Baby J has decided he’s a tummy sleeper, sleeping on his back lasts about 5 minutes and then erupts into a fit of fidgets, wails, and eventually screams. It’s not very nice watching such a small baby being so distressed. Thing is if you settle him on his front, he’s out like a light.
Sleeping on the front is a ‘No-No’ according to the midwives and healthcare professionals, despite my generation being put to sleep on their tummies! For a bit of reassurance that little man is still okay, we’ve invested in the Nanny Breathing Monitor. At £75 it’s not cheap, but the peace of mind it offers is priceless. It’s carries complete CE registration as a medical device, so it’s a decent ‘Medical Grade’ unit. It has one of the largest sensor pads (50cm x 30cm approx) of a device of this type and works with mattresses up to 14cm thick. You can also buy an additional sensor pad so if your baby is a ‘wriggler’ you can have more of the cot covered.
J is still small and therefore is in his Moses basket, and the sensor pad fits nicely into the base under the thin mattress.
Inside the box – Left – Cable / Batteries / Cot Mount Right – Alarm Unit. Inside the box – Guarantee, Manual, and Sensor Pad
It’s a doddle to set up, put 2xAA batteries into the Alarm Unit, connect the Sensor Pad with the cable to the Alarm Unit, place the Sensor Pad under the mattress, fix the Alarm Unit somewhere safe and you’re done! Then you just pop little one in and switch the unit on.
The Alarm Unit flashes green every time it detects a breath or movement, if there is neither for 20 seconds, the unit flashes red and makes a chirping noise, then the alarm goes off. It’s bloody loud! The alarm will also sound if the breathing level of the little one drops below 8 breaths a minute. So you know if the batteries are still good there is a light on the unit that glows when the batteries are about to die.
The Sensor Mat in our Moses Basket
In the week we’ve been using it there have been no false alarms at all, the only time the alarm has sounded is when I’ve forgotten to switch the unit off after taking J out of the Moses Basket!
The Alarm Unit isn’t wireless, it has to be hooked up to the Sensor Pad the whole time, so it’ll work well with any existing baby monitor you have. Although you will probably hear the alarm going off without a baby monitor!
I’ve not had the unit long enough to determine the battery life, but a few others have said they’ll last several months, which is excellent! If you’re looking for that extra peace of mind, I can heartily recommend the Nanny Breathing Monitor – it really is a smart bit of kit, and so simple to use. The only negative I can see is that the Sensor Pad has a two year life span, which is fine if you’re only having one child. This isn’t an item you can store away for ‘the next baby’, although you can by the pads separately for around £40.
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