> no native sleep tracking

FWIW I'm OK with the third party Sleep++ and am not unhappy that it doesn't have a "native" version. I use Runkeeper sometimes instead of the built-in activity app too.

> and no real mode to disable notifications overnight.

My watch goes into do not disturb mode slaved to my phone.

YMMV, of course.

>My watch goes into do not disturb mode slaved to my phone.

That is the problem. It can be slaved to the phone but can't be setup separably from the phone or controlled by any app.

What do you mean? It has a "do not disturb" toggle in the control center, always had. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206951

Which means that sleep tracking app can't send you their notifications to wake up. There is also no customization available unless you want to mirror the exact settings of your phone.

Odd. I've been using my series 0 Apple Watch as a wrist based alarm since Sleep ++ was released. I've never, categorically, had the issues you describe. I'm guessing that you don't own one or you've not used one in this way.

When are you going to charge it if you're wearing it all night? They don't have the luxury of a week long+ battery life.

I have a new-ish series 2 watch, I've never gotten it down to below 60%, even when I track a two hour bike ride. I just charge it for a few minutes before bed and in the morning and that's usually enough to get it back up to 100%.

If you don't use it very much, I think a series 2 watch could easily last 2 or 3 days.

They charge really quickly. I pop mine (2nd Gen) on for a bit in the morning while I'm getting ready, or in the evening while I'm reading in bed. Apart from that I wear it all day and all night, largely for the haptic notifications and alarms.

is there a reference for this? I have seen a few apps that do watch + sleep tracking (Sleep++ is a nice watch app)

A reference for what in particular? Yes, there are third party apps like Sleep++ that do this, but there is nothing native. Those third party apps also can't change system settings likes adjusting notifications. That means that your wrist will vibrate every time you receive an email overnight. The idea that this is intentional to discourage sleep tracking was just conjecture by me.

I think there's a big difference between actively discouraging and just not having a native app.

As other commenters have mentioned your phone can automatically going to do not disturb mode which will also set the watch thus turning off all notifications, but honestly the idea of my watch buzzing every time I get an email even during the day sounds terrible.

I have an Apple Watch and I love it, but I don't have that many things notify me on it.

If you're in DND mode how will the third-party app wake you up?

not mirror the DND on watch. I just keep very few apps on watch, so that way, only the app I have on the watch can tap me.