Snuza Halo monitor reminds you to breathe. Good for babies and adults with sleep apnea.

The problem: You're worried your baby might die of SIDS. Or you're worried you might die from sleep apnea.

The solution (or at least something that'll help): A device that measures movements of the diaphragm and sounds an alert if breathing stops.

How it works

The Snuza Halo clips onto your waistband. Every time you take a breath, the little rubber tip moves a little bit. If the rubber tip stops moving for 15 seconds, the device vibrates to stimulate you to breathe. If it goes to 20 seconds, it sounds and alarm and jiggles like a belly dancer.

What's good about it

• Uh, it helps keep you alive
• Small and lightweight
• If it loses contact with the body, it'll sound an alarm to let you know that breathing is not being monitored. (Strangely, some people complain about this and call it a false alarm.)

What's not so good about it

• The alarm isn't super loud
• The batteries don't last forever. (People complain because they had to replace the batteries inside of a year.)
• It takes weird 14250 batteries. 
• The company that makes it swears up and down that it's not a medical device and it's not for the treatment or prevention of anything, especially not SIDS, and that you use it at your own risk.

Helpful hints:

• Get some extra 14250 batteries. (By the way, CR14250, ER14250, DL14250, they're all the same kind of battery. The first two letters designate the manufacturer.)
• Look at the directions on how to open the battery cover, page 11 in the manual. 

Here's my Amazon Store where you can buy this item.

Full disclosure: I bought this item (two actually) with my own money. I have no connection to the company that makes. I am not part of the Amazon Vine program where companies send you free stuff. I don't get any free stuff. I researched the heck out of the product and read just about every customer review of it. I only review products that I have bought and that I like enough to recommend. If you buy through my store I will get a small commission through the Amazon Affiliate program.

More details also known as My Rant

I have severe sleep apnea. I stop breathing, or don't breathe enough, over 100 times per hour. I use a CPAP machine, which blows air into my nose, keeping my airways open. It's comfortable, I love it. If you're having trouble with your CPAP machine or want to learn more about sleep apnea, please click this article.  

CPAP works 100% if you have obstructive sleep apnea, where the airway collapses and you can't get any air in. But some people have central sleep apnea where for some reason, their brains just forget to breathe. And some peole have mixed apnea.

Anyway, I've woken up a couple times in the last month to find that my CPAP machine had turned itself off. I thought there was a malfunction with the machine, but now I think I had stopped breathing for so long that the thing had shut itself off. So maybe I have mixed apnea. 

I have the CPAP machine set to shut off automatically if I take the mask off. I guess the machine can't tell the difference between my taking the mask off and my just not breathing for 30 seconds at a time. 

Kinda scary.

I mean, seriously, WTF? I'm already not breathing, so the machine shuts itself off so that I've still got the damn mask over my nose and it's even harder to breathe? And you'd totally think I would just open my mouth and breathe that way, wouldn't you? But I don't. I'm so stupid when I'm asleep.

So I'm using the Snuza now. I got two, in fact. It's important enough that I need a backup. I'll be wearing two when I go to sleep. And I've changed the CPAP machine so it doesn't automatically shut off anymore.