Should I get a SIDS monitor?

[Anonymous]

I have a friend that lost her baby to SIDS last year. I've been seriously thinking about a SIDS monitor - one that would set off an alarm if the baby stopped breathing while sleeping.

Has anyone used one of these before? Do they work? Are they useful? Or will it just make me more paranoid?

[Anonymous]

I have heard that there can be alot of false alarms with these...

[Anonymous]

Do they really work though?

Would you realistically be able to jump out of bed, run to the room during nap time, etc. in time if the monitor goes off? I guess I just question the "time" between when the monitor senses SIDS and when it sends an alert...or maybe I'm thinking of something completley different.

Do you anticipate a lot of risk factors - smoking in the house, premature birth, etc that seem to correlate with SIDS?

Perhaps a sleep apnea monitor would be something to think about...

[Anonymous]

We have one and I don't regret it. We also had a friend who lost their baby to SIDS, which prompted us to get this monitor. I find it very useful. We don't get a lot of false alarms. The only time we've gotten a false alarm is when the baby scooched off the sensor pad beneath him. The alarm gives one beep if there is no movement for 10 seconds, and then sounds a continuous alarm if there is no movement for 15 seconds. That is enough time to get to the baby's room and administer CPR or whatever if necessary.

There was a thread about Angelcare monitors a few days back: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/8486.page#45032

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

My daughter had severe sleep apena for her first year of life and was attached to an apnea monitor and saturation monitor for all sleep for the first year. During her 3 month stay in a specialist hospital in London, we tried 4 or 5 different types of alarms and none of them are perfect. It will miss breaths and pick up ones that aren't there. I am now due with my second any day now and we would never buy a monitor for a healthy baby. SIDS is a serious problem, but as a PP stated there are a number of things you can you do to cut down on the threat (and the numbers have reduced in the last few years). There are two things I have taken away from the experience with my daughter: 1) there are no guarantees no matter how many pieces of equipment your child is attached to 2) you must get to know your child regardless of equipment and it is critical you don't become dependent on it rather than watching your child and learning how they breathe, how they look when they sleep, etc.

All of that being said, you have to do what will give you piece of mind. We learned that medical equipment didn't bring that to us, but all parents are different.