Have any of you mamas used a movement monitor with your babies? I am looking into getting one since SIDS freaks me out. There's the Angelcare, Snuza, and the BabeSense. If anyone has experience with any of these I would love to hear about it, or another I"m not aware of. I'm planning on getting one before Rose Bud is born (10 day countdown), but can't make up my mind - or get myself to actually go to a Babies R Us where I have a gift card. It would be the first time I'd be in a baby store since loosing Griff so... ugh. I might have DH do it but first I need to know what I want! I like that the Snuza could be on her no matter where she's sleeping - swing, hoppy pillow, pack 'n play, carseat, etc. However I've read terrible things about the battery life and it seems like a pain to put it on the diaper under clothes (I know those clothes are not always easy to put back on w/o having to think about something else!). I also dont know how well it will work when she starts rolling around. I like the reviews for the BabySense but then worry about taking it with us to my in-laws and remembering to turn it off every time I pick her up for middle of the night feedings and such.... Wow, even writing about these things is almost making me feel light-headed or like I'm in dream land. I'm still struggling with believing it's going to happen, believing she's going to come home with us, as much as I feel compelled to prepare! Thanks for any advice!!

I come to this a little differently. I had an angelcare monitor before Eva died. It drove me crazy to remember to shut it off when I lifted her out. She died anyway.

When our rainbow, Nathan, was born I didn't do anything special although I would lay on my bed and watch him sleep for hours. Revelling in the fact that he was alive and breathing. His crib was sidecarred to our bed and I loved it. We still don't have a monitor and I'm okay with it. So no reviews here but that's what we did.

I come to this a little differently. I had an angelcare monitor before Eva died. It drove me crazy to remember to shut it off when I lifted her out. She died anyway.

When our rainbow, Nathan, was born I didn't do anything special although I would lay on my bed and watch him sleep for hours. Revelling in the fact that he was alive and breathing. His crib was sidecarred to our bed and I loved it. We still don't have a monitor and I'm okay with it. So no reviews here but that's what we did.

Before Gabriel was born, I thought for sure that I would need a monitor. But since he has been here, I haven't had one or really wanted one. He sleeps in a co-sleeper attached to my bed where I can see and touch him at all times and he often co-sleeps with me in my bed in the early morning hours. I think the fact that he is so close to me at all times has helped me to manage my anxiety, though I still wake up in a panic sometimes believing that he has died. I think that would happen if he had ten monitors on him. The terror is still very real. If/when the time comes that I move him to a different room, then I may want a monitor of some kind. So, no review from me either, but this is what I've been doing for the past 8 weeks.

I have an angelcare monitor and often forget to pause it when I take Bobbie out and it goes off but it hasn't ever gone off randomly whilst she is in there so it's good to know it works even though it can def drive you nuts when u forget. I still worry to hell about her though but nothing can stop that.
Review wise in would recommend the angelcare for the Moses basket. I don't know about the others the one she can wear anywhere but maybe there's a thin line between a bit of peace of mind during the night and constant fear 24/7 wherever she is, thats what the nurses in nicu gently tried to tell me the day i lost the plot when they removed her breathing sensor for the rest of her stay. At that point i was ready to clip one to her literally 24/7 but nothing will stop the anxiety/terror though, there's no equipment to do that.
Ultimately it's about what gets you through though :)

We had the baby sense when Julia was right next to us in a Graco bassinet. When we moved her to a crib in her own room, we got the angel care. Having something has given us peace of mind. Thinking of you!!!

With SIDS, if your child just stops breathing, a monitor won't do any good.

My husband was reading a book to help cope after our son died of SIDS. In it there was a case of a woman, a pediatric doctor, who was holding her child in her arms, and he stopped breathing. She did all the right things, and was there the whole time, and he still died.

I think these things do give a lot of parents comfort. I guess it would have been nice to know the second my son stopped breathing, but I honestly believe it would not have made any difference.

What is the price of comfort though? I encourage anything that makes you feel better.

I bought a Snuza when pregnant, anticipating that I wouldn't be able to relax unless bub was monitored constantly. Sam is 12 weeks old now, and the Snuza sits unused, still in it's box. I haven't used it even once. I found that the thought of using it made me focus more on the possibility of something going wrong- and how little control I really had over that- and I became more fearful. In the end it seems that was money spent just to make me relax while pregnant!

I do have a sound monitor that I have on constantly and carry it around with me if I'm out of earshot. Partly for reassurance, and partly just because if he's having a hard time going through a sleep cycle transition and fussing I can get to him to soothe him before he wakes up fully.
He sleeps in a side-car cot, and for the first weeks I often slept with my hand on his belly, and would pull into bed with me in the early hours. It was lovely, reassuring, and bonding.
If I have moments where I freak out and think "arrrg, is he alive?!!' (and there were quite a few of those moments in the first weeks) I would just go with it and run in and check him. There was no point fighting it as the thought would just get stronger. Allowing myself to check on him has lessened those moments for me.
Whatever brings you comfort and makes parenting less stressful, so you can enjoy your gorgeous bubba.

Hi Jessica,

I did buy a Snuza and used it quite a bit in the first weeks/ months. I don't think I would have gotten much sleep without it, at the beginning. It can be helpful, especially if like my son, your baby is a good sleeper. I never used it in the car just while he was sleeping in his crib. Therefore, I would sometimes pull over half-way through a 10-minute errand just to make sure he was still breathing. I almost wished this baby were as challenging as my second son who used to scream all the time when strapped in his carseat.
Now, my son is 6 months old, I'm more relaxed. I know I can't prevent the inevitable but I felt like I couldn't afford to have any "what ifs" haunt me ever again.
Wishing you and your baby lots of happy moments,

My wife and I got a Snuza for our second after Madeline died. We used it at nights for a couple of weeks, and at the time it was very important to us to use it when we did. It false alarmed a few times as it was hard to stay clipped to her little diaper, and I had it off-kilter a bit the first few weeks to avoid touching the cord stump. Still I was happy to rush over every time in the middle of the night to find out she was still alive. I slept better all the rest of the time.

As she grew to 97th percentile and got a lot more robust we stopped worrying so much about it and stopped using it. I think half the value for me was knowing we had the option to use it whenever we wanted. In my opinion it was worth it just for that alone. Whatever you choose, I'd suggest to take it easy on yourself and not to worry about how much you actually use it.

Take Care, -john

Thanks everyone for all of your advice! It's good to think about the different perspectives and not put too much pressure on myself as well. Just 6 days left!

We used the snuza go for nighttime sleep and I think it really helped me in those first few months. The battery died at six months, right around the time that Bode started rolling all over his crib so the timing was okay. By that point, I had a little more confidence that he had more head and neck control. In six months, I think we maybe had one or two false alarms when the snuza was dislodged and overall, I highly recommend it. I don't know if it would have saved his life, but allowing us to relax enough to get a little sleep was a lifesaver in itself.