Baby breathing monitors

[Bells3032]

Not sure what these are actually called but seen mats and socks etc that monitor your babys breathing to try and prevent SIDS etc

My sis had a mat but said it was annoying as baby rolled and scared the living daylights out of them.

Anyone had experience with these and can recommend something

I'm looking at the Snuza Hero. It.clips onto the nappy and comes highly recommended.

I had the Angel Care mat with my others but I like that this can be used for naps in the pram as well x

I highly recommend the Miku monitor x

I think they're generally recommended against, they don't actually do anything to prevent SIDS, they just alert you if its happened, as terrible as that sounds. They can give a false sense of reassurance and also panic: have heard loads of stories of people freaked out by it going off.

I think check out lullaby trust and follow all their recommendations, I found that much more comforting.

I have an angelcare video monitor with mat but I’ve never used the mat so only use it for the video monitor once they’re in their own room.

This time I have a snuza hero breathing monitor that clips onto babies nappy too.

They no evidence they prevent cot death. I never used a breathing monitor, just a normal one

There is*

I am a paramedic and I used the snuza hero which was excellent, no false alarms. If my baby stopped breathing, I would want to know about it so I could immediately resuscitate. I obviously know exactly what to do and could take immediate action. Whether or not it would be successful is another matter, the reality is that there are many factors which dictate the success of a resuscitation attempt. I am highly skilled and experienced at resuscitation so I know an alert would be beneficial and I would know I'd done absolutely everything if they did stop breathing.

We used the angelcare for our prem baby. It did help put our minds at rest and we never had any problems with it

I had the angel monitor. I found it very reassuring after an incident when dd managed to rolled over as a very small baby and was difficult to wake. As pp say it doesn't stop Sids but in theory it should assist in being able to obtain medical assistance at an early stage. I had to stop using it when my DC's were between 12-18 months as they rolled around too much in their sleep and the monitor would then activate. However, I bought mine 7ish years ago so newer versions might be better.

Also had the Snuza hero with both of mine and recommend it, no false alarms and a bit of extra peace of mind. At least if it went off it would give me a chance to get them help! Snuza are actually in partnership with the lullaby trust so they are not recommended against at all!

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/about-us/ourpartners/snuza/

I bought an angelcare monitor for my first... but never used it as it couldn't be used in either the moses basket or crib as the bases were incompatible. By the time I could use it, she was in the cot and rolled off it, setting it off.
So, I would say if you do want one, a clip on one is probably better!

@OPTIMUMMY that link is specifically in relation to bereaved parents who have already lost a child to SIDS. My read of their more detailed guidance is they're viewed mainly as helpful in those cases.

Found this on the lullaby trust website:

'Despite the widespread use by parents there is no research evidence that monitors prevent SIDS (6, 7). Babies are known to have died whilst on a monitor (8). Large scale studies looking specifically at the effect of monitor use on infant mortality rates have not been carried out. Since SIDS is relatively rare, such studies would have to involve an enormous number of babies to obtain reliable statistical information comparing babies on monitors to others at equal risk. The Confidential Enquiry into Stillbirths and Deaths in Infancy, the largest ever cot death study conducted in the UK, found that monitors a ‘lack of any apparent value from such devices in the prevention of deaths. In advice published in 2016, The American Academy of Pediatrics concludes monitors should not be used as strategy to reduce the risks of SIDS (6)'

Full link here: www.lullabytrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Movement-Monitors-Fact-Sheet.pdf

It strongly suggests parents who do use monitors should receive training in resuscitation techniques, and goes into specifics about types and how long to use them for, which I think is helpful. I looked into this on DD1, so wouldn't be surprised if advise has changed, but at the time the main takeaway I got from it was if you have one it can provide false reassurance and make you less vigilant about all the other things - always having them sleep in the same room as you, not being around smokers, etc etc - which actually do reduce SIDS.

@leakymcleakleak I appreciate the partnership is not the same as the lullaby trust saying they recommend everyone get one. However, as far as the monitors go Snuza is medically certified unlike some others and their partnership with the lullaby trust does show that there is a place for them. If a person had already decided they wanted to get a monitor, it could be a good one to look into. The OP was looking for suggestions of which kind to get and having had experience of the Snuza and not encountering any of the issues raised (like false alarms or complacency around other advice) I was happy to recommend it. I
liked the fact that it gently encourages them to breathe if it notices they’ve stopped, and if they don’t then move or breathe the alarm goes off to alert you. It is true that they cannot claim that this prevents SIDS, but the evidence required to make such a claim would be challenging to collect. However Snuza are attempting to collect this.

‘Having a certified medical device on the market, with incredibly strict requirements not only in product design (safety, proven efficacy, etc), manufacturing and testing, but also in company operating procedures, allowed us to collect data we would never otherwise have been able to collect. The average worldwide SIDS rate is about 1 death per 2000 births. In Snuza's case there have been 350,000 devices used with (very sadly) one reported death (the device alarmed as expected but the baby could not be resuscitated). Without Snuza, this number would be closer to 175 deaths.’

Now maybe the fewer deaths have more to do with parents who buy it also following
the other advice about preventing SIDS,
in which case it isn’t causing harm.

I am looking at the Snuz hero one and wondered about using second hand ones. Do you think they are reliable enough, as long as the batteries are new, to trust a second hand or would you always buy new?

[quote OPTIMUMMY]Also had the Snuza hero with both of mine and recommend it, no false alarms and a bit of extra peace of mind. At least if it went off it would give me a chance to get them help! Snuza are actually in partnership with the lullaby trust so they are not recommended against at all!

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/about-us/ourpartners/snuza/[/quote]
I haven’t used it yet but have been supplied with one of these by the Scottish Cot Death Trust and I understand it is medically certified - if it buys you even a few moments extra to resuscitate it could help save your baby’s life. Obviously it’s in addition to being sensible and following safe sleep advice (and ideally doing an infant first aid course).

I used the Snuza hero and it was really good, would definitely use it again