In the past couple of weeks, we've been asked several times if we're going to use the angelcare monitor with Samantha.
The answer is a simple no, and we really do not recommend it for a multitude of reasons.
SIDS is a very scary disease. It is one that claims 3,500 innocent lives of babies and children as old as 3 in the United States every year. Even if you do everything right, put baby on their back, keep their crib clear of anything that could be a suffocation risk, breast feed, have an overhead fan in their room, keep them from being overheated, do not smoke, keep them away from smoke, safely co-sleep and deliver them full term, they can still die. No amount of love, hope, desire or doing everything right can prevent this unpreventable disease.
The way the Angelcare baby monitors work is by alerting you if your baby goes without movement for more than 20 seconds. Sounds great right? God forbid the alarm sounds, you find your baby is not breathing, you call 911, give CPR and your baby is saved.
The theory sounds great. However, it isn't true. In true SIDS cases babies cannot be revived. It is so much more than them just not breathing, everyone of their systems seems to shut down simultaneously for reasons the medical community cannot seem to figure out. This is why there are still cases of infant mortality taking place in hospitals where the infants were patients and they could not be saved.
I feel that most of these products are preying on the fear of parents and that is just plain wrong. If your baby is in a high risk category for SIDS, please contact your pediatrician for a real monitor. More than likely Samantha will be on a "real" monitor which will also monitor her heart rate and oxygen levels so we are alerted to problems before they occur, and hopefully it will turn out to be the biggest waste of time, energy and money :)
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5 comments:
I've also heard that there are a lot of false alarms with the Angel Care Monitor, and as a parent I don't need any EXTRA stress in my life.
This is a great post! Thanks.
Thanks for the info :)
I've heard the same thing about countless false alarms. Most parents who make the purchase (from what I have read and seen) end up so irritated with the constant false alarms interrupting their sleep and causing unnecessary fears that they stop using them after a couple months. Seeing as how most SIDS cases happen between 2 and 6 months, it seems like they don't even get used as often during the most critical period.
In all cases of SIDS all of the babies systems shut down? Do you have any evidence of that? - I doubt you do.
I have seen our children stop breathing for 30 seconds then the AC alarm rings, it scares them and they start breathing again.
False alarms yes or perhaps not. You can still get oxygen in via cpr even if "systems" shut down.
There is a huge difference between SIDS and ALTE. Multiple studies have shown that SIDS is a complete system failure and not merely a lack of oxygen or "forgetting" to breath. Those instances are completely different than SIDS. If I was at my computer this week I would gladly show the dozens and dozens and dozens of articles and medical studies supporting that fact. :). I will gladly share once I am able to get to my research.
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