My Hot Take: Cardiorespiratory Monitors
What is SUIDS?
American Academy of Pediatrics States:
Sudden Unexplained Infant Death, whether explained or unexplained which occurs during the infancy months.
What causes SUIDS?
AAP States:
When an infant is impaired with intrinsic vulnerability (issues with arousal, heart, biological responses) is also met with an exogenous event (unsafe sleep) during a time where their development is in a critical period.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has repeated over & over again, that to reduce SUIDS families must educate themselves & implement Safe Sleep Strategies.
Little one is SAFELY sleeping due to having arms out, firm mattress and ability to get to this position by himself.
What Are Cardiorespiratory Monitors?
These are monitors such as the owlet that parents, caregivers and families buy to have a peace of mind when it comes to Safe Sleep.
These are stated to monitor “detect apnea, bradycardia, and, when pulse oximetry is used, decreases in oxyhemoglobin saturation for infants at risk for these conditions, including some preterm infants with an unusually prolonged course of recurrent, extreme apnea” (Moon, 2022).
Does AAP Recommend?
They state that you should NOT use them as a way to decrease the risk of SUIDS/SIDS, but you should continue to implement all of the other strategies (safe sleep environment, no narcotics/nicotine/alcohol, no overheating, back to sleep, prenatal checks, routine well-checks, etc.,) to decrease the risk of SIDS.
Does that mean you should not use them? It means that if you are going to use them, for peace of mind, that is fine, but they will not be sufficient if all other aspects in Safe Sleep are not implemented.
Sleep Coach Hot Take:
It’s a NO FOR ME DOG. Hello, here is your reminder… YOU ARE NOT WORKING WITH ME TO KEEP YOUR KID FROM WAKING-UP. We WANT them to wake-up… we just want them to fall back asleep, independently.
The amount of times I hear parents say, “but her nanit stated that she woke xyz amount of times.” “The Owlet stated that she only had blah/blah amount of rested sleep.”
NO.
Get rid of it.
If it is going to cause you more anxiety in regards to your child’s sleep, say goodbye. Rather I want you to tell me about your child’s behavior, your child’s tantrums, your child’s progress instead of freaking at the monitors.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but it is one I will keep.
Need help implementing Safe Sleep w/o the anxiety of the cardiorespiratory monitor?
Pediatrics (2022) 150 (1): e2022057990.
