breathing monitors

[julia2001]

so i'm very paranoid and i would like some information on good baby breathing monitors, as the ones i looked like all seem to have bad reviews also i'm not looking to spend ridiculous amounts of money.

What are you worried about specifically? Sudden infant death? Are you worried the baby will stop breathing?

This fact sheet from the Lullaby Trust is very balanced.

There are lots of measures that you can take to minimise the risk of SIDS but movement / breathing monitors are not one of them. To be very blunt, if the alarm has sounded because your baby has stopped breathing then unless you have been trained in specialist infant resuscitation there will be very little to be done.

In the kindest possible way, if you are very anxious then you would be better spending the money on CBT or similar to help you to cope with your anxiety. Otherwise, once the SIDS risk has passed your anxiety will latch onto something else.

@PuntoEBasta thank you for that link, it's really helpful (I'm not the op but just wanted to say thanks!)

I have the angel care wireless mat no complaints except it sounds when the batteries are running out. Was reasonably priced under £100 still Use it for my two year old. Expecting number two and looking at the snuza hero for new baby although may just go with another angel care mat. SIDS in DPs family so definitely worth it for us.

I have the angel care wireless mat no complaints except it sounds when the batteries are running out. Was reasonably priced under £100 still Use it for my two year old. Expecting number two and looking at the snuza hero for new baby although may just go with another angel care mat. SIDS in DPs family so definitely worth it for us.

@PuntoEBasta I'm pretty sure it's better to know that your baby has stopped breathing rather than finding out minutes or hours later thanks👍🏼👍🏼

I bought a video monitor with sensor mat. What a waste that was. Never ended up using the sensor mat because baby was literally right next to me sleeping in a crib for the first 9 months and I could see/hear her and by 9 months there is literally zero point in a sensor mat because the roll around everywhere and would move off it every two minutes, setting the alarm off. Did use one with baby number 2 either.

Honestly, in the nicest way, they offer no guarantee of increased safety. If you read the leaflets that come with them they make no guarantees. They will not tell you if your baby stops breathing. Only if all movement stops - which is usually caused by them moving off the mat.

Follow the safe sleeping guidance (the Lullaby Trust has it). Clear cot/crib, baby in your room for at least 6m, appropriate bedding, no smoking, no drinking (if baby is in your bed), don't let baby overheat. The chances of SIDS are thankfully, vanishingly small. You will hear your baby, it's instinctive, and you don't need a gadget to do that listening for you.

Save your cash and spend it on something nice instead!

They are brilliant but you need to make sure you’ve done some kind of infant cpr training as well so if it does go off you can respond appropriately

We were told one to throw ours away we told the doctor where to go and continued using it. It saved our sons life when he stopped breathing (after investigation the cause was severe reflux)

We used an angel care mat

I had an Angelcare mat for all three of mine.
They alert you if no movement of breathing is detected after a very short time so yes you would also need to be competent in infant cpr I guess.

But I used them and if had had another a baby I would again

We used a Snuza and it helped me sleep better knowing they were still breathing. We used it for about 7 months.

My post was kindly meant, @julia2001. I wish you all the best.

The which reviews for the angel monitor says buy the one without the breathing monitor as there is no evidence that they prevent sids. They can be set off when there isn't a problem and don't always go off if there is a problem.

That said, the risks of something happening are small so if having a monitor would provide you with peace of mind buy one just be aware of the caveats of using one.

The Lullaby Trust do a sheet on the different options of breathing monitors. Last time I contemplated an Angel Care one but was talked out of it by my other half. I spent weeks sleep walking checking on the baby and it was horrific. This time round I've bought the SnuzaHero MD much to my other halfs dismay but I've learnt that if it makes my life even a tiny bit easier in the early days it's worth it so I told him to shut up I was buying it. It was on the Lullaby's list whereas the Angel Care ones weren't. As you said I'd much rather know my baby had stopped breathing the moment they did, and the Lullaby Trust acknowledge that's what a lot of parents use them for even though as someone has said if your baby stops breathing you may not be able to bring them back, that was always my worry waking up to find them gone.

I'd think seriously about getting one. Yes - they are great, but they lull you into a false sense of security.

DD 1 is constantly rolling off hers and it goes off all hours of the night, but I'm too scared to turn it off.

The flashing light reassures me that she's ok, but when it goes off at 3 in the morning it's terrifying.

We used the Nanny Baby breathing pad with DS. We didn't have any false alarms as the pad is quite big and fit in both the loses basket and crib. The only thing was forgetting to turn it off when we took him out! We found it very reassuring because he was a tummy sleeper.

@Seriously79 that's why we've learned towards the Snuza as it clips to the nappy rather than risking baby rolling off it

I would definitely recommend a snuza hero (saw one was on sale at Argos recently), really helped my peace of mind xx

I also had a snuza and for some reason it kept coming off my eldest’s nappy