May 27, 2012 - Angel Care Rant/Opinion

Tonight was the first time we used the "tic" on our Angel Care monitor.  Yes, you heard it...our baby is nearly 8 months old and we never used the pad that tells us if he is still breathing or not.  There is a few reasons why it hasn't been used yet, and also why it was probably a splurge that I shouldn't have made for this baby.  First of all, Baby spent the first 6 months of his life either sleeping in our bed, the bassinett in our room, or his stroller, making it impossible to use the sensor pad.  Secondly, the one time I tried to use it, all kinds of alarms went off and we couldn't figure out how to turn them off.  When I say, "all kinds of alarms" I mean both the nursery unit (the one in his room) and the parent unit (the one in our room) were emiting very loud alarms.  I didn't want to risk using it again.  Tonight as the Husband was setting the crib at the lowest setting (little one is pulling himself up to as standing position), I looked at the sensor pad, and thought I should just try to use it again.

The moral of this post:  while for many people who are able to have their little one in his or her crib from day one, using the sensor pad would be ideal.  It definately would alleiviate any fears of SIDS etc, that all new parents have.  But for those who plan to co-sleep, this monitor is a waste of money.  In reality, I knew that we would be co-sleeping, I did this with my second child out of neccessity, I needed to be awake enough during the dare to chase after my two year old.  When it is your first child, you can nap when he does, but when it is your second (or third) that option isn't available to you, so I felt it was better for my sanity to co-sleep the second half of the night, with my second and third.  I actually love waking up with him next to me.  Most of the time he is in a happy mood and makes me start the day in a happy mood too!