To those used to intermittent blood sampling, intermittent viewing of ECG, or intermittent counting of heart and respiratory rates, the rapid changes in these variables, as revealed when monitored continuously, must come as a surprise. These rapid changes are found even in quiet, healthy infants. Because of this variability and the diagnostic significance of each single variable, the potential of these variables can be utilized only if they are continuously recorded. It is like studying movement from a videorecording instead of from a couple of photographs taken at different intervals. Knowing normal levels and the trend of changes in all the variables, it becomes easier and more accurate to predict significant clinical changes than before. Or, in M. E. Avery's words, "Those of us who have used continuous monitors would not like to return to the era of sporadic sampling of information."