What do you like about your baby monitor?

It is 3:15 in the morning. I cannot sleep and have been contemplating baby monitors for oh, let's say, 1.5 hours. :unknw:

Is a baby monitor just a little device to know when your baby is stirring...or does it serve a much greater purpose for you??

I've been looking at the Philips Avent DECT digital screen monitor because it has been reviewed to have great clarity and less interference with the other electronics in the house. But I cannot for the life of me figure out if I really need these extras: temperature monitoring of the babies' room with display, nightlight, lullaby music, 2-way intercom...not to mention humidity reading, video screen.

What do you like [or really dislike] about your baby monitor?? Are there any frills such as temperature reading that you just cannot live without? TIA!

 

I had a Bebe sounds double video monitor for twins and LOVED it. I sold it when my third child was about 6mos old because we didn't use it anymore. I am kicking myself now of course because I want it back. But I am not paying the $200 for another. I don't know about all the extras like the temp control and such but I say if you can afford it and it will give you piece of mind then go for it! Back when our two oldests were the only ones around we gave them each their own rooms and moved our bedroom to the other end of the house. It's not that far since our house is tiny but it felt like a world away to me. The video monitor made me feel better. I used to use the video cables and hook it to our tv. When I was ready to go to sleep at night I would switch it to the monitor and I could see the kids on the tv all night long. Much better than looking at the little screen that is on the monitor.

 

I have a cheap-o Fisher Price baby monitor, and it is fine. It takes batteries, which is good, because I don't have to remember to charge it (it also CAN be plugged in if you don't want to eat batteries). It only had two channels, which I did wish it had a few more, because it gets quite a bit of static at times, and if I put it too close to my laptop it gets really bad. It also has two units, and a belt clip, which is nice.

Personally, I don't see the need for the monitor, temp readings, etc. Even when the babies sleep, I am up 2-3 times a night myself, and I usually poke my head in their room to check on them, the room temp., etc. I prefer to do any soothing myself rather than have a device do it - especially right now as they are teething all four top teeth at once, so they are a bit fretful at night.

 

I have the Fisher-Price Private Connection Monitor with Dual Receivers bought from Babies R Us.

http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=3040701

They work great! No complaints!!!!

 

We are on our second monitor. The first one was Graco and was expensive. It told us that more $ isn't always better. I should have paid attention to the reviews! We now have a Sony babyCall Rechargeable. We bought two because we need one for each room. The thing with the Graco was that it was good for two rooms-which is why we got it in the first place.

But with the Sony, we like it. It's battery is long lasting overall(provided we remember to charge it). The only thing we dislike, and we are being nitpicky, is the volume control. It's a dial, but there is no control to it, if you know what I mean.

When looking at the monitors, just make sure you read the reviews.

 

We were appalled at the price of baby monitors in NZ so we just ended up buying two surveillance cameras and a monitor. They have great audio so you can hear every little breath (or not if you don't want too) and you can clearly see everything going on in the cot and around the room. Cost alot less and suits what we needed it for. Good luck

 

My babies are 7 months and I haven't used the monitor (Sony BabyCall) in a few months. Our house is a 2 story colonial and I can hear them easily both from my bedroom (they are right across the hall) and downstairs. That said, they weren't preemies and have never had any health problems. I figure, if I can't hear them, I don't really need to get up. And motherhood seems to have bestowed a wolf-like sense of hearing when it comes to my babies! It's nice to have when traveling when I might not be able to hear as well due to house layout. Maybe I'll feel differently when they're older, but I don't find any of the extras necessary.

 

I have 2. one is still in the box and the other one never gets used. I can hear them just fine and could've done without that fancy monitor that I thought I just HAD to have!

 

We have the Levana. Supposed to be very secure so that others can not pick up the signal. Its a small monitor with voice activation. Meaning the screen is dark till it picks up noise or movement, then it clicks on. I really like that feature. You can also have the video on all the time, which drains the battery quickly.

I would have loved the temperature feature because we have an old house and the rooms are so inconsistent with heating and cooling. I do have a thermometer in their room, but can only see it if I go in obviously.

The video was definitely an extra security blanket for us, but now I would be fine with just a standard monitor w/o video. Ours are now 8 months. To be honest, we really dont' even need it cause our house is so small now, but it was reassuring in the early months.

The only con I would say is that we can only have the monitor on one baby at a time now that they are in different cribs. They shared for the first 4 months.