Is anyone getting a Snuza, Owlet, or similar monitor?

js8812

These devices monitor baby's breathing and alert you if something is unusual.  I don't know as much about the Owlet, but the Snuza will vibrate if it hasn't sensed a breath in 15 seconds to help baby resume breathing and it will alert parents if it hasn't sensed more than 8 breaths in a minute.  The Snuza clips onto baby's diaper.

The peace of mind would be nice, but I don't know if this product would just be taking advantage of my FTM worries.  It's $120 for the Snuza.

Has anyone purchased a Snuza/Owlet or planning to?

hellogoodbye2

We did not have one with our first and don't plan on getting one for our second. 

mmemartinez

I used a snuza. I'll use it again. I liked it. It only went off if it would fall off and that wasn't frequent. I was a total wreck and needed it to ease my mind. Everyone's different. 

ETA - I got ours for $50 on zulily. That helped with the price. The owlet is even more pricey I believe.

dsmith211

We might be getting the Owlet, but we haven't decided yet. Someone I went to high school with has one for their LO who is now a month old and she said she loves it, but with it being so pricey we aren't sure. If we don't we'll probably get a Snuza.

saltedcaramel518

I have a Snuza on my registry, and will be purchasing it myself if we don't get it as a gift. I read this blog post, and the mom recommended the Snuza since that's what she uses with her second child. As a new mom, I think it will give me a little peace of mind. 

MrsO11/24/2006

I used the Angel Care Monitor with my first two and it caused many false alarms..I got a used snuza from my cousin who had a premie and had apnea momenets at home and her pulmnologist suggested getting the snuza so I am for sure using it with this little one.

VS2016

I used the snuza with my first and I probably won't with my second.  We had too many times where the alarm sounded for no reason.  Every single time we panicked over nothing 

evalynn24

Mine and my husband's birthdays are this week and we told everyone we would be happy with baby stuff since there isn't really anything either of us want. My parents are planning on getting us the Owlet. I researched a few others and I thought this one seemed like it may be our best option. I like that it's on their foot and not on their chest, for some reason that seems weird to me (just a "thing" I guess).

Knottie1433777995

We are getting the snuza. Would prefer the Owelet but it's just so expensive!

PYLWhammy

We are planning on getting the snuza. I'm a worrywart and am terrified of SIDS. 

gamommyx3

We just got the snuza at our shower!  I was excited. I know some reviews said it alarms for no reason, but all it took was 1 reviewer saying it saved her baby's life & I wanted it. I worry too much!!

kami09

^ exactly. I bought allll kinds of *stuff* for DS, why not purchase an item that could 1) put my mind at ease and 2) potentially save his life?! it was a no-brainer and I'm so glad I had it. I'll be using it with DD.

tripledaggerWed95976

I'm a nervous FTM so I got the snuza... I've heard mixed reviews about it.  If I get false alarms a lot I probably wouldn't continue using it

mcb2016

I should seriously think about getting one of these. I'm not sure how I will sleep otherwise.

js8812

Thanks, everyone!  I am going to buy the snuza!

wildtot

Lurking from April16

just want to share this $20 off the Owlet 

https://lovebylynn.net/owlet-baby-monitor/

pia_colada

We got Snuzas for our twins. I don't mind if there will be false alarms. Better safe than sorry

LadyStardust179

Question about the Snuza - Does the alarm go off on the baby unit? Or does the device connect to a monitor or smartphone in the parents' room?

gamommyx3

I believe it goes off on the unit itself

VS2016

LadyStardust179 said:

Question about the Snuza - Does the alarm go off on the baby unit? Or does the device connect to a monitor or smartphone in the parents' room?

The one I have it goes off on the baby unit. The good thing about us having a million false alarms was even though the alarm went off it didn't wake our baby most times. 

lexijos

So I have used both the snuza and the owlet. I wasn't the biggest fan of the snuza, it would leave a sore mark on my baby and I would get lots and lots of false alarms with it. The owlet though has been my absolute most favorite baby product that I have ever purchased. The owlet is a little sock that your baby wears at nap times and bed time and it monitors your baby's heart rate and oxygen levels and will alert you if there is a problem with either of them. I have been using my owlet for 11 months now and I absolutely love it, I highly recommend it to everyone. The peace of mind it has brought my husband and me has been priceless. The owlet is definitely worth every penny. I also love that the owlet has an app that you can download for free that lets your see your baby's heart rate and oxygen levels while they are wearing the owlet and it will also alert you if there is a problem. 

TinaTho

Going to use the snuza while we have LO in our room and once she upgrades to her crib we have a crib
breathing monitor that is higher quality (used by my nephews previously). Honestly, if we didn't have the crib monitor I would have gone for the owlet as the reviews are much better(and you pay for it too). But for me, I really wanted something for piece of mind for her first 8-12 weeks or so and the snuza seems to fit the bill.

js8812

I ended up buying the Snuza.  I found a deal for $50, so I couldn't pass it up.  I agree that the owlet has more robust features, but we'll see how I like the Snuza!

khochanadel

After having our babies hooked up to monitors for almost a month, I am done with beeps that mean nothing every few seconds. 

Maybe this sounds harsh, but these monitors can only tell you something (may have) happened. It can't tell you what to do about it. We're spending the same amount to take an infant CPR and first aid class instead. 

Just my 2 cents! 

js8812

khochanadel said:

After having our babies hooked up to monitors for almost a month, I am done with beeps that mean nothing every few seconds. 

Maybe this sounds harsh, but these monitors can only tell you something (may have) happened. It can't tell you what to do about it. We're spending the same amount to take an infant CPR and first aid class instead. 

Just my 2 cents! 

I definitely see where you're coming from with the beeps and machines.  I'd want to be done with them too!  I'm hoping that there aren't a lot of false alarms, but we'll see.  You are 100% right that you need to have knowledge on what to do if there is a problem.  I'm not sure about the Owlet, but the snuza does vibrate first on the baby that may get them to begin breathing again in case they've stopped for whatever reason.

I'll see how it works out!

curleemama32

Lurking from June...
I just bought a snuza from target for 68 bucks. I was called paranoid by some older mothers at work, and got the whole "our babies never had those things and they were just fine" blah blah blah...I feel like if we have the technology to monitor our babies breathing during the night, and if it gives us a little peace of mind, why the heck not?
Edited because I'm a June bumper...not May....fixed it tho, lol.

missnc77

Bumping this. 

First, @lexijos sounds like like an Owlet plant. Look at the post history. 

So, we've been trying to use the Owlet for the past week since we've moved her into the nursery. We think it's pretty crappy. The sock is always coming off no matter how tight we make it. We've tried the newborn and size 1 sock. If it comes off, the yellow alert alarm goes off waking everyone up, so since it happens nightly, I disabled the yellow alarm. I then read online if you disable a yellow or blue alarm, then the monitor won't play a red alert, and if your phone is on silent, you won't hear the app. 

The other issue is that it purposely won't do readings if the baby is moving to prevent false alarms. So, if the baby is struggling to breath, it would just say baby is wiggling and not alert if she falls out of the safe zone. 

Speaking of of the safe zones, the oxygen range is 80-100. Last night it kept reading my baby's oxygen level at 82, so very close to making the alarm go off. I began reading reviews of the owlet by pediatric nurses and saw they said the oxygen sensor was usually off by 5-10% and that in the NICU, anything under 88 would be cause of concern. 

Long story short, this thing is a PITA that actually isn't giving us much piece of mind. For those that use the snooza, what are your opinions of it? I'm over the Owlet. 

Charissadeats

missnc77 said:

Bumping this. 

First, @lexijos sounds like like an Owlet plant. Look at the post history. 

So, we've been trying to use the Owlet for the past week since we've moved her into the nursery. We think it's pretty crappy. The sock is always coming off no matter how tight we make it. We've tried the newborn and size 1 sock. If it comes off, the yellow alert alarm goes off waking everyone up, so since it happens nightly, I disabled the yellow alarm. I then read online if you disable a yellow or blue alarm, then the monitor won't play a red alert, and if your phone is on silent, you won't hear the app. 

The other issue is that it purposely won't do readings if the baby is moving to prevent false alarms. So, if the baby is struggling to breath, it would just say baby is wiggling and not alert if she falls out of the safe zone. 

Speaking of of the safe zones, the oxygen range is 80-100. Last night it kept reading my baby's oxygen level at 82, so very close to making the alarm go off. I began reading reviews of the owlet by pediatric nurses and saw they said the oxygen sensor was usually off by 5-10% and that in the NICU, anything under 88 would be cause of concern. 

Long story short, this thing is a PITA that actually isn't giving us much piece of mind. For those that use the snooza, what are your opinions of it? I'm over the Owlet. 

I have the Snuza Hero and it gives me peace of mind. It has only given me a false alarm twice but it's winter here so I think the blankets, which I tuck in tightly so it can't move above LO's chest, held it too still and the alarm sounded. But other than that, I am happy. It's for my peace of mind and it gives me exactly that. 

gamommyx3

I like it. It has given me a false alarm 3 times when baby wiggled around so much it came off the diaper. So I figure...it isn't really a false alarm bc it didn't detect breathing, went off & woke me up. Exactly what I pay it to do  

PYLWhammy

I'm using the snuza and I loooove it. I'm the type that would check constantly to make sure baby is breathing, so being able to just see the blinking green light is nice. We've had one false alarm (which was scary!). It happened the one night LO was wearing a disposable diaper (usually she's in cloth) and the snuza fell off the diaper. But I'll take the occasional false alarm for the overall peace of mind.

dsmith211

We have the Snuza and it works pretty well for us. Only one false alarm so far and that was bc he wiggled around and it moved to a spot where it couldn't detect the movement.

rufflifephilly

We have the owlet and really like it. The socks can be hard to size but once you get it right it's easy and they stay on pretty well even during acrobatic diaper changes and nursing. It's a pulseox so if there's a LOT of kicking it can't read (true in the hospital as well). I don't see how a detector reading breaths/chest movement could be accurate during wiggling either. It's definitely worth the peace of mind and we haven't had any issues with false alarms once fitted correctly. 

evalynn24

^^This. I love the Owlet. I've only had one alarm and it was because he kicked it off. When I put it back on it was obvious I didn't get it tight enough. Last night I decided we need to switch to the size 1 sock. The newborn sock is too small around his foot.

My thought is "If he's wiggling, he's alive" if he stops breathing, he is going to stop moving and the oxygen alert will go off before his heart stops.

Honestly though, everyone is going to have a different opinion and if one monitor gives you more peace of mind over the other, then that's the one you should be using.