Terrified of SIDS
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Anonymous
| I have a 14 week old baby and I am just so terrified of SIDS I can barely enjoy him. Whenever he is down for a nap, I basically stare at the monitor the whole time. I have a lot of trouble sleeping at night because I am so afraid he will stop breathing. Sometimes my mom has to spend the night to help watch him because I can't get rest otherwise. I obviously have anxiety issues and I am in therapy, started Lexapro a few weeks ago (no change yet). We practice safe sleep - he is in his crib, always on his back, nothing in the crib except a paci. Never in our bed. Has anyone dealt with this fear? When will it get better? When he's 6 months? A year? This feels so impossible. |
Anonymous
| The Angelcare monitor brought me a lot of peace. |
Anonymous
| Yes. Our DD was adopted and the medical history from bio mom showed she had lost one to SIDS. I purposely did not get a video monitor for starters. I have anxiety already and knew that would make it worse. We just got a regular monitor. Baby on back until she could roll over, nothing in crib, and we had a fan going in bed room for the first year, even in winter, it’s supposed to help to keep the air moving. So we did all that but didn’t panic and DD made it and is now 9. I think you have to do everything you can but then stop worrying about, it is not doing you or your baby any good. |
Anonymous
| You need to get those socks that alert you. I think they’re a waste of money, but for you they’d give you a lot of peace of mind. |
Anonymous
The owlet sock |
Anonymous
| I go through a phase whenever the baby hits the age that it's most likely statistically (2-4 months). I wish I knew what would make it better but it's just terrifying. |
Anonymous
We also had a fan in the baby's bedroom - to circulate the air. |
Anonymous
| If you are practicing safe sleep, SIDS risk is exceptionally low. |
Anonymous
| OP here - I did consider the Owlet sock, but my ped doesn't recommend them because they're not proven to reduce SIDS, and I have friends who said theirs gives false alarms. I think that would literally traumatize me. I suppose I could try it and see if it gave me any peace of mind. |
Anonymous
OP here. We have a Nanit monitor. They are similar, I think? Do you know if Angelcare is better than Nanit, I haven't researched it (not sure if you have). I'd consider switching if there was some benefit. |
Anonymous
Yes. My sister’s gave her false alarms and that made her anxiety worse. |
Anonymous
| This is one of the reasons I kept the crib in my room until my baby was a year, to be honest. Every time I woke up totally freaked out I would instantly check that she was okay. Listening to her breathing helped me fall asleep at night. When she started rolling confidently at 4/5 months my anxiety went down hugely. I'm glad you're talking to someone about this and hope it helps soon. |
Anonymous
Yes, exactly! He is smack dab in the middle of that which I think is making my anxiety even worse right now. I read that 90% of SIDS occur before 6 months, and 2-4 months is the highest risk. I am like counting down the days until he is 4 months old even though I know that is ridiculous. |
Anonymous
|
Different take - this sounds like PP anxiety. It is a real thing. SIDS is also a real thing but when the fear is consuming to the point that you can't enjoy your baby, that is something else.
Can you get a therapist or get on a low level med for a bit. Stopping b feeding was the only thing ultimately that helped my hormones even out and me to feel myself again. |
Anonymous
This. It's TINY TINY low. But to answer your question, I stopped really worrying about this once my baby could roll around. So about 6 months or so. |