The publication of the study coincides with this year's National Cot Death Awareness Week, which kicks off today. Electronic monitors were used to measure the breathing patterns and heart rates of 1,079 sleeping babies during their first six months and a total of 718,358 hours of recordings were made. The recordings showed that disrupted breathing and slow heart rates occurred regularly, even in healthy babies, and that the pattern happened before the age previously thought to be linked to cot death.
Babies can and do die whilst the monitors are being used.
However, they can be useful for parents, as they help reduce their worry and anxiety. All rights reserved.