Breathing Monitor a necessity?

maiganlynn · January 2013

I'm a FTM in my early pregnancy and everything is new to me. So though this may seem like a stupid question, I'm trying to learn and would appreciate opinions.

Are breathing monitors a necessity? I have some friends who have used them and some who didn't. I'm trying to figure out where I stand on them but I just don't know enough yet. I know SIDS is always a concern and would be the number one reason for getting one but I'd like to hear your reasons for getting a monitor or not getting a monitor to better help make my own decision instead of feeling guilted into making one. Thank you!

JENandJEH · January 2013

We had a Snuza monitor for the simple reason that I thought (and was correct) that it would make me feel better and sleep easier. There are many opinions on them but for me, I liked having it and would like to think it would have helped to notify me if he had stopped breathing.

I will say that once he hit about 7 months and started to prefer sleeping on his belly (he could roll himself and there was no keeping him on his back) it started to slip off of his diaper and we stopped using it. But, for the 7 months we used it, I liked it and it gave me peace of mind.

1026pumpkin · January 2013

We used an Angel Care monitor with DS. There is no evidence that it reduces the risk of SIDS, but it sure helped me to sleep better. We moved him to his own room around 2-3 weeks because I realized we were keeping each other awake, and it was so nice to wake up and glance at the monitor to see he was still breathing....I know, a little crazy.

We did have one time when the alarm went off, and when we got to his room, his was sort of coughing, so it did make me think he might have stopped breathing for a few seconds.

We didn't have any false alarms with ours, but there were a few nights when we took him out of the crib to nurse and forgot to turn the alarm off....and scared the pants off of whoever was still sleeping.

sthomas1222 · January 2013

A necessity? No.

I've had both sides told to me. Some say they loved it and wouldn't have gone without it. Others hated it b/c you can get lots of false alarms and whatnot.

We ended up with an Angelcare b/c DH went with me to a consignment sale and he grabbed one. He's like "did you want to get a better monitor?" (I bought a cheap $15 one when my nephew was born). I was like "Holy sh*t?! Do you know how much that thing is?!" Got it for $15!!!

PunkyBooster · January 2013

We did not have one. We co-slept.

rencontrezmoi · January 2013

I don't think they are a necessity, but I'm getting one for the peace of mind.

penguingrrl · January 2013

I have never had one. Most people I know who did (and there were only a few) said there were frequent false alarms, especially as the baby started moving more. My girls were very wiggly in the crib starting from a young age, so I have a feeling we would have had that problem and I don't need panic attacks all the time.

Ash&Vic · January 2013

DD slept in a pack n play right next to me and I still had trouble sleeping the first couple of nights home. I was so paranoid of every single noise that she made. We installed the AngelCare monitor and it really helped us gain peace of mind. When she moved to her crib at 4 months...the AngelCare went with her. We started getting false alarms at about a year because she would move too far from the sensor. At that point we stopped using it. Even though the false alarms give you a near heart attack....I would much rather deal with that then wake up in the morning and find that my baby stopped breathing in the middle of the night.

luvmyducks · January 2013

This will vary by person. To me, it was absolutely necessary. I had major anxiety after DD was born and we purchased a Snuza alarm which helped a lot.

firefly2013 · January 2013

It is a personal choice. We registered for the snuza go. We haven't decided if we will buy it if no one gifts us one.

ellewoodsSC · January 2013

It kind of depends on you really. If you are the kind of person that constantly worries and needs that peace of mind, it would be useful, although currently the safety groups say that none of the monitoring gadgets actually prevent true SIDS (although I would think that if you are alerted early you might have the chance to intervene).

We used the snuza go after I was really nervous when the LO learned to roll over and it was useful for a few months until they become mobile and then it's hard to keep in place.

A lot of people on the boards really like the Angelcare monitor system, so might be a worthwhile investment from the start.

maiganlynn · January 2013

Excellent! I really appreciate the feedback.

I've dealt with anxiety in the past which was caused by hormones (birth control) so my big fear, with all these wonderful hormones flying around is that the anxiety and panic will come back, making it more likely that it'll be something I have to deal with postpartum. If that's the case then maybe a monitor would be good for my peace of mind. It would be one less thing I would have to panic about. I did have a friend say that she had the Angel Care monitor and she hated it. She said her LO would move off the pad sometimes and she dealt with all kinds of false alarms which caused her more panic than anything else. She really liked the snuzu (?) though.

It's really hard to tell what kinds of things are absolutely necessary and what kinds of things are marketed just to make you feel like a bad parent if you don't have them! lol! It's such a confusing process sometimes!

Thanks for all your help!

rainedrops117 · January 2013

A necessity? No. But it will give you peace of mind.

We have the Snuza halo. Love it. It's small, no false alarms, and portable which is a big deal for me bc LO sleeps in different places of the house up/downstairs and its great for travel.

Difference between the Snuza Go and Halo is the vibrate feature. After detecting no breathing after 15 secs a pulse vibrate will stimulate baby to breathe. If still no movement after a few more secs then the alarm goes off. The Go doesn't have the vibrate feature. GL!

jess9802 · January 2013

I have a history of anxiety disorder, was miserable worrying about all sorts of things during my pregnancy, and yet when DS arrived I found I wasn't worrying about SIDS - I was too focused on other things and probably too exhausted to give it much thought. We use a video monitor and that has worked just fine.

LyndseylovesHugh · January 2013

JENandJEH:
We had a Snuza monitor for the simple reason that I thought (and was correct) that it would make me feel better and sleep easier. There are many opinions on them but for me, I liked having it and would like to think it would have helped to notify me if he had stopped breathing.
I will say that once he hit about 7 months and started to prefer sleeping on his belly (he could roll himself and there was no keeping him on his back) it started to slip off of his diaper and we stopped using it. But, for the 7 months we used it, I liked it and it gave me peace of mind.

We have a snuza and it helps me sleep better at night as well, that alone was worth the money to me. But no, it is not a necessity by any means.

Eta: in the almost 4 months we have been using it we have not had a single false alarm, and my DD is a very wiggly baby.

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