An Angel for My Little Angel

Sleeping Ruby Angelcare

For the last 4 months, I have hardly gotten a wink of sleep at night. I don?t like being in the dark, stuck with my thoughts about what might happen to Ruby if I don?t micromanage her sleeping. My mind is plagued by the stories I?ve heard of perfectly healthy babies leaving their parents while sleeping.

It?s been paralyzing. I don?t remember being like this with any of my other 3?I can?t pinpoint why it?s so different this time. Regardless, my (false) reality has been that the ONLY way I can keep Ruby safe is to sleep next to her, watching her virtually all night long to make sure she is breathing.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that she is my last, and I?m terrified of the possibilities. I do know that no matter what happens in life, good and/or bad, it is all for a reason?sometimes for a reason that we don?t understand until later. But even knowing this hasn?t helped me.

Thank goodness for friends…

A couple of weeks ago, a phone conversation held in the middle of my local Target had started with talk around some business tasks that needed to be done. Somehow, 30 minutes later, I was a blubbering mess, crying about my fears of losing Ruby, like I lost my dad. My poor friend (who?s been through quite a bit in his own life) was stuck to pick up the pieces and try to make me feel good.

Luckily, this friend of ours is pretty darn amazing. As always, he knew exactly what I needed to hear and helped me recognize the unnecessary damage I was doing to myself by letting these fears overcome me. I am letting this FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real) dictate my reality. It is robbing me of my health and the sleep I need, and ultimately, it?s robbing me and my kids of the happiness we should be experiencing.

In addition to his incredible coaching, he knew I needed a more tangible form of comfort too, and he had just the thing: ?The AngelCare Monitor?he used for his last baby.

Angelcare 2

This thing, I?ll?tell ya, is amazeballs. It lies beneath Ruby?s mattress and somehow senses her breathing!!!! After 10 seconds of sensing no breathing, all monitors around our home beep. After 5 more seconds of no breathing, the monitors beep loudly and repetitively, until either baby starts breathing again, or until I come in and turn it off.

Phew?

This, my friends, is a must for all moms and dads who worry even a little bit about their babies sleeping. It is an Angel for my little Angel.

It?s been 2 weeks now. Ruby is sleeping in her own bed, and she is safe . We have had a couple of nights where the monitor has beeped. When we walked in she seemed to be holding her breath in a deep sleep (don?t worry ? I woke her up as fast as I possibly could!!). While I?m sure both times she would have started the breathing again on her own, I can never be too sure. I?m happier being safer, rather than risking being sorry?.

Moms and Dads, lacking sleep? Get one of these and you will NOT regret it!!!

Heidi 🙂

There are several variations! Single monitor, video monitor, even multiple listening stations! Check them out!

 

21 Responses

  1. We bought this in January 2014! (I had an earlier model in 2002 for my two older children) The model we bought this year has video -which I LOVE! We keep up with all of our baby devices online or by sending in the recall paper as I’m sure you do too! This company sent us a part to secure the wires to the crib. Even better sleep for us parents now! I bet if you check it out on their company website the free upgraded parts will be in the mail tomorrow! Love your heart!

  2. I have this monitor! Love it. My daughter was born with (how it was explained to me…) immature lungs. She would stop breathing….for long periods of time. Dangerously long. My husband noticed this by chance when he was staring at her (she’s our first girl) watching her nap, just taking in all her cuteness. It was probably the scariest thing I have ever experienced. While she was hooked to a hospital grade monitor…I also had this one. I felt like I couldn’t monitor her enough! I know this post is older so I’m guessing you feel quite a bit better!

  3. Heidi I’m right there with you. Greyson is 3 months and literally since she was born SIDS has scared me to death. My best friends mom leads the DC Metropolotain SIDS foundation since I was young we attended walks and rallies with her. Sometimes being educated on said topic is hard.

  4. Thank you so much for sharing. I would do the exact same things you were doing of sleeping by them and trying to stay awake all night with a light on so I could see if they were breathing. I’m definitely getting one with my next child.

  5. I used this too and it really helped me sleep well because I was less worried about baby stopping breathing. Do be sure you have the “kit” to encase the cables though, something they’ve recently added. Really this monitor has really been great and we had no issues whatsoever. I’ll be using it for then next one!

  6. Absolutely loved our angel care monitor for all 3 babies; but please be aware that it is a false sense of safety! Our last baby had to be hospital monitored during a sleep study to document hundreds of sleep apnic events nightly that would last 7,8 or even 9 seconds that went completely undetected by the monitor. My last baby is now grown and healthy but had an incredibly journey to start his life. Please just know that you can never fully prepare yourself for what is to come; that is the great mystery of life; to hopefully learn and grow as we go.

  7. Do you have tips for exercising and eating healthy while you got a baby to take care of and are so sleep deprived? I squeeze in what I can, but I feel like I could sit down mid workout and fall fast asleep! And my sugar cravings go through the roof when the baby isn’t sleeping well.

  8. Check out the Snuza halo, it clips onto the babies diaper and will even vibrate to wake the baby if it detects no motion. I used this on our babies since I could use it anywhere and hardly ever got a false alarm!!

  9. Another monitor worth looking into is the SNUZA. It’s actually a tiny device that clips onto your baby’s diaper under their jammies. I debated between the Angel Care monitor and the Snuza but ultimately went with the Snuza due to the flexibility of being able to use it anywhere (especially convenient when traveling)! I can’t tell you the peace of mind this brought me with my second little one. Check it out on Amazon, there are several different models. I have the “Snuza Portable Baby Movement Monitor” (it’s orange). For some reason I can’t post the exact link to Amazon, but you can easily search for it. Highly recommend it! 🙂

    1. Cords are definitely something people have to be careful of! Even for blinds, lamp cords, etc near the baby. Thanks for sharing!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

CHOOSE A DATE: