Great question.
An irregular breathing alert is sent when we pick up an irregularity in your baby's breathing. That irregularity could be an apnea - i.e., a pause in breathing - or it could be a series of coughs, , or abrupt changes in movement that cause the baby's breathing pattern to shift away from it's normal place, then shift back. We take into account a lot of data in this determination:
- the breathing patterns of your particular baby
- the breathing patterns of the population data we've acquired over years of testing and usage
- how much your baby has been moving, and how subtle (or abrupt) those movements are
We effectively establish a baseline sense of your baby's breathing, and then ensure that we err on the side of alerting you when we pick up on an irregularity in the breathing. That, based on all of our work with parents like you, instead of erring on the side of not alerting you. We feel that more information is better on this front.
One thing to note: it's normal for babies (especially infants) to experience irregularity in breathing, but never hesitate to reach out to your pediatrician should you be concerned about anything.
If you'd like to read up on how our sensors work, or how we pick up on other elements to this equation such as motion and movement, feel free to head here and here.