How Technology Saved My Son

By Tracey Lucock 

Think back to when you were pregnant.. Every list of ‘what is essential’ is different. Every bit of advice from family expert’s conflicts!

Confused and confronted with so many options and passionate opinions, I did what so many women do…develop the research skills to rival the FBI and undertake my own needs assessment!  The result? A huge list of ‘mandatory’ nursery items which if I was to fund, I could take exactly 1 day off work to have my baby.

The most sage advice I received from family and friends was, what worked for them might not (ready probably wouldn’t) work for me and my son.

With this is mind I went back to square one, threw out the list and went back to basics. We borrowed the furniture essentials, purchased a low-end stroller (because I didn’t know what I needed and knew I’d upgrade), invested in the day to day mandatory mountain of nappies, wipes, wraps and onesies and banked the savings to be invested on what MY baby needed.

Sure enough the birth plan (developed through weeks of birthing yoga with my husband – oh yes he was so impressed) I had prepared went out the window.

The bottles I was given were irrelevant as I seemed to be a jersey cow level of super breast-feeder and my kids never took a bottle.

The automatic swing I purchased with my ‘savings’, well I have to say I did love that when my second bundle of joy arrived. Who doesn’t want a second set of hands? One should never be outnumbered by their children right?

Then there was the baby monitor choice and boy did this caused many different debates.  It’s amazing the opinions people feel free to share from “What a waste of money with too many false alarms” said some, “Why can’t you just carry them in a sling 24/7” said others, “What’s wrong with the old finger under the nose trick?”.

Goodness it was overwhelming.  All I could think about was why would I risk such folly and wake my sleeping baby after hours of rocking and patting a baby with severe colic and reflux. And what about the parents with a premmie or a sick baby? What would parents suggest that had tragically lost a child to SIDS? Does this choice have to be so hard?

With so many choice out there , I was back to using my FBI skills and after hours of research I found the Snuza Brand of monitor and the reviews online were brilliant. The monitors are tiny pods that clip to baby’s nappy to monitor only the baby’s motion – nothing else.  I was so excited to find this product and finally felt that this choice would give me the “peace of mind” I was searching for.

I started importing the brand and luckily for my son we did. Shortly after he started having Tonic Colonic seizures and without the Snuza monitors we might not have found him the first night he had a seizure and ended up with bedding wrapped around his throat.

My boys are heading to teens now and I can tell you am so grateful I decided to make up my own mind regarding a baby monitor.

I don’t like to operate on fear but for less than a cup of coffee a day I can’t imagine having a baby and being without a Snuza. The new Snuza Pico even tells you the baby’s skin temperature and sleep position. It all appears on a very simple app on your phone (using super low technology that is safe for babies) so that you can see exactly what’s happening without that creaking door waking your sick or just blissfully sleeping bundle of joy.

We also support the wonderful work of Karl and Alex Waddel who established Rivers Gift after they tragically lost their son to SIDs.

Love to try a Snuza Pico http://www.lifestyleparenting.com/product-snuza-pico-1217.aspx or a Snuza Hero http://www.lifestyleparenting.com/product-snuza-hero-835.aspx ? You’ll find them in Baby Bunting, Bubs Baby Shops, Sydney Baby Kingdom, Baby Bounce, Baby & Toddler Town and many local stockists. http://www.lifestyleparenting.com/stockists.aspx

Tracey is the Owner and Director of Lifestyle Parenting Distribution Group and has 2 Teenage Boys. Being a mum, I wanted to share my experience on researching Baby Monitor and why I choose the Snuza Brand.