angelcare monitors - does yours give false alarms????

[romilly]

just got one and the alarm has gone off twice in two days - giving me total heart attacks

anyone else find this?

Yes, I found that after about 6 months it kept going off, and yes, I had a fright too. I was very worried about it but didn't replace it in the end. I know there is a sensor on them which you can fiddle with to make them more/less sensitive?

I am pg at the moment and wondering whether to bother buying one again.

bump

thanks ucm

My step mum is a midwife and these things are known as 'paranoid parent' alarms where she works. Her team are very much of the opinion that they are marketed to prey on worried first time parents' fears and aren't necassary unless the baby was prem or has/had breathing problems, or if there is a history of SIDS.

The one thing she always says is, would you know what to do if it went off for real and you found your baby not breathing? Resucitating a tiny baby is very different from resucitating an adult. If you're that worried about your baby's well being you're better off signing up for an infant first aid course.

Just a thought.

thanks olihan. i have actually done a basic infant first aid course just this week.

the reason i got the monitor is because my dd has just started rolling onto her tum and getting stuck and not being able to roll back. she then stuffs her face into the mattress without turning her head to the side - which totally freaks me out. i wouldnt have got one had it not been for this new found skill. i am having a very stressful time at nights because of it.

I used to work for a very large comapany that makes this kind of alarm.

You can get false alarms on them easily and if it keeps happening I would just stop using it as it probably means that your lo is too heavy for it now so it wouldn't be working properly anyway.

If anyone were to ask me if they should get one I would advise against it every time and I often did when I worked for the company. They cause uneeded worry and parents get in a huge tizz when they need to actually take them away worrying that something is going to happen to their lo.

Rom personally never had a false alarm from ours and used it with Adam and Hannah. Only if they have moved off the sensor pad up into a top corner has it gone off with them in the cot.

I know it is a problem a few people have had so think we have just been lucky

Nemo

flutterbee that is really interesting, thanks for your advice. my lo is 4 months now so you could be right.

nemo - hi hon! good to hear from you, hows little hannah?