Babysense...Sleeping in Peace
A long time ago in my family, a baby died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). I was not even born yet, so I obviously wasn't personally affected by it...or so you would think. I have found that it has affected me and the rest of my family in indirect ways. I think really that it brings it closer, says that it can happen to us, that it's not just something that happens to others. Most mothers fear SIDS...for my own mother and myself, that fear borders upon obsession. Neither of us are very good at dealing with things we can't control.
I hardly slept for Patrick's first six months of life. Talking to other parents, I know I am not alone in the fear of going to sleep and waking up to find something has happened to your baby in the night. Like I did with Patrick, I still found myself constantly checking my baby girl for breath, putting my hand on her little chest, watching her closely when I should have been sleeping for my own sake.
My mom found something that has allowed me to sleep again. It's called the Babysense V - an infant movement monitor. Basically, what it does is it monitors her breath movements for me. If there is no movement for 20 seconds, a loud alarm sounds and the chances would be great that a parent could get to their baby in time to reverse any sleep apnea or whatever else was happening. It also monitors for too many movements in a minute (as in convulsions or other kinds of distress) and for slowed breathing (less than 10 movements in a minute). The monitor doesn't touch her - it is placed under the mattress in her crib. I've tested it to the gills, and it works like a charm.
Now, I am fully aware that there is a 99% chance that Thia will never need this device, that it will never go off while she is sleeping (though I have set it off once by forgetting to disengage it when I picked her up). But I tell you what...it's the other chance, the 1% chance that the monitor will catch something, that allows me now to roll peacefully over in my bed and fall asleep, knowing that if anything is amiss, the monitor will wake me up in time to do something about it.
I'm usually not big into product endorsement, but every mother needs one of these. Seriously.
I hardly slept for Patrick's first six months of life. Talking to other parents, I know I am not alone in the fear of going to sleep and waking up to find something has happened to your baby in the night. Like I did with Patrick, I still found myself constantly checking my baby girl for breath, putting my hand on her little chest, watching her closely when I should have been sleeping for my own sake.
My mom found something that has allowed me to sleep again. It's called the Babysense V - an infant movement monitor. Basically, what it does is it monitors her breath movements for me. If there is no movement for 20 seconds, a loud alarm sounds and the chances would be great that a parent could get to their baby in time to reverse any sleep apnea or whatever else was happening. It also monitors for too many movements in a minute (as in convulsions or other kinds of distress) and for slowed breathing (less than 10 movements in a minute). The monitor doesn't touch her - it is placed under the mattress in her crib. I've tested it to the gills, and it works like a charm.
Now, I am fully aware that there is a 99% chance that Thia will never need this device, that it will never go off while she is sleeping (though I have set it off once by forgetting to disengage it when I picked her up). But I tell you what...it's the other chance, the 1% chance that the monitor will catch something, that allows me now to roll peacefully over in my bed and fall asleep, knowing that if anything is amiss, the monitor will wake me up in time to do something about it.
I'm usually not big into product endorsement, but every mother needs one of these. Seriously.