Smart, wearable baby monitors: the ultimate peace of mind for parents?
If you’re spending half the night anxiously checking your baby’s breathing like some pseudo NICU nurse, there could be a solution. Smart, wearable baby monitors are devices worn by a baby that can measure heart rate, breathing, blood oxygen levels and sleeping position. If any of these show cause for concern, the parents are alerted. They can then intervene and disaster is avoided. Or so we’re told. But can they actually prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), do they give the peace of mind intended or are they just a way to make money from anxious new parents?
Do wearable baby monitors reduce SIDS?
In the UK in 2019 SIDS was the cause of death of 196 babies, which is a rate of 0.28 deaths per 1000 live births. It is still not known exactly what causes SIDS but factors that increase the risk have been identified, which include smoking (the parents, not the baby) and a baby sleeping on their tummy or on the sofa with their parent. It’s also possible that some babies have lower levels of an enzyme linked to the brain’s arousal system and this makes them more susceptible to SIDS. But more research is needed on this.
There’s currently no proven correlation between a reduction of SIDS and these wearable monitors. One of the main brands in the UK, Snuza, says this:
Snuza is not claiming to prevent SIDS. There are certain conditions that are not survivable if your baby stops breathing….There have been 350,000 devices used with (very sadly) one reported death (the device alarmed as expected but the baby could not be resuscitated).
Another, Owlet, describes itself as a consumer wellness product not a medical device and does not guarantee the safety of the baby.
But it would be unfair to claim they are capitalising on parental anxiety. Two of the other main brands available in the UK were created by dads looking for a solution to their own anxious nights.
The biggest concern is that parents become overly reliant on a smart monitor and use it as a replacement for proper safe sleep practices. According to safe sleep experts the Lullaby Trust, here are some of the most important things you can do to reduce the risk of SIDS:
Don’t sleep on a sofa or armchair with your baby. This increases the risk by 50 times.
Don’t smoke in pregnancy and keep the home smoke-free. Smoking is thought to cause up to 60% of SIDS cases.
Place your baby to sleep on their back, which reduces the risk of SIDS by 6 times.
Share a room for the first six months. This halves the risk of SIDS.
Don’t bedshare if you or your partner have been drinking, using drugs, are a smoker or if you are ‘extremely tired’.
Avoid co-sleeping with newborns if they had a low birth weight or were premature.
Ensure your baby sleeps on their own firm, flat, waterproof surface. Position them so their feet are at the bottom of the cot and they can’t wriggle down under the covers. Do not use cot bumpers or have loose bedding, pillows or toys in the cot.
Don’t let your baby get too hot or too cold. Ideally, the room should be 16˚-20˚C.
If you want more information, this evidence-based fact sheet by the Lullaby Trust is the place to go.
what are the downsides to wearable baby monitors?
The most regularly reported complaint is false alarms, which can be very frightening and also wake everyone up unnecessarily. These can sometimes be down to user error. But there’s also some concern about the reliability of the data recorded. For example, a study in 2018 found that the Owlet Smart Sock 2 was only 88.8% accurate at detecting low oxygen levels. Owlet has since released the Smart Sock 3, which they claim has more accurate oxygen readings.
With wearable devices that pair with an app or some kind of home base, reviews also sometimes mention connectivity issues, which can be frustrating. Some also depend on a reliable Wi-Fi connection.
Another possible downside is they may actually increase anxiety with an urge to constantly check the app and analyse the data. Although a study by Owlet found 96% of parents felt less anxious when using the Owlet and 94% reported sleeping better.
The price will be a definite drawback for many as they are usually quite expensive. Especially as some don’t replace a traditional audio or video monitor so you may also have to get one of those, depending on the size of your home.
Remembering to charge the devices that need it could be a challenge for a sleep-deprived mind. Although they do usually charge fairly quickly.
There have also been concerns about how some of these wireless devices increase a child’s exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and the possible link between EMF and childhood leukaemia. However, the emissions from these devices are very low. For example, this is what Snuza say:
The radio waves generated from the Smart Sock device are less than one-twentieth of those emitted by cellphones we carry in our pockets every day.
So you probably don’t need to make your baby a tin foil hat.
How are they different to movement baby monitors?
Movement baby monitors, like the Babysense, Angelcare and Tommee Tippee Dreamee monitors, just come with a mat that is placed under the mattress. They just check for the kind of reduction in movement associated with breathing problems. Some can’t be used (or don’t work as well) with memory foam mattresses or co-sleeper bedside cribs.
How do the four main brands of wearable monitors compare?
1. Owlet
The Owlet is used by over a million parents worldwide. The baby wears a ‘sock’ that tracks their heart rate and oxygen level. There are preset safe zones and an alarm is sounded via an app if the baby’s vitals fall outside of them. It also provides information on the baby’s sleep. For example, hours slept, number of wake-ups and quality of sleep.
There are three Owlet products:
The Owlet Smart Sock 3, which is suitable for 0-18months. If you wish to continue using it you can buy a larger sock for children up to 5 years old.
The Owlet Plus, which is suitable for children 0-5 years old.
Owlet baby monitor duo, which includes the sock and a baby video monitor, which streams live HD images to your phone or tablet. The camera can also be bought separately.
The features:
The Smart Sock 3 comes with two different-sized socks (up to 12lbs and 12-30lbs) and can be used on the left or right foot. There is also a choice of sock colours: mint, dusty rose or deep sea green.
The app requires iOS 8.0 or higher and Android 5.0 or higher.
The Bluetooth range is up to 100ft/30m.
The battery lasts 16 hours and charges quickly (full charge in 90 minutes) via the ‘home base’.
Not suitable for bed-sharing or co-sleeping or for being used in a moving car seat or pram.
The camera has night vision, HD video, secure encrypted WiFi and also records the baby’s room temperature.
2. Nanit Pro Complete
This is a different kind of wearable baby monitor as no electrical devices are attached to your baby. Instead, a pattern is worn around their chest in the form of a band, a sleepsuit or a swaddle, and an overhead camera measures the tiny movements of these patterns to check the breathing. Alerts are sent to an app.
However, the pattern has to be seen by the camera at all times so your baby cannot be covered with a blanket or sheet. Nanit says it can be used over a sleeping bag, but rather vaguely add that it cannot be a ‘thick’ sleeping bag. There was a Nanit patterned sleeping bag at one point but this is currently unavailable. So unless you have a ‘thin’ sleeping bag or it’s very hot, the only realistic option is the swaddle. And this can only be used until the baby can roll over on their own. This typically happens between 4 and 6 months. Also bear in mind that some babies hate being swaddled so check this first before buying all the gear.
There are also smart sheets available, which can track your baby’s growth.
The overhead HD camera that tracks breathing can also:
Be used as a video baby monitor with movement and audio alerts, two-way audio and night vision.
Record the room’s temperature and humidity.
Play nature sounds or white noise.
Be wall-mounted or used with a floor stand.
Alerts are sent to an app, which can be used on any iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, or Echo Show device. It also provides sleep insights, a year’s free personalised baby sleep tips from baby sleep experts and a time-lapse highlight reel of the night.
3. Snuza
Snuza products are the only ones that are certified medical devices. The Snuza Hero MD is the version available in the UK and has the support of safe sleep experts The Lullaby Trust, who endorse its use to parents who have previously lost a child to SIDS.
It differs from the others as it doesn’t connect to an app. The device is clipped onto the nappy and sounds an alarm if breathing is weak or reduced. It will also vibrate in an attempt to rouse the baby if there has been no breathing detected for 15 seconds.
Because there is no app you need to be able to hear the alarm. If you’re not in the same room when you are going to bed later or if they are older than six months and in their own room, you could use a baby monitor to be sure you hear the alarm. Snuza says that whether it can be heard from a different room without a baby monitor depends on the layers over the device (blankets, clothes etc), whether the walls are concrete and if the doors are open or closed.
The Snuza Hero can be used from birth until the baby no longer wears a nappy at night, although most parents discontinue use around 12-18months.
4. Sense-U
This is a less well-known brand in the UK but is popular on Amazon and one of the cheapest you can buy. Like the Snuza the device clips onto the baby’s nappy but this one connects to an app. Alerts are sent if your baby has reduced levels of movement, if they roll onto their stomach and if they get too hot or too cold.
The features:
Connects to your smartphone or tablet with Bluetooth with a range of 15m in open spaces (brick walls and fire doors will reduce this). There is also a home base available to buy which gives you unlimited range.
You can also buy it with a video camera monitor. This streams HD video to the app and has two-way talk, night vision and sends alerts for movement and noise.
Conclusion
Wearable, smart baby monitors are not for everyone. Some people don’t need the reassurance they bring. For others, it could make them more anxious. But if you’re fretting a lot at night or if you have a premature or underweight baby or a baby that has spent some time in a NICU, it could be the security blanket you need. If the worst has happened and you’ve previously lost a child, a wearable device may give you some much-needed peace of mind.
But it’s definitely something that can wait until after the baby has arrived to see if you really need it. And if you do buy one, especially one of the more expensive ones, check if it has a money-back guarantee. Or you may need to fire up your eBay account.
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