Why you Need Motion Sensor Technology to Prevent SIDS (and 3 ways to prevent SIDS)

Although the research is inconclusive about what EXACTLY causes SIDS, there are measures you can take as a parent that will prevent SIDS and they are well worth the effort. The main step you can take is to actually take advantage of modern day technology through the use of a motion sensor baby monitor. Think about it- if you were alerted after 6 seconds of the monitor sensing no movement or breathing from the baby by the sound of an alarm and you were able to respond immediately, wouldn’t that prevent major emergencies?

The list of what is linked to SIDS is getting longer and longer -sleep apnea, reflux, mattress suffocation, recent immunizations, temperature, colic and I shudder to think of how many instances of emergency can be prevented if parents would be alerted every time their baby was in distress.

I’ll never forget with my first baby, when I over bundled her and thank goodness she began screaming in the middle of the night. I ran in to see that she was sweaty and all wet and am so grateful to this day that she “let me know” about her discomfort even in infancy.

Thank goodness we have technology now that even gauges the temperature of the baby’s room so you don’t have to go through what I went through as a first time parent.

In the case of an emergency, it kind of doesn’t even matter at first what exactly caused the baby to be in distress – what matters the most is that we get to him or her right away. We can figure out the reasons for the distress later, let’s first be alerted and handle that emergency!

Again, the list of what causes SIDS has unfortunately gotten longer and longer and while we all do our best jobs as parents, being hyper-vigilant with our newborn babies is called for (without getting too crazy and paranoid J

3 Ways to Prevent SIDS

1. Get a Motion Detection monitor. Angelcare is the leader in motion sensor technology and when I tell you how simple it is to setup, even my least “techie“ parents won‘t flinch at all. Simply place the sensor pad that comes with the monitor under the mattress on top of a wooden board that you will place over the crib springs. Then, connect the sensor pad to the baby monitor unit that stays in the baby’s room. That’s it. Then you’ve got your parent unit that will stay in your room, or you can even get a portable parent unit to take along with you or clip to your belt while you’re working around the house. No video monitor is required unless that is your preference, a simple Motion Detection/Sound Monitor is sufficient.

2. Know what the temperature is of your baby’s bedroom. Thankfully, Angelcare includes a temperature gage on your baby’s room transmitter  in their deluxe motion + sound baby monitor as well as their video baby monitor-so it is easy to see how warm the bedroom is.

3. If your baby is prone to conditions like sleep apnea and reflux or is premature or underweight, you need to be a bit more cautious than a parent whose baby is not experiencing any of those conditions. Why? A baby that is premature or underweight has to work it’s little system much harder than a baby that doesn‘t experience these issues. Additionally, a baby that experiences colic or reflux tends to spit up and vomit more in his sleep, sometimes causing choking. For this baby, you may want to look at getting a video baby monitor so you can see when he throws up, and for this I’d recommend a video + motion + sound monitor, like the Angelcare AC1100, again with Angelcare being the company that is the leader in motion sensor technology.

To prevent SIDS, you don’t need to become a paranoid parent or one who is constantly checking in on your baby, taking away the *limited* time that you have as a busy parent. What you do need to realize though is that there are factors that have been shown to be correlated to SIDS and as long as you are aware of those “triggers”, you’ll be much more equipped to preventing them and getting through the newborn phase of your and your baby’s life safely and securely.
Rivka Slatkin is a mom of 3 and she enjoys writing reviews on the safest baby monitors on her blog, http://www.baby-monitors-reviews.com during her baby’s naptimes all while listening out for him on her favorite baby monitor!