My current biggest baby-death fear is of course SIDS. Beanie's crib is completely bare except for a tight-fitting sheet and mattress cover underneath that. There are no toys or blankets. Now it's warm he sleeps just in pyjamas with no covers but before that he had a sleeping bag / sack. Needless to say I always put him to sleep on his back. He's brea.stfed. He still sleeps in our room and will continue to do so until he's six months old. He does tummy time every day and is very good at holding his head up. He showing the beginnings of rolling over from tummy to back but hasn't done it yet.
I know of two babies who died of SIDS in real life. One was the daughter of a woman in our support group. She found her daughter dead in her crib at 15 months old. 15 months old! She had had some routine vaccinations the day before and the mother always thought her death was related, even though the autopsy was inconclusive, as it so often is. And of course the paediatrician had seen her the day before as well and pronounced her in perfect health.
The second is a woman who I know through work only. Her first son died of SIDS aged 5 months, 15 years ago. It was the very first time she had left him at a childminder.
This morning I found Beanie sleeping on his side. Aaaargh! Doesn't he know he's only supposed to do things like that under close supervision? How long before I find him face down? I didn't get an Ang.elcare monitor as I heard they generate lots of false alarms and make life very stressful. Does anyone have experience of using one? Would you recommend it?
6 years ago
10 comments:
Honestly? I was too lazy to bother with an Angelcare monitor. And too paranoid about the alarms. That would give me a flat-out heart attack.
For me it was just one of those things that I had to get past, slowly. (I still check my 6 1/2 year old at night to make sure he is still breathing.)
Take it one day at a time. And if Beanie starts sleeping on his side, or lord help you on his stomach, remember that it's not a big deal. Generally if they are moving to that position, they are more comfy that way...even though it makes us crazy.
Kameron sleeps on his tummy, and I wasted a lot of time going in and moving him at night just to find him back on his tummy by the next time I'd go in.
This is just anther db fear that will fade and be replaced by another. The good news is that with each new fear, the fears get softer and less intense. Just give it some time.
I loved the angelcare monitor with Chloe. Especially since she was a tummy sleeper as soon as she could figure out how to turn over. The first time i walked in & saw her sleeping on her tummy i nearly had a heart attack.
btw we didn't have too many false alarms. There is a dial that you can change the sensitivity with, depending on your mattress etc.
With the boys i didn't use the monitor, though. For one thing it is somewhat broken & only runs on batteries. But also for a long time they were in the same crib & then there is no point -- even if one were to stop breathing it would not go off, since the other was. And then i never got around to putting it in & buying a second one, even though they are also tummy sleepers.
fwiw a ped once told me that if they can move to get onto their tummy, they can move to avoid suffocation (the presumed cause?). I don't know if that is actually true but it made me happier to believe it.
I LOVED my Angelcare monitor. I really don't know what I would have done without it. We accidentally set it off a few times in a middle of the night "take the baby out of the crib and forget to turn it off daze", but I would still recommend it.
Girl.. We are the same person!!! Andy has nothing in his crib. In fact, I was considering getting these special sheets that zip so they can't be pulled off and get wrapped around Andy. We did long-sleeve onsies and the Halo wearable blankets. Now we do footed pjs. Our pedi said we could use blankets now but we are waiting for a year. Andy did the same thing one time and stopped my heart. He was sleeping on his STOMACH and when I tried to rouse him he would not stir. Finally, I screamed and yanked him up and he woke up. I think I lost ten years off of my life.
I have nothing to offer about an anglecare monitor as I opted not to get one since I knew it would make me crazy. But I was soooo nervous about my son's sleeping on his stomach once he started rolling over (and before, of course, but a little less so in his bare crib.) Every night of his life until recently (he's 14, almost 15, months), I went in several times to check on him. Recently, it's started waking him up, so I just stare at the video monitor until I make myself go to bed.
I try to tell myself that no matter what the danger, there will always be one, so there's no point obsessing. Of course, that only does me good for about 45 seconds.
I say take whatever measures you need to help you feel the most secure.
No advice. But I think Kathy is right...it's one fear that will fade and be replaced by another. This mama work is tough stuff.
I used the angelcare and had no false alarms, not one. I stopped using it around his 1st b-day.
When my son was born (long, long ago, before the studies linking SIDS with stomach sleeping), the standard advice was NEVER to let the baby sleep on its back. I remember constantly turning him onto his stomach.
Even now, though I know back sleeping is much safer, I always get a queasy feeling when I see a baby lying on its back.
monica, when Theo was in the hospital i noticed what they do there -- they used a twin-size knit fitted sheet for the crib, turn the mattress over and tie two big knots -- that way you can pull it *really* tight. I have since started doing that for my pack & play for which the sheets really do not fit well. The knots do not make a lump, because you kind of slide them down through the spring/slots (would not work if the mattress is on a plank of wood or something)
The AngelCare Monitor was the single best piece of baby equipment we ever bought. LOVED IT.
We had one false alarm when he moved to close to the edge of the crib (the pad was no longer able to pick up his movements) Not a big deal, and I was expecting false alarms, so it didn't freak me out actually!
I highly recommend getting one!
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