Anyone Else Ditch Their Breathing Monitor After 3 months Or Just Never Had One?

Hi,

I was so glad to have our Angelcare monitor for DS this time, as with DD we didn't have one and I was forever checking on her through the night.

That was until our monitor alarmed twice in one night at 3 months and then several other occassions since then. It stopped each time, before I reached the cot. (In our room) From that 3 month mark I found I was a nervous wreck, not sleeping or just waiting for the alarm to go off.

He's now nearly 7 months and we've not long moved him to his own room and I've decided to not put the breathing monitor on.

Anyone else done the same?

ive never had one. DD still sleeps in our room.

I have the angelcare monitor but never used the breathing pad for either of my girls. They each slept in our room for the first 3 mths or so, then moved to their own room - but the nursery is so close to ours anyway that I never felt the need. I can practically hear them breathing theyre so close!

I never had one cz DS co sleeps but the brief stint of Aiden being in the next room I never even bothered with a monitor cz Im such a light sleeper and had both our doors open

You're going to need a king size bed soon Rhyb! :)

I cannot feel comfortable without my monitor even though DD is in the same room, I can generally hear her snore! and she spends half her time in bed with me anyway! :redface:

We don;t have a monitor. DD does sleep in our room though. I was only thinking last night I don't want to move her out into her own room! Think I'd spend most of the night walking up and down the hallway checking on her. Lol. I do wake up occasionally during the night and if I don't hear her then I wait until I do or get up and make sure she is alright.

My cousin had a premmie and the monitors were vital for him, but then again, they went off every few nights or so as a "false alarm" which messed with everyone's heads in the house. I never thought of getting one because in my head it wasn't something that was needed..... I didn't have premmies so didn't have that worry of breathing and chest development. I can understand the worry, but I also co-slept for the first few months with DD1 and DD2 was either in the hammock next to our bed or in bed with us... so I subconsciously could feel her breathing and didn't worry about it?

I have never had a breathing monitor, just a normal one. DD slept in our room till about 4 months. I ended up not using the normal monitor after about a week as we seemed to be getting up to the neighbours baby, not ours :rolleyes: Personally for me, it would be another thing that would have me worrying and stressing.. If I had it and it wasn't alarming, I would be worried it wasn't working, then if it was alarming, I would be worrying about what's wrong with bub..

I also had the anglecare, but never used the breathing pad part of it...

I had a prem that was treated for apnea in hospital, but still didn't use a monitor at home :) She was in a co-sleeper cot next to me. I've heard nothing but reports of false alarms with those monitors, so didn't want to get caught up in the paranoia that comes with them.

I never had a monitor with Ds1 and I used to wake worrying about him at night. Checked on him all the time (could be why he never slept thru till he was 3 :/) We got one with Ds2 and I only stopped using it once they went into a big bed. DD has just gone into a big bed so we no longer use it..

I think it gives me peace of mind

I did and still do for night sleeping *if* DD is in the cot (we generally co-sleep). I did for DS as well. Only recently have I turned it off for day sleep.

However, my first child was stillborn and my maternal paranoia was so great it was my only form of sanity. I was convinced my babies would die like Caitlyn. For me, a false alarm was nothing compared to the lack of sleep from worrying and checking them all night :redface:

with my eldest 2 I only had amonitor in their rooms and used them when we were outside so I could hear them. With my youngest 2 we co-slept so felt no need.
My youngest had fits at 2 weeks old..eg strokes and once we came home we contemplated getting one but decided against it because we didnt 'need' one when he had the strokes. Mind you I barely slept for the first 3 months of his life as doc's told me he'd be lucky to make it to that mark so I was so paranoid that I would watch him sleep

If you feel better using it then do....if not dont. Its all about piece of mind for you.

I don't have one and have never thought to buy one, but we did and do cosleep.

However a GF of mine has one and her little guy turned blue in a sleep one day and went flat. For her it saved his life....so :dunno:

I have an Angelcare monitor, but have never used the movement sensors. DS was in our room, right next to me, for the first six months, so I was very aware of his breathing, even while I was asleep. And then when he went into his cot he was such a frequent waker that I never had any concerns :lol:. By 12 months he was mostly cosleeping, so again, I was aware of his breathing.

HTHs

DD2 was in our room for 7 months so we never had one. I never thought to get one to be honest :dunno:

We never thought of buying one... we co-slept instead.

I never had them with the first three kids & with DS2 we co-slept.
With AR I find it does give me peace of mind.. I sleep better at night I think...having said that I do still check her if I wake & she doesn't.
Plenty of babies survive without them ;)

I think as Maz said... if you feel better using it do, if not then don't.

We had one and used the movement sensors until DD could get up and move around in her cot of her own accord (about 7-8 months). Mostly the monitor would go off because we'd taken DD out of the cradle/cot and forgot to turn it off! :redface: Really, we didn't need the movement sensor, but we found that the sound clarity was much better with the Angelcare than with the other standard baby monitors. I'd prefer to keep my next baby in the room/bed with us.

DD was in our room for the first 5 months and then moved to her own room. We got a monitor but not a breathing one.

We've never owned one. Granted, DD1's cot was next to our bed until she was just over a year old (we had to move house to get her into her own bedroom hahaha, in our old place she wouldn't go to sleep in her bedroom and we kept moving her cot back to our room), and DD2 is co-sleeping part-time (I put her to sleep in bed, then move her to her bassinette next to our bed, then when she wakes for a feed I just put her back with us and go back to sleep) so we're pretty close at hand.
That being said, we did have a couple of scares with DD1 when she was younger - I woke a couple of times with a horrible feeling in my gut and when I checked her, she wasn't breathing and once had turned blue. Picking her up and giving her a little shake brought her back and she'd go back to sleep straight away, but I often think how it's just really, really lucky that some instinctual urge woke me to check her.

We have one and still use it, DH was much more paranoid about it than me but DD was Prem and has developed respiratory problems where we have to monitor her breathing a bit more closely especially when she is sick so it is a bit of security for us... we have had only one alarm in the 15+ months we have been using it.

We are often woken by her coughing fits but have the volume right down, but it is best we know when she is having more trouble and there is less static over the ACM than other brands.

DD is in her own room and even with the dorrs open there is no way we would hear her breathing...

I didn't even think of one with my first 4 - they all co slept. Immy was 12 and a bit weeks premmie and the RWBH advise strongly against monitors as they alarm so frequently and cause so much stress. I can honestly say I slept better when she was home in my bed than when she was inhospital. I truly believe that baby's breathing patterns mirror our own. There were a couple of times that I woke up panicked as I couldn't hear her breathing. But that's to be expected.

I still check on her 4 times a night. She also frequently wakes. I think it's very very personal - we each have to make the decision that fits us best. Good luck my love.. :hug:

Have one and still use it now. Didnt use it when DS was in our room for 2 months (sleeping on my chest for 6 weeks)

Have spread sensor pads out and either end of cot as DS is all over the cot, I use it for my peace of mind. DH actually asked me other day when I would stop using it on DS or would I be wanting a 2nd one for new baby.

I will probably stop using on DS at around 20 months which is about when baby will move out of our room, so I can these use moniter on baby

I'm going to out myself as an uncaring mum in comparison to everyone else, cos we just never had one, and DS has been in his own room since we brought him home. Mind you, we have a very small house, so we'd probably get feedback through a monitor anyway ;). I guess I just figured that we followed all the SIDS guidelines, so the chances of anything happening were pretty slim. DS was wrapped until about 7 months, so rolling over in the early days was never a concern, cos he couldn't move, and then once he could, well he could move himself into position anyway. If we had a big house then it would probably have been different.

I have never used my sensor pads. I did co-sleep with ds till he was 6 months though. Now he is in his own room but i'm not worried at all.

I have one and use it and have had a couple of false alarms, which do freak me out. Not to be negative, but I wonder how you distinguish between a false alarm and the monitor just doing what it's meant to do... DS has been in his own room since we came home, I still check on him quite often, but it does give me the peace of mind to sleep and only go check on him if he's sleeping longer than normal.

Thanks for your replies :)

Still not 100% certain now, but I haven't had his breathing monitor on. Scary about the couple of babies mentioned that turned blue!

I have some 'control' issues and am actually finding it better to just to let go and pray that he's safe while sleeping. Otherwise it's too hard to handle the paranoia of waiting for the alarm to go off, which can be more common in a humid environment like ours here.

Motherhood is such a worry!!

We have one (Tommee Tippee) and we use it all the time, only one false alarm which was my fault the first time we used it as I didn't position it properly. We have a big house though so its very useful to us.

We didn't use it until we moved DS into his own room (about 4 months), when he was in the cradle in our room I could hear him breathing :)

I love the fact that if I wake up at night I can look at the monitor and see the little green light flash every time he breaths

I dont think I even knew they existed before she was born, and after I just didnt see the need...she was a tummy sleeper too. She slept next to or coslept with us for the first 6 months, on and off up until she was 18 months old even.

TBH I think I would still have checked on her as much in the middle of the night for the hell of it, even if I had a breathing monitor. I am sure I will check the next one just as much also lol

If it makes you feel better, go for it, if it is just messing iwth your head, I would say get rid of it.

We've got the Angel Care one and wouldn't be without it now. We only started using it when DD moved into her nursery and cot at 10 weeks. I still check her if I get up during the night, habit I guess, but I sleep so much better knowing the sensor pads are on.

We haven't had any false alarms in the 4 weeks we've had it on either. I think it's a great invention!

never had one cos I coslept with Jaidan and Ash and plan to do it again. Chase was right next to me in the basinette so didnt' feel i needed one and by the time he was 2 months and in his own room I just didn't think it was necessary.