baby monitors

My post in that thread about relying on our monitor reminded me of a question I've been meaning to pose to you all for awhile now. DH and I have a debate over the monitor, and I was wondering how you all (and your hubbies) feel about them.

DH views it as a baby thing and thinks it will be a good milestone when we can get rid of it. In fact, he'd get rid of it now probably. He says that it's really rare when the boys actually need something (true) and he thinks if they really need something, they'll make themselves heard, monitor or not.

I view the monitor as liberating, because I can roam around the house or yard yet still be able to hear the boys if they need me. If I didn't have it, I feel like I'd be stuck in the living room, because it's the only place I could hear them. Or I'd be constantly worried about whether they needed me and I couldn't hear them. I don't see any need to get rid of it anytime soon, and I don't see it as a positive milestone.

So how do you view monitors? Are you anxious to get rid of them, or do you desire to hang onto them as long as you can? How long did you/do you plan to use yours?

 

Mine are 2y8m, and we still use the monitor. Honestly, we should get rid of the one that is in our bedroom. Their room is right next to ours and if they really needed us, we'd hear them, monitor or not. But they'll be moving to a different room at the end of the hall sometime around their 3rd birthday, and I think I'll want the monitor for a while with that move.

We have a 2 story house. We definitely still need the monitor when they are in bed and we are in the basement. And we have our large screen TV and family room in the basement, so we are down there a lot. I don't think we'd hear them without the monitor.

 

Mine just turned 3 and if they slept in their own room I would have the monitor ON. But b/c they both sleep with me I dont need it. We are going to be moving them back to their own room soon and the monitor will be coming back out and I will probably use it for a good long time to come.

 

We haven't used monitors for months...basically since we implemented CIO for the last time. We can hear cries from our bedroom when they're sleeping at night and when I'm downstairs and they're napping, I can hear them as well. I like complete silence during that time anyway so there's no tv or music to keep me from hearing them. I hear them as soon as they start "talking" even quietly. I think about pulling out the old monitor again, but I don't know what good it would do. I'm not going in there unless I hear screams which I can hear w/o a monitor. Once they officially move to toddler beds (pretty soon here), I will invest in a video monitor but until then, they're fine.

 

I love our monitor. I also feel it to be very liberating!! I can go to my neighbor's house with the monitor and still hear if something is going on in their room!

Both my husband and I are heavy sleepers and I am hard of hearing - so there is no way that I would hear them if I didn't have it. Without it, I would be constantly checking them when they nap to make sure that they haven't woken.

I think that once they are comfortable in beds and can independently and responsibly get around the house, I may stop using it, but I still want to hear all of those conversations that they have when I am not around. So maybe we will be keeping it until they protest - who knows!!

 

We still use ours. We live in a townhouse so sometimes it is difficult to hear them since the bedrooms are on the top floor. I also enjoy listening to the conversations that come through there. We can laugh and they don't see us!

 

We are dependent on our monitors but I love using them. They give some sense of security. Most likely we will keep ours until they no longer work W/O them right now they might have their bedroom torn apart at bedtime if I couldn't hear what was going on. Thankfully we have been able to cut off any major catastrophe's from our two mischevious boys! That doesn't mean they still don't get into trouble, just ask my son Cooper how Butt Paste tastes

Dh and I tease that we will buy a new one in the teen years and hide them so they can't sneak out

 

Still have ours and no idea when we'll stop using them. Just bought a new set a few months ago b/c the first set had worn out (dropped too many times most likely!) Probably when they can move reliably and independantly through the house. I only use them in our bedroom, since the living room opens up to the upstairs hallway, and we can hear them fine that way. I can hear them moving around from my bedroom, but I don't always wake up when they start calling once I'm asleep, so it's good to have the monitors to boost the sound. When my DD was sick all the time, we kept them with us always to listen to her breathing. Now that she's mostly healthy again, I feel more comfortable not having it right next to me all the time, though I will take it if I have to go outside or to the garage during naptime.

Slightly OT: A friend of mine has an alarm system on their house and she has not given her teenagers the code so that they can't sneak out at night. I'm liking the idea, but feel like there has to be a catch in it somewhere, that it's not safe somehow? Anyway, she's really good at being a parent to her teenagers, not trying to be their friend all the time. Her reaction when her daughter came down in a thong panty is pretty funny - flossing wedgie anyone? And her solution for baggy pants sans belt will be stored for future use, tho I hope I never need to deal with that! Her mom paid a boy in the mall $20 to go and "pants" her brother in the middle of the mall, pull down his pants in front of everyone. Lesson learned!

 

I've actually considered buying a new set too Ours want even charge anymore they have been used so much so I can't carry them around like outside or to the screened porch.

 

My husband hates the monitor and wanted to get rid of it from pretty much the day we started using it... but their room is on the other side of the house and I can't hear them without it. I knew that we absolutely would not stop using it until after they were out of cribs. Now that they are, I still want it so I can hear if they're getting out of bed/into trouble before the room is covered in lotion. When they no longer destroy their room on a whim, then we'll put it away.

 

we have ours and will continue - in September my son had a febrile seizure that affected his breathing (he was breathing like an old man with COPD) and the monitor caught it - I don't know what would have happened had we NOT had the monitor - I'll probably use it till they're 10!

also we live in a duplex and if we want to sit outside with my BIL and SIL or go over to their side of the house on a Saturday evening for a game or movie we can without worry...

 

We have a monitor in the boys' room but no receiver. We could easily hook up a receiver if we ever needed it, but our room is RIGHT next to theirs, and our walls are thin, so we hear them anytime we really need to. We'll probably hook up our video monitor again when they move to toddler beds-- no time soon!!

 

My kids are 17 months and I plan on using the monitor for a long time to come. You are right, it really allows me more freedom by having the monitor...and more peace of mind.

 

We live on a farm, so we use ours ALL the time when they sleep to get work done outside. No hurry to get rid of ours1

Although with the big girls, we got rid of them when they were firmly in big girl beds and could come get us in emergencies.

 

I was searching older threads and found this....I'm soooo glad I never bought one. To me it would be like a torture device. I wake up easily, and we live in a two bedroom apt. I suppose if I lived in a very large home or had a home with a big yard, it would be useful, but in our current situation it would just make me more sleep deprived than I already am.

 

QUOTE(sullivanre @ Feb 6 2009, 09:30 PM) [snapback]1180291[/snapback]
I was searching older threads and found this....I'm soooo glad I never bought one. To me it would be like a torture device. I wake up easily, and we live in a two bedroom apt. I suppose if I lived in a very large home or had a home with a big yard, it would be useful, but in our current situation it would just make me more sleep deprived than I already am.

That's so funny - this is why even baby monitors are a 'to each her own' kind of issue. I'm exactly the opposite. There have been a couple of nights where I didn't have the monitor, and those were the worst nights of sleep. Without the monitor, I was constantly worried I'd miss something and kept waking up to listen for the boys. With the monitor, I know it will wake me up if they need me, so I can just sleep and not worry.

 

QUOTE(BridgePort @ Feb 8 2009, 12:14 AM) [snapback]1181345[/snapback]
That's so funny - this is why even baby monitors are a 'to each her own' kind of issue. I'm exactly the opposite. There have been a couple of nights where I didn't have the monitor, and those were the worst nights of sleep. Without the monitor, I was constantly worried I'd miss something and kept waking up to listen for the boys. With the monitor, I know it will wake me up if they need me, so I can just sleep and not worry.


This is me too. When I do actually, finally fall asleep, I sleep like the dead and can't imagine not having the monitor there. Otherwise I wouldn't hear the girls until they were MAD!

And I use/d ours a lot this past summer during naps I could go out and garden without worry that they'd wake up and I wouldn't know about it. They're not always particularly consistent about how long their naps are.

I actually just asked DH if we should consider getting a new set. The ones we have are really starting to die and I'm so not ready to give them up yet!

 

QUOTE(BridgePort @ Feb 8 2009, 12:14 AM) [snapback]1181345[/snapback]
That's so funny - this is why even baby monitors are a 'to each her own' kind of issue. I'm exactly the opposite. There have been a couple of nights where I didn't have the monitor, and those were the worst nights of sleep. Without the monitor, I was constantly worried I'd miss something and kept waking up to listen for the boys. With the monitor, I know it will wake me up if they need me, so I can just sleep and not worry.

I think it depends on your personality and definitely how heavy or lightly you sleep. I couldn't wait to get out of the room with my guys at 5 months.

I found this thread when I inadvertently clicked on your name in some old Den/Corn thread. I just had to comment because DH and I were talking about this the other day.

 

May I ask why a lot of you don't buy one of those tv monitor? I can't imagine not having one EVER. You could use them without getting out of bed if you hear a cry or whatever. I like the idea watching them sleeping peacefully. It is also can be caught on act, especially if they are sick or learning how to climb out of the crib and etc. This will also be fantastic for basement once we put it into a playroom. I'll be able to catch them on an act if they hitting each other but I won't check all the time. The best part is...it come in handy when working in the yard too.

I'll hang onto ours as long as long as we can....we recorded some of their moment when we hook it up on our TV/VCR (we have Summer-color tv)
RJ