Sleep Apnea

My baby is a few weeks old, and I worry about sleep apnea. Do you?

Our Mommy MD Guide’s reply:  At first, I thought my husband was crazy when he ordered a Hisense Monitor. The sensor is placed below the crib mattress and when on, senses when there is a lack of motion in the crib. It’s sensitive enough to sense the movement of breathing; when there is no movement, an alarm sounds.

During the first few weeks, we had some false alarms because our daughter was so mobile that she would roll to the side of the crib not fully sensed by the monitor. Now that she is bigger, it is great. If she stops breathing, we would rather know immediately so that we can do something about it. It’s worth the false alarms.

—Rachel S. Rohde, MD, a mom of a five-month-old daughter, an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, and an orthopaedic upper extremity surgeon with Michigan Orthopaedic Institute, P.C., in Southfield, MI