I was 5 months pregnant when I got the tragic news that our friends baby,  Hunter,  had fallen victim to SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).  He was just days away from turning 3 months old.  We were all devastated.  My fears were raised so high that this terrible event had touched so close to home,  it became all I could think about.  How terrible it is to loose a child and could it happen to mine as well? 

What exactly is SIDS?  Does anyone know what causes it?  Can I prevent it?  These were all questions running through my thoughts.  I began to search the web to see if I could get any information possible that could help with my fears and questions.  That is when I discovered the Babysense sleep monitor.

Babysense is a device that is placed under the basinette or crib mattress.  It has two a sensors that will sense babies breathing and movements.  It is so easy to use.  The sensor is flat like a cutting board,  yet thin enough that you cannot even tell that it is under the mattress.  It has a phone type cord that runs under the mattress to the sensors alarm.  The alarm takes 4 AA batteries.  It is completely safe for baby and cannot entangle the baby since the cord runs only under the mattress and requires no plug outside of the bed.  The alarm portion attaches to the side of the basinette or under the crib where it can be turned on and off.  The device is self adjusting so it will sense any type of breathing or movements baby has.  All babies tend to have many different sleeping and breathing patterns.  Some breaths are so shallow at times,  even the parent wonders if the child is actually breathing.  The sensors are ultra sensitive,  they pick up on even this type of breathing.  If  baby stops breathing for a maximum of 20 seconds,  a high pitched alarm will sound to alert you that something is wrong so you can act immediately.

When baby is young and cannot roll over,  one sensor is used.  When baby becomes more active (rolling over),  a second sensor (included) is attached to the first sensor,  allowing full coverage of the mattress.

In some cases that I read about on the web site,  many babies who actually stopped breathing while this device was in place,  were actually startled by the alarm and began to breath again on their own.  I had to buy one for my babies life and my own personal security as well.   

Most children who fall victim to SIDS are under the age of one.  Experts say that SIDS is more likely to strike an infant between the ages of 6 weeks to 5 months old.  After 5 months old,  the risk is reduced.  However,  SIDS can occur in children up to 6 years old and sometimes even older.  This device is designed to work with your baby until he/she is 1 year of age.  After one year old,  baby tends to get more active and moves around alot in bed.  When this happens,  baby may move to a part of the bed where the device will not sense them and can cause false alarms.

I recommend this monitor to every expectant parent.  In my eyes,  this monitor should be a necessity for all babies.  Right up there with diapers,  nail clippers,  bedding,  and clothes.  Without this device,  I would surely be living in constant fear and losing many good nights of sleep. 

Our monitor had not gone off until just recently.  We placed my son in his crib from his bassinette at 3 months old.  At 3 months old,  babies are generally not capable of moving around too much so we only used the one sensor.  Our son became so active,  he actually placed himself off the single sensor.  The alarm went off and I immediately rose out of bed,  was I shocked to see 2 beautiful little eyes staring at me along with one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen.  He had moved himself up to the head of the crib sideways,  so far up that the sensor did not sense his breathing.  We added the second sensor immediately,  covering all areas of the crib and no alarms have sounded since.  I love to see the little green light blinking at me when I wake during the night.  It is telling me that all is ok and I can go back to my sweet dreams.

Babysense monitors can be found here on eBay.  They run anywhere from $110.00 to $150.00 new.  It is the best $100.00+ you will ever spend on baby.  Buy it for LIFE.