Angelcare baby monitors

[Thegirlhasnoname]

Hello

Slowly but surely sorting out all the things that will be needed (relying on checklists on the internet mostly!) before first baby is due in October and noticed yesterday that the Bounty app has a code at the moment - until the beginning of August - for 30% off of Angelcare baby monitors. I know of the brand from YouTube mums that I have shamelessly become hooked to watching but have never met anybody that has actually used one and can tell me if they live up to the hype (without getting paid by the company to say as much!)

Has anybody used one of these in the past and can let me know if they’re worth it? 30% off is good and all but if I can get better elsewhere then I’ll do that!

Thank you :)

We used the angel care I loved it! Had to stop using it at around 4/5 months though as he use to roll off of the breathing monitor pad and it would set the alarm off. The peace of mind from them is fantastic though!

I'm going to go against the grain here... we have the angel care monitor with just audio and motion sensor. I have found it very good, and found I got a lot of peace of mind from being able to see my babies breathing motion on the screen... especially if by some miracle she had slept longer than normal and i suddenly woke up but didn't want to disturb her by going into the room to check she was ok. It may not prevent SIDS, but it will raise the alarm if they aren't breathing which will make you respond to them sooner. They do sometimes go off unexpectedly in the night, but honestly i'd rather that, than spending my time worrying about them in their cot on their own. I ended up buying a second hand one with a video for when we travel, but its quite difficult to position it so you can actually see them!, so not an essential feature in my experience.

Had the angel care for both my kids. It gave me great peace of mind and I still use it with my 2 year old

I have one I insisted to my husband I didn't need it but he wanted it, and I'm glad I got it as I had a lot of anxiety when he was born. I use it with my side sleeper which people probably think is a bit pointless but as someone else said it helped me go back to sleep. Maybe it doesn't prevent sids but for peace of mind it's priceless.

We found ours extremely useful as a toddler monitor actually once they are no longer in a cot. Excellent peace of mind while you’re asleep to know that if our 2/3 yo got out of bed we’d have know about it before she was messing with god knows what! Rarely had a false alarm (change sensitivity if you do) and used it from 6mo to approx 4yrs.

than spending my time worrying about them in their cot on their own

But that’s the point. They should not be sleeping on their own below 6 months but many people think it’s “safe” to move them into their own room because they have a monitor. They are missing the point that there is some kind of protective element (which is as yet unclear exactly what it is) in having an adult IN THE ROOM with an infant when they are asleep. It isn’t to watch them- it actually reduces the risk just being there in the room.
A machine cannot replicate the instinct of a mother.

The AngelCare monitor saved the life of my second child. It also saved my friends babies life.

They both had breathing issues, but undiagnosed at the time. Mine just stopped breathing.

He's fine now, but wouldn't be here without the monitor. At the time he appeared to be a completely healthy baby.

I'd say go for it. I have one and we've never had a false alarm in the 11 months we've used it. I wouldn't have slept soundly at all in the early days without it.

I used to be a medic and we used these types of monitors on the general childrens' wards (rather than In SCBU where they're automatically monitored) for little ones we had concerns about. So I certainly wouldn't dismiss their effectiveness.

If you think it would be helpful as a parent then get it.

As an aside my baby has always slept in the same room as us and still does at 11 months. So the monitor is not used as a substitute for parental monitoring.

We have the angelcare movement/breathing sensor which we bought to use as a normal baby monitor when DS went into his own room at 6 months. The motion sensor did give additional reassurance.

DS2 is due in September and I will be using it in his crib in our room from birth, as I think it will help me get more sleep. With DS1 I was constantly awake checking he was still breathing in the early months, the monitor would give reassurance so I won't need to.

Re false alarms we have only had a handful over the course of a year, when DS would curl up in the very far corner of the cot with his bum in the air.

I used the movement sensor mat one for both children and I highly recommend them. Not only has it lasted 4 years of constant use, it gave us so much peace of mind. Our one didn't have the video, but had the motion mat and it'd display the room temperature.
You can also use it without that mat as just a sound monitor when they get older, I wouldn't have been without mine! It's in our top ten baby products (along with the angelcare bath support!)

I used it when she was in our room - because it helped us all to sleep. Definitely not as a substitute...

Isadora that’s not evidence, that’s a blog. That is totally discounted. Anyone can right a blog on anything.

WelshWeasel did you read that article?

He ended it with

“Are the manufacturers of these wearable devices for infants being completely transparent with their future customers? If they are not, the risk is that the substantial amounts of money that parents pay for such devices might lull them into a false sense of security.”

I.E he doesn’t know, there was no evidence based research and it was a pretty pointless and very very short article stating that the monitors aren’t FDA approved.

I just wondered if there was any genuine research articles out there that show that babies still die of SIDS despite using the monitors.

I suppose you are going to have more statistical information on babies that have died, than those who haven’t.

And aren’t we still working on theories as to what causes SIDS?
If we haven’t even worked out for sure what causes it, can we really discredit something that might prevent it?

By the way I’m going to have a look on my uni library for articles, I will post them on here. I’m not swinging one way or the other, I’d just be really interested to read evidence based research to discredit them if that’s the case.

I just need to catch up on Love Island first.

Also, for what it’s worth hospitals lend parents alarm monitors for babies who’s siblings have died from SIDS (it can be hereditary).
It won’t be angelcare but it works in exactly the same way - it alarms if the baby stops breathing for X amount of time.

If there wasn’t some evidence based research to show it was a benefit to infants then they wouldn’t waste valuable resources on lending them to parents.

Angelcare monitors are just the affordable parental version.

Our angelcare one was rubbish, screen was tiny and poor quality. It ended up just breaking and not working anymore and was exchanged for a Motorola one, much much better!!

Just vent.... if you read my post I state that article is just a commentary - the references at the end are where you find the original papers. I am very well aware of the CONI (care of next infant) scheme - the monitors are given out in an attempt to reduce parental anxiety, not because they prevent SIDS - ask the neonatologist who run the scheme. I don't think these monitors are necessarily a bad thing, but parents need to be aware of their limitations and not be fooled into using them instead of properly supervising their baby (current advise being all sleep should be in the same room as an adult until at least 6 months, ideally 12).

A machine cannot replicate the instinct of a mother.

Maybe not, but if you are a heavy sleeper, on anti depressants or sleep deprived and having short bursts of sleep where you're not sure if you're awake or not then its a big peace of mind.

Maybe it doesn't prevent sids as such but a lot of people do things which increase the risk regardless, it's a parents choice. Also they use a similar device in NICU unit, so there must be something of use in them.

With most things baby related people will argue it's pointless but for some these items are useful. I have a lot of things which are useless and a lot of things I didn't think I would need but use a lot!

OP it's not essential, but if you can afford it and think it would make you feel better get one. Or wait until baby is born and see how you feel then. It's your choice

Your post is very defensive Welshweasel I don’t understand why.

Appologies I must not have read your post, I thought I had.

It would still be interesting to see EBR on them either way.

Defensive....perhaps. When you’ve seen the fallout of SIDS it doesn’t ever leave you. As I stated before, babies on monitors still die of SIDS...and it’s horrific. Following safe sleeping guidelines is so so so important and my worry is that people get lax on following the guidelines because of the ‘safety’ of having a monitor.

WelshWeasel re-read my posts please. I didn’t say that they prevent SIDS. I didn’t say that they don’t. I didn’t minimalise the impact SIDS can have on a family and I certainly didn’t discredit the invaluable sage sleep advice.

I was simply interested in the evidence that discredits these monitors.

I stated that not only am I interested from a professional and parental view, but I’m also constantly on the look out for dissertation ideas (and as it goes this is an excellent one).
I’ve also clearly stated that I’m neither swinging one way or the other, simply that I wanted to see if there was any evidence base for the claims.

I feel like your making the assumption that I’m defending the monitors, and stating that they prevent SIDS, which I’ve done nothing of the sort.

No I’m not assuming anything. The message was to anyone, not you specifically. It would be an excellent dissertation topic!

I found this which is interesting. Im afraid i cant link the whole article because ive had to log in with my uni details. i have copy and pasted the abstract. I went on to Google home cardiorespiratory monitors and it was indeed items such as anglecare etc.

However, im going to read futher and see because they mention the trace which of course we wouldnt get with an angelcare. Please excuse my typos im now on my laptop which i cant navigate as well on mumsnet

Home cardiorespiratory monitoring has changed significantly since it was first introduced in the 1970s. It has improved from a simple alarm system to a sophisticated piece of equipment capable of monitoring the patient's electrocardiogram, respiratory effort, and oxygen saturations. In addition, the indications for using a monitor have also changed. The home monitor was initially used to reduce the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Although there were several studies demonstrating the reduction of SIDS rates in communities where apnea programs existed, none was a prospective, double-blinded study or had adequate numbers to be clinically significant. Therefore, the American Academy of Pediatrics took the stance that monitors were not an effective way to reduce SIDS. However, when used appropriately, as part of a complete program (ie, the monitor is just one of many clinically based modalities), by a clinician with expertise in interpreting download tracings, home cardiorespiratory monitoring can be a useful, lifesaving, and economical tool to observe infants who are at increased risk of sudden death or increased morbidity secondary to intermittent hypoxia. [ Pediatr Ann . 2017;46(8):e303-e308.]

This is along the lines of what Queens was saying about it not necessarily helping health term babies, but preterm babies with issues.

Nonetheless, the whole article points out that we are stuck on discrediting home monitors based on old information that isn’t up to date with technology that has advanced in the mean time.
And indeed when I saw articles discrediting them, they were 20 years old so I had to discredit the article altogether.

As this article suggested earlier on, research into them needs to be as up to date as the technology that is being used.

Justvent
That particular blog actually does cite references from peer reviewed studies. So it’s actually more accurate in the information than other people here’s anecdotes.