Parents of premature babies or babies with other predispositions to SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) often feel the need to purchase a baby breathing monitor in an effort to take just one more step toward preventing their baby’s death from SIDS. The purchase of a baby breathing monitor is a security blanket of sorts for some parents. If they have previously lost a child to SIDS or personally know someone who has, doing any and everything to try to prevent this awful tragedy is paramount to them.
How baby breathing monitors work
There are two different types of baby breathing monitors — sensor pad or clip-on style. The sensor pad monitors work as follows: the sensor pad is placed under the mattress pad and sheet. It detects baby’s movements; specifically the up and down motion of their body as they breathe. If the baby goes longer than the pre-specified amount of time without taking a breath, an alarm sounds to warn you to jostle your baby to re-start their breathing.
The other style or type of breathing monitor has a sensor that is clipped to the waistband of the baby’s diaper. This clip-on sensor detects motion and breathing patterns, and alarms parents of irregularities in a similar fashion to the sensor pad.
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Find out which breathing monitors are best for your baby
Why
As was mentioned earlier, parents purchase baby breathing monitors in an attempt to prevent SIDS. The paranoia and fear of losing a precious child is just more than some parents can take. They wouldn’t be able to rest without having a baby breathing monitor in their nursery. Parents of babies who were born prematurely often graduate to a baby breathing monitor as a sort of security or insurance after their baby comes off a more high-tech and necessary breathing assistance.
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Do they work
If you are asking whether or not breathing monitors sound an alarm if your baby stops breathing for more than a few seconds, then the answer would have to be yes, most of the time. But some who have purchased these monitors find that the alarm sounds at the ‘drop of a hat’; causing unnecessary stress and concern. And as for preventing SIDS, there is no evidence that baby breathing monitors do anything to prevent deaths in infants due to SIDS. That’s right, in spite of the marketing tactics used by baby breathing monitor makers (say that quickly 3 times), there is no proof they help in any way whatsoever.
Alternatives
If you don’t want to invest in a baby breathing monitor but want a little bit of extra assurance that your baby is safe and sound, you can get an app for your phone that allows you to ‘spy’ on your baby using your phone. Just pull up the app and it will show you your baby resting soundly in his/her crib.
Tell us what you think about breathing monitors! We’d love to hear from you!
For more on choosing the best baby monitors, watch this video: