In short
- In a 2023 study in Sleep, young adults who wore an eye mask overnight for a week did better on next-day memory encoding and alertness tests than when light wasn't blocked.
- The NHS suggests side sleeping to reduce snoring, including a special pillow or bed wedge to help keep you on your side, and suggests a partner use earplugs if snoring affects their sleep.
- The EPA advises emptying, drying and refilling portable humidifiers daily, using low-mineral water such as distilled water, and cleaning them every third day.
- Cleveland Clinic says the EPA recommends keeping home humidity between 30% and 50%.
- Cleveland Clinic says the right CPAP mask depends on comfort, breathing habits and the type of sleep apnea, and that users need a provider's prescription for replacement masks and tubing.
- The NHLBI lists snoring and mouth breathing among the night-time signs of sleep apnea in children, and says diagnosis needs a sleep study.
The best holiday sleep gifts are simple things that fit into someone's bedtime routine and deal with whatever is keeping them up: light, noise, dry air, snoring or a stuffy nose. A sleep mask, a side-sleep pillow, a humidifier, earplugs for a partner, a good book or a nasal strip and mouth tape starter kit all qualify. This guide covers each idea, a few gifts to avoid, and our pick for someone who snores or wakes with a dry mouth.
How do you choose a sleep gift that actually gets used?
Choose a sleep gift by thinking about what keeps that person awake, not by picking whatever looks cozy. A gift that solves a real nightly problem gets used every night; one that doesn't ends up in a cupboard.
A few quick questions help:
- Do they complain about light from a window, a streetlight or a partner's reading lamp?
- Do they or their partner snore?
- Do they wake with a dry mouth or a stuffy nose, especially in winter?
- Are they the one lying awake next to a snorer?
The answers point you toward a category. If snoring is the main issue, our separate guide to gifts for people who snore goes deeper on snoring-specific ideas. This guide is broader, for anyone who could use better sleep and easier breathing.
Which sleep gifts have research behind them?
A few simple sleep gifts have some research or official guidance behind them, even if it's modest. Here are the ideas at a glance.
Research: limited (what this means)| Gift idea | Who it suits | What the evidence or guidance says |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep mask | Light sleepers, shift workers, bright bedrooms | A 2023 study linked overnight mask use to better next-day memory and alertness |
| Side-sleep pillow | Back sleepers who snore | The NHS suggests side sleeping and special pillows to reduce snoring |
| Earplugs | The partner of a snorer | The NHS suggests partners try earplugs |
| Humidifier | People with dry air at home in winter | Cleveland Clinic cites EPA guidance on keeping humidity at 30% to 50% |
| A book on sleep | The curious, the planner | A thoughtful extra; pick one from a sleep clinician |
| Strip and tape starter kit | Mouth breathers and snorers with a clear nose | Small studies on strips and on mouth tape, none on kits |
A soft sleep mask
A sleep mask is an easy gift with more research behind it than you might expect. In a 2023 study in the journal Sleep, 94 adults aged 18 to 35 wore an eye mask every night for a week and spent another week without one. After the mask week they did better on tests of episodic memory encoding and alertness. A second experiment linked that memory benefit to time spent in slow-wave sleep. Look for a soft, adjustable mask with room around the eyes.
A side-sleep pillow
A side-sleep pillow suits anyone who snores on their back. The NHS lists sleeping on your back as one of the things that make snoring more likely, and suggests sleeping on your side, using a special pillow or bed wedge to help you stay there. Our guide to sleep position and snoring explains why position matters.
Earplugs for the partner
Sometimes the best gift goes to the person beside the snorer. The NHS suggests asking your partner to use earplugs if your snoring affects their sleep. Soft foam or moldable earplugs make a kind stocking filler, and our guide to snoring earplugs covers the types.
A humidifier for dry winter air
A humidifier suits someone who wakes up dry in winter. Cleveland Clinic says the EPA recommends keeping home humidity between 30% and 50%. If you give one, pass on the care advice too. The EPA says to empty, dry and refill portable humidifiers daily, use low-mineral water such as distilled water, and clean them every third day. That routine is there to reduce the growth of microorganisms and scale, so pick one that's easy to take apart and clean. See our guide to humidifiers for sleep for more.
A good book on sleep
A readable book on sleep makes a thoughtful gift for someone who likes to understand how things work. Look for one written by a sleep scientist or clinician rather than a wellness personality, and pair it with something practical from this list.
A nasal strip and mouth tape starter kit
A starter kit suits someone who snores through an open mouth or wakes with a dry mouth, as long as they can breathe comfortably through their nose. Strips help hold the nose open, and tape encourages the lips to stay closed. In a 2022 study, 13 of 20 mouth breathers with mild sleep apnea cut their snoring index by at least half when they slept with their mouths taped. That's a small study, but an encouraging one. Our guide to the best anti-snoring kit explains what to look for.
What's a good gift for a couple when one of them snores?
The kindest gift for a couple is one that helps both people at once, without making the snorer feel blamed. Pairing gifts work well here: a side-sleep pillow or starter kit for the person who snores, and soft earplugs or a sleep mask for the person beside them.
The NHS frames snoring help the same way. Alongside side sleeping, it lists simple changes such as losing weight if you're overweight, not smoking and not drinking too much alcohol, and it suggests the partner tries earplugs. A gift basket built around a calmer evening routine fits that advice better than any single gadget.
Wording matters too. A card that says "for better nights for both of us" lands better than one that mentions the noise. And the NHS says it's worth seeing a GP if lifestyle changes aren't helping or the snoring is having a big impact on either person's life, so if the snoring has been going on for a long time, the gift can be a gentle way to open that conversation.
What sleep gifts should you avoid?
Avoid medical devices, anything meant to help a child breathe, and anything that could make it look like you're diagnosing someone.
Skip CPAP machines and other sleep apnea treatments. Cleveland Clinic explains that CPAP mask types vary and the right one depends on comfort, breathing habits and the type of sleep apnea, and that users need a provider's prescription for replacement masks and tubing. That's not something to buy as a surprise.
Skip breathing products for children. The NHLBI lists snoring, mouth breathing and breathing that starts and stops among the night-time signs of sleep apnea in children, and says diagnosis needs a sleep study. If a child snores or breathes through their mouth at night, the right step is a conversation with their doctor. Our guide to snoring in children explains more. We don't recommend mouth tape for children.
Be thoughtful with adult breathing gifts too. Cleveland Clinic says never to use mouth tape if you have nasal obstruction, nasal congestion, chronic allergies, a sinus infection, enlarged tonsils, a deviated septum or heart issues, and anyone who is pregnant should ask their clinician first.
Check this first. Skip mouth tape and see a doctor if you snore loudly, wake up gasping, have been told you stop breathing in your sleep, or can't breathe comfortably through your nose. More on safety
When is the best gift a doctor's appointment?
Sometimes the most caring gift is an offer to help someone get checked. The NHLBI lists breathing that starts and stops during sleep, frequent loud snoring, gasping for air and daytime sleepiness among the symptoms of sleep apnea, and notes you may not know about some of them until someone tells you.
If you've noticed those signs in someone you love, a gentle conversation and an offer to help book an appointment may matter more than anything you can wrap. Our guide to sleep apnea warning signs can help you start it. A sleep product isn't a substitute for that conversation.
Our pick (paid partner): Titan Sleep System
For someone who snores through an open mouth or wakes with a dry mouth, our gift pick is the Titan Sleep System. We haven't tested or ranked sleep products ourselves; this is our recommendation, based on how Titan describes the system.
The Sleep System pairs TitanAir Nasal Strips with Titan Bamboo Silk Mouth Tape as one nightly routine. Titan describes the strips as drug-free external nasal dilators with flexible spring-loaded bands, worn just above the flare of the nostrils. It describes the tape as a soft, breathable bamboo silk strip with a SilkSeal adhesive made to grip through stubble and beards. Titan says its products are third-party tested and certified PFAS-free.
As a gift, the 30-night supply is a sensible size for someone trying the routine for the first time. Titan says the products come with a 30-night guarantee and free US shipping. Titan's written refund policy sets the conditions, including a window that counts from delivery, so check Titan's current terms before you wrap it up early. Our 30-day mouth taping challenge makes a handy note to tuck in the box.
Read next
Common questions
What is a good gift for someone who wants better sleep?
Good sleep gifts are simple things that fit into a bedtime routine: a soft sleep mask, a side-sleep pillow, a quiet humidifier for dry winter air, earplugs for the person next to a snorer, a readable book on sleep, or a nasal strip and mouth tape starter kit. Pick based on what keeps them awake.
What do you buy someone who snores?
Think about what makes their snoring worse. The NHS suggests side sleeping, so a side-sleep pillow can help, and it suggests partners try earplugs. A nasal strip and mouth tape starter kit suits someone who snores through an open mouth or a stuffy nose. Our gifts for snorers guide has more ideas.
Is a sleep mask a good gift?
Yes, it's an easy and useful one. In a 2023 study in Sleep, young adults who wore an eye mask every night for a week did better on next-day memory and alertness tests than without one. Look for a soft, adjustable mask that doesn't press on the eyes.
Should you give someone a CPAP machine or anti-snoring device as a gift?
No. CPAP is a prescription medical device, and Cleveland Clinic says the right mask depends on the person's comfort, breathing habits and type of sleep apnea. A better gift is support: offering to help them book a doctor's visit if they have sleep apnea warning signs.
Is mouth tape a good gift for a child?
No. We don't recommend mouth tape for children, and we'd avoid giving any breathing product to a child. The NHLBI lists snoring and mouth breathing among the night-time signs of sleep apnea in children, so if a child snores or breathes through their mouth at night, talk to their doctor instead.
Sources
- Wearing an eye mask during overnight sleep improves episodic learning and alertness
- Snoring
- Use and care of home humidifiers
- 4 reasons to run a humidifier
- CPAP machine
- Sleep apnea in children
- Sleep Apnea - Symptoms
- Is mouth tape safe to use while sleeping?
- The impact of mouth-taping in mouth-breathers with mild obstructive sleep apnea: a preliminary study
- Titan Sleep System (Nasal Strips + Mouth Tape)
About this article
- Research
- 10 published sources, listed above.
- Evidence
- Limited. How we rate it
- Last checked
- November 1, 2026
- Funding
- Paid partner of Titan Recovery. Their ads are labeled.
- Found an error?
- Tell us. We log fixes on the corrections page.
* This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or health condition. Talk to a qualified healthcare provider about your health.