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Technology lets new parents sleep like a baby, too

They say it's never easy to get a good night's sleep with a baby in the house. The Snuza Halo by Pneo helps bring more comfort to parents when babies are in bed.

While the rate has been decreasing, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is still the leading cause of death for babies in their first year of life. Even with the drop, parents have been turning to conventional under-mattress movement monitors.

The Snuza Halo is a small, light, portable device that provides a unique way to effectively monitor a sleeping infant.

"Many of the infant monitors currently on the market are large, complicated to set up and have electrical cables or straps which babies may get tangled in," said Charlotte Wenham, a registered nurse and business manager for Pneo. "The Snuza is tiny, yet extremely effective, and poses no danger to the infant whatsoever."

The Snuza Halo constantly watches the baby's movement by clipping gently to the baby's diaper near the stomach, instead of attaching to the crib mattress. If no movement is sensed within a 15-second period, the Halo does what a parent would do -- attempt to stimulate breathing. The Halo does this by activating a pulsed vibration. This imitates a technique called cutaneous stimulation, which is used by hospital neonatal care units worldwide.

If movement is not sensed within a further five seconds of the vibration, an audible alarm is triggered to alert the parents of the problem.

Features of the Snuza include:

n Safely and conveniently monitors your baby's every movement.

n Clips onto the waistband of your baby's diaper.

n Detects your baby's tummy movement with the flexible sensor.

n Gently rouses the baby 15 seconds after motion ceases with a built-in vibrating stimulator.

n Sounds an alarm for your immediate action after 20 seconds.

n Use in conjunction with a baby sound or video monitor to hear in other rooms.

n Useful for co-sleeping twins and multiples where an under-mattress device is not effective.

If the baby is sleeping in your bed, the Snuza Halo is the only type of movement monitor that can be utilized -- it is portable and stays with the baby, not the bed.

The Snuza Halo retails for $200. For more information, visit www.snuza.com.