 14 infant sleep machines at full volume. All 14 were louder than 50 dBA, the limit recommended for hospital nurseries, at 30 cm and at 1 metre, and 13 of them still were at 2 metres. Three were louder than 85 dBA at 30 cm. The researchers found no distance that was safe at full volume¹³.

For any question about your child's sleep, talk to their doctor.

06Phones and chargers in bed

Phones and chargers get warm while charging. Apple's safety guidance for iPhone says not to sleep on a device, its power adapter or a wireless charger, or put them under a blanket, a pillow or your body while they are connected to power. It also advises against sleeping on the charging cable¹⁵. Charge your phone on a hard, flat surface such as a bedside table, never under your pillow.

07Screens and seizures

Lalai's pictures move slowly and are designed to avoid flashing. Even so, about 3 in 100 people with epilepsy are sensitive to flashing lights or certain patterns. Flashes at 5 to 30 a second are the most likely trigger, though it varies from person to person¹⁶. If you have epilepsy or have ever had a seizure, check with your doctor before using Lalai, and stop at once if you feel unwell.

Lalai is made to be listened to, not watched. While a story plays, the controls fade after a few seconds and the picture dims as the story goes on. You can also turn the phone face down or let it lock: the sound keeps playing.

08If you're in crisis

• United States: 911 for emergencies. Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org, to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day¹⁷.
• United Kingdom: 999 or 112 for emergencies¹⁸. Samaritans can be reached on 116 123, free from any phone, day or night¹⁹.
• European Union: 112, free from any phone²⁰.
• Anywhere else: findahelpline.com, run by ThroughLine, lists free, verified helplines by country²¹.

09Sources

1. US Food and Drug Administration. General Wellness: Policy for Low Risk Devices, guidance, January 2026.
2. American Psychiatric Association, DSM-5 criteria for insomnia disorder, as set out by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, International Classification of Sleep Disorders, ICSD-3-TR: insomnia.
3. American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Sleep Education. Obstructive sleep apnea. See also National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Sleep apnea: symptoms.
4. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Restless legs syndrome.
5. Qaseem A, et al. Management of chronic insomnia disorder in adults: a clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2016;165:125–133.
6. Edinger JD, et al. Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2021;17:255–262.
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About sleep.
8. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Drowsy driving; and Drowsy driving, 2024 data, DOT HS 813 791, April 2026.
9. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Noise-induced hearing loss.
10. World Health Organization. Deafness and hearing loss, fact sheet, March 2026.
11. Apple. Check your headphone audio levels on iPhone.
12. American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org. How noise affects your child.
13. Hugh SC, et al. Infant sleep machines and hazardous sound pressure levels. Pediatrics, 2014;133(4):677–681.
14. US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Baby monitors and cords: strangulation hazard, publication 5066.
15. Apple. Important safety information for iPhone.
16. Epilepsy Foundation. Photosensitivity and seizures.
17. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 988lifeline.org.
18. GOV.UK. 999 and 112: the UK's national emergency numbers.
19. Samaritans. Contact Samaritans.
20. European Commission. 112, the European emergency number.
21. Find A Helpline, run by ThroughLine. findahelpline.com.

Every figure on this page was checked against these sources on 24 September 2026. If you think something here is out of date or wrong, please tell us at support@lalai.app.