totally paranoid

[sirenz]

i find it sooo hard to sleep because i'm constantly worried about ds when he is asleep. i check on him at least every 1/2 hour.. and wake up in a panic to check him if i find i have slept for more than 2 hours at a time.

I think i'm obsessed with the idea that he is going to stop breathing.. i have nightmares about going into the room and finding him dead i hate this!!!

i just want to enjoy every minute of being a new mum but its hard when i can't stop thinking this...

then i thought about buying a breathing monitor, but i still don't think this will put my mind at ease...

any suggestions? did anyone else feel this way? am i being stupid?

[Arimeh]

Sirenz, I knew that I would be doing the exactly the same thing, so we got a breathing monitor. For the first few weeks I still woke up and made sure the light was flashing.. and if it was flashing I would check that he was breathing still!! But I don't worry about it now, and we have only had one time with the alarm going off on us, and that was when he had moved up too far in the cot. I say if you are worried, can you borrow one off a friend or family member to see if that helps? I think its only natural to worry about them, SIDS is always constantly on our minds because we are all aware of it happening - to anyone. All I can say is that it helped me, so try it and see :-) Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[sirenz]

thanks mel i actually did go out and buy one yesterday.. i just couldn't stand it anymore..

i used it for the first time last night and it helped alot. even though i still checked him, i was kind of more relaxed iykwim.

[Ambah]

*hugs*....

I went through this too for the first few months after Aidyn was born... it drove me batty, I was just so anxious about whether I could hear him breathing or not, that I could not sleep properly.

Something that helped me was actually bringing him to bed to sleep next to me, in the crook of my arm/shoulder at first. I was always very aware of him being there, but was able to drift off into a light sleep, and be comforted to know that he was actually there. However I think it took me well over 2 months to get to this stage of being comfortable enough to co sleep.

Glad to hear you have found it a bit easier to relax with using the angel care monitor!