Should I Buy a Breathing Monitor for My Baby?

Becoming a parent is beautiful but, at the same time, terrifying experience. For the first time, the parents' arrival of the child is especially challenging because of so many unknown things. You don't know what it means when your little one is continually crying, how to recognize when they are hungry, unwell, or just bored and so on. These are just some of the things that worry and confuse parents.

A child's breathing is also one of the things a lot of people worry about. Kids do breathe a bit different compared to adults - they breathe more through nostrils, their breathing pathways are smaller, and their chest that's made of cartilage is more flexible. But when you don't know all this, baby's breathing might freak you out and make you call a doctor or purchase a breathing monitor for baby.

With more information being shared about  Sudden Infant Death Syndrome -SIDS and more knowledge that we generally have a lot of new parents are wondering about the necessity of baby monitor for breathing.

There are plenty of models on the market with different features. If you are thinking of buying one, you might use a little help in picking the right model. In this case, we recommend you check out the text about best baby breathing monitor.

What Is a Baby Breathing Monitor?

What is a baby breathing monitor? So, breathing monitor for babies, otherwise known as home apnea monitor is a little device designed to track the breathing and pulse when babies sleep. If a child stops breathing briefly for whatever reason, a condition called sleep apnea, or if the heart rate becomes unusually slow, the alarm of monitor for baby breathing will go off.

When Do You Need a Baby Monitor? 

After explaining what it is, we feel the need to say that buying a breathing monitor baby is a matter of personal choice.  In the time of fast technological development such as this one when we rely on gadgets to help us with every single thing a lot of parents feel more secure having devices like baby breathing monitor

Some people feel so anxious about their baby's health that they go and check the kid every 5 minutes.  This, though, can be exhausting, and it prevents you from doing other necessary things and living your life. If you feel that you are in this group then, certainly all baby surveillance equipment is beneficial for you because it can provide you with peace of mind and enable you to sleep at night. 

However, what you need to know about SIDS is that it is a sudden and utterly unexplained phenomenon. This means that we don't know what's causing, and there is no evidence whatsoever that links it in any way with sleep apnea.  Newborns are just adjusting to breathing, and even full-term babies can have brief episodes of apnea, but it has nothing to do with SIDS.  

On the other hand, an alarm on baby breathing monitor can react to every little change in baby's breathing, and it can make you panic 5 times during the night for no reason. Being a sleep-deprived parent isn't right for you nor your little one.  

This phenomenon is undoubtedly tragic but extremely rare, and that's one of the reasons why we hear about it. If you are nevertheless worried about it, you can protect your baby by putting her to sleep on the back always without exception. Another thing you need to make sure is that she is sleeping on a firm surface and that there are no blankets, pillows, and similar stuff in the crib.  

As far as baby breathing monitor goes, if your baby is diagnosed with asthma or some other respiratory condition, you can make use of one of these devices.  Of course, the best thing to do before getting one is to consult with a pediatrician.  

Conclusion

We love our kids, and we see them as the most precious things in our lives. Reasonably we are concerned for their health and overall wellbeing, and sometimes it might be useful to have a baby breathing monitor. Nevertheless, while a certain level of worry is to be expected, it is essential not to exaggerate. Turning the nursery into secret service headquarters with all the surveillance equipment can often more cause unnecessary panic than bring some real good.  We hope that you enjoyed this text and that you will revisit top-mom soon Are you considering to buy this device? What inspired you to think about it? 

About the Author

Elizabeth is a writer born and based in Portland.  Children's health and development are one of her main topics, and she's been researching and writing about it at top-mom.com for more than a decade for different papers and portals. She is also a mom of 4 year old boy. They like to watch cartoons together and build castles on the beach.