My baby stopped breathing for in his sleep this morning - any others experienced this?

[LowFatMilkshake]

My DS (4.5 mnth) has a heart monitor on his cot which alarms after 20 second if he stops breathing.

It went off for the first time ever this morning, but in the couple of seconds it took me to get in his room he wa breathing again. I then lay watching the monitor receiver in my room for the next 20 minutes and could see he breathing was a bit erratic, and when the light did'nt flash fo a good few seconds I went back to his room just as the alarm went again. This time I could see he was not breathing and I put my hand on his chest, which woke him with a start and he started to cry.

He seemed fine apart from a snuffle which he did'nt have yesterday. It was warm in his room because the heating has a fault and despite being turned off the radiator comes on with the hot water (Gas man coming today to repair).

Anyway I fed him and put some olbas oil on a tissue under his sleeping bag, and before I put him back to bed put the wedge in his cot and turned the humidifier on. He slept for another hour and a half hour before waking. He is fine in himself apart from being tired. He has had his breakfast and a nap in his chair.

My SIL has experienced this with her DD so I am wondering as it is the first time do I bother seeking medical advice or is it one of those things. I know that lts of babies do forget to breathe, but I also know this is a potential cause of SIDS or a symptom of Sleep Apnea (sp)

I would go and see your gp about this. I have no idea about what his normal and what isnt.
They may also give him a good check up.

I would say not to use the olbas oil anymore. It is too strong for babies and not recommended.

doctors today , immediately

yes, babies can forget to breathe for a tiny bit, but if he has a snuffle and stopped breathing, he needs checking out

also, olbas oil is incredibly strong, agree with NBG , stop using it

this is a time i would absolutely seek medical advice

I'm assuming that as he has a heart condition, he has a medical history?

Definitely get him checked by the GP.

heart monitor

Yep take him to the doctor THIS MORNING I think.

Don't want to scare you but

This happened to dd2 when she was 4 weeks old. I was using the J&J moniter. She was diognosed with bronculitous and was in hospital for 5 days.

I really think you should go to the GP ASAP!

Doctors asap imo, this morning definitely. Do not leave this as god forbid something happen.

Thank God you have the monitor, must have been very frightening for you.
Definitely get to the docs.

(you can get Olbas Oil for children for use from 3 months which may be what LFMS is using)

doctors asap

xx

GP checked DS out and is happy he is fine. She said it's not uncommon for babies to forget to breathe albeit they can go for 20 seconds or so and I can only manage 10 !?

Luckily we have an ENT apt tomorrow - thank goodness I did'nt cancel it as I was going to! So Doc said they will give him a thorough check. He's been fine all day but refuses to go to sleep in his cot now - perhaps it wa me waking him that second time that has scared him!

Thanks everyone XX

PS: Was infant Olbas Oil

Glad you've been. Do you feel reassured? Hope the ENT appointment goes as well

what a relief, hope the ENT appointment goes ok too x

Thank again - uneventful night, noe preparing for what will probably be about 4 hours in the ENT waiting room!

are you rooming in? if not, i strongly recommend doing so.

Update here

LFMS - we have one of those alarms and the same thing happened to us earlier in the week. It was frightening but the sound of the alarm itself got him breathing again. I think that its true that these things do just happen but scary none the less. Glad things went well with the ENT people.

Bristols - is'nt it scary?!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, although I would'nt wish it on anyone it's nice to know I am not alone.

I dont know about you, but I am now constantly watching the monitor light now.

Fingers crossed neither of us have to hear that alarm again!

Yeah. I even hurt my ankle getting up of the sofa so quickly to run up the stairs! DH insisted on buying the monitor when DS was born and I thought it was unnecessary but now I wouldn't be without it. Would recommend to anyone. Try not to spend too much time looking at the light. It could end up becoming a habit you wish you'd never started. I suppose the things are set at 20 secs for a reason (babies must often go that amount of time without a breath)so you could get yourself worked up over nothing.

My DS has a cold too which is obviously a contributing factor. His room stinks of Karvol but I'm not convinced it does that much. I like the smell though!

Someone on my antenatal thread mentioned about a constant noise to remind baby to breathe - I have a clockwork pendulum clock from when I was a baby and have now put that in DS room, it ticks even louder through the wall into our room, but if it works I dont care!

Sounds like a good idea. I know that that's the thinking behind sharing a room with them. The sounds of your breathing, turning over (snoring or worse!) prompt them to breathe if they forget. DS has been in his own room for a long time now, though, and I don't think any of us would sleep as well if we started sharing again.

Am off hunting for a clock for his room now. Also must go to bed. DS not sleeping very well with this cold. So neither am I!