False alarms with angel care movement monitor

[Vespar7]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else has false alarms with this monitor? DD is 9 months and the first beep has sounded about 7 times over the 9 months. So far she has always been fine and it hasn't got to the constant beeping stage.

I know it is not proven to reduce SIDS but I feel like it is better than nothing even though the thought of the alarm going off really stresses me out. Is there a better model out there and if you have a movement monitor when did you stop using it? I feel quite reasonable most of the time but when it comes to SIDS I am completely paranoid and get myself into a state.

Thanks

[Mandy21]

Not much experience at that age, but I had twins born prematurely and they were on monitors at hospital for a long time. Even with hospital grade monitors, the alarms often went off because (as I understand it) the baby doesn't breathe deeply enough (i.e. just takes a couple of shallow breaths instead) or in our case, one baby had a habit of irregular breathing (almost as if they were holding their breath occasionally). I "weaned" myself off using an angel care monitor (or 2!) within a few weeks of them coming home - so they were about 4 months at that stage, only because my H said I'd end up as a zombie and completely paranoid if I didn't. I completely understand your predicament, if you've got to 9 months, I'd be tempted to keep using it to 12 months and trust that she'll be OK. xx

[lucidlady]

You might want to check the sensitivity settings - if these are too low then this can cause false alarms.

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

This happened to me when I putt dd in the cot bed. I think she had just rolled/scooted out of range , the cot was pretty big.

[98percentchocolate]

This happened to me a lot. No advice I'm afraid as I just switched the sensor pad off in the end. With us it was the constant beeping 2-3 times a night. Drove us potty.

[StrawberryMonkey]

Check the sensitivity settings and also are the back up batteries still good?
Get your instruction booklet out and do the sensitivity settings again.
I used this brand monitor for 2 kids and it was fab. Occasionally false alarms but a tweak of sensitivity settings resolved it.
Got "false" alarm once because child was propped in corner of cot sleeping on their head (hence breathing movement was undetected)...it definitely works!

[robyn2]

I had one of these for a while, it made me so uneasy as a first time mum when late at night it did a false alarm on us! Wouldnt use one again. We were much more relaxed when the damn thing was back in its box! Nothing beats the moses basket next to your bed and the comfort of a night light so you can have a peek when you like.

[catsdogsandbabies]

I am on my second angelcare and no issues - adjust the sensitivity and ensure the pad in the centre of the cot and on a firm bit of wood not the slatted base.

[PeterParkerSays]

I got false alarms with it when we moved DS into his cot bed, out of his crib. It was because the mattress was thicker than in the crib, so it couldn't pick up his movement and we had to set it to be more sensitive.

[Titsalinabumsquash]

We had a few false alarms, nothing scarier IMO to wake up to that when your baby is actually fast asleep and breathing fine. We don't use it anymore because the base unit itself went wrong anyway, the display broke.

[NoForkNKnife]

I've used this for 2 babies. So far, only one false alarm with both. Both times an easy explanation.

If you're getting them a lot, something isn't right. Either where it's positioned? On a hard base? Setting up high? Also, when they get to 9 months they're moving around a lot. The first alarm went off with dd1 when she'd moved into the corner of the cot, hanging out the bars.

Of course, it could be faulty too! We leave ours plugged in btw.

[twinklyfingers]

I have this monitor and have been really pleased with it. My dd is 8mo and I stopped using the sensor pad part about a month ago. She is very wriggly and when we got 3 false alarms 3 days in a row I decided the time was right to just use the sound monitor.

[twinklyfingers]

Just to be clear, we hadn't had any false alarms before then, and she'd just started crawling so I don't think the pad was faulty or anything, she just moved too far off it.

[ajandjjmum]

We had a few false alarms once our babies started moving. But there was one occasion when DD set off the alarm, and she was lying on the pad. Still remember it 20 years later! It gave us some peace of mind. Suits some parents, and not others I suppose.

[SimLondon]

Only went off a couple of times when dd had totally rolled off and was tucked up at one end.

Gave me a huge fright one time when it went off - i was halfway down the stairs and it took me a moment to realise that i was holding DD and had forgot to switch it off :-)