A MUST HAVE Baby Registry Item: Levana Oma or Snuza Baby Hero

Levana Oma Clip-On Portable Baby Movement Monitor vs. Angelcare Movement and Sound Monitor

Yesterday I had a discussion with a friend that highlighted something interesting. Those without babies do not know about the baby breathing monitors, and how that helps. Even those that are pregnant now may not know much about them. I thought I'd let you know my thoughts on ours seeing as how I believe it's THE best purchase we made for the baby...

We bought the Levana Oma Clip-On Portable Baby Movement Monitor with Audible Alarm thanks to a recommendation from Courtney's friend. Let's paint the real scenario... your baby is crying, screaming, because he's hungry and he won't wait for you to get a bottle ready... so you lay him down on the bed so you can side nurse while laying down on your side, because quite honestly, any other way nursing takes too long to get set-up and is too much arm work. Baby nurses and falls asleep while doing so (he's laying down comfy next to momma after all!). It took you hours to get him to sleep and FINALLY he's asleep and the LAST thing you want to do is move him. So you clear all the blankets on the bed away from him and let him sleep. But hey, he's not on the Angelcare monitor (or other breathing monitor pad) pad 'cause that's set-up in the crib!? Oh crap!

I can assure you this happens 80% of the time when baby goes to sleep in the beginning, so those Angelcare monitors are quite honestly a waste of money. Here's the deal with the Oma Clip... slowly get up from nursing, grab the clip, and come back, unsnap baby's onsie and clip it onto the diaper. And viola- no need to risk moving the baby to the pad monitor and you can relax knowing that baby's breathing is being monitored and an alarm will sound. Heck, go take a nap and don't stress. The monitor will sound if your baby's abdomen stops moving for more than 15 seconds (which could indicate the baby has stopped breathing).

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OH! And did I mention how portable it is? Yeah, forget lugging around 3.5 lbs of bulky Angelcare monitor stuff. The Oma is only 4.8 ounces and no bigger than 2.8 inches. No brainer, right? Make sure you register for this bad boy. It greatly reduced our anxiety levels about SIDS and helped us sleep better. It is definitely a MUST HAVE!

Note: Snuza Baby Hero is just as good if not better. This one vibrates at 15 seconds of no movement in attempts to startle baby back to breathing (I guess?) and then will sound an alarm 5 seconds after that.

Update: The Angelcare monitor also cannot be used with the Rock n' Play, which you likely will be purchasing and using the first few months for baby to sleep in instead of a Pack n' Play. More on that to come shortly!