Baby Surveillance Thread

kiki75

Which monitors are good & which ones are junk/too hackable?

ashleyf911

So we do the monitor thing a little weird, I guess. We use just a cheap VTech Safe & Sound monitor for sound only. Then we have a Nest cam mounted above my son's crib. So if I hear a noise on the vtech, I open up the Nest app and check out the video. It's worked really well for us. I work second shift, so I like being able to open up the Nest app while I'm at work to watch the little dude sleep and keep an eye on him. You have the ability to share your feed via a private link, too, so my in laws and my parents who live out of state are able to watch. They both still check on him during nap time and he's 2.5 

The video quality is super good too, here's a screenshot: 

mdfarmchick

We also do it a little weird. We have an old iPhone and an app on a closed network that we can check from our phones even if we aren’t home and that’s what we’ve used. Bonus is that it’s also a white noise machine too. It’s also easy to travel with when we are out of town. 

becausescience

Love the title of this.

Anybody use Summer Infant brand? Thoughts? We only did a sound monitor with DD and are considering changing to video for both kids. 

runsoncoffee

We have a vtech video monitor and are planning on getting a second camera for it. We haven't had any issues with it! I put DH in charge of that purchase the last time around.

day38

We have a Motorola one and it's been pretty good. I did have an issue with the camera after about a year and they replaced it for free. The video quality is very good. I've actually stopped using the sound because we have a small house so even when my son starts babbling I can hear him. I have used it while gardening though :-)

ashtuesday

Any STM+'s here who didn't love having a video monitor?  My husband wants one, but I'm scared it will somehow make me MORE paranoid. I can imagine hearing no sound, looking at the monitor, thinking "Is she breathing?  I can't clearly see that she's breathing!" and then running in to check on her about 8 times per day.

bravoandprosecco

@becausescience We have a summer infant one and it's great! Just need to get a second camera for the new baby room.  I got it from zulilly back in the day.  @ashtuesday I feel so much better with the video. When my first was tiny we could see when he would cry bc he threw out his binky and could go up and he would go back to bed.  Or once his leg got stuck in the crib! So for me being able to see helped bc I knew when he was fine and just didn't want to sleep and when something was wrong.  Now he's 2 and I love being able to see he's in his crib and not crawling out! My parents watch him on Mondays and they don't have any monitor, it works for them but it drives me nuts when I'm there!

ashleyf911

@ashtuesday I think the video actually helped my anxiety as a FTM.  Our video quality was good enough that I could actually see his chest rising though, so I'm sure YMMV depending on what monitor you got and how well you could see.

Mass-girl-at-heart

@ashtuesdaywe didn't have one with the first 2 kids, we lived in one story homes with them and never really felt that far from them.  We will get one for the new baby simply because we are in a much bigger house now and it will give us a little more peace of mind.  But another perk of getting one is that if we get one with WiFi I can peak on his naps from work while MH is home after my maternity leave.

lgutu28

We’ve gone through like 4 summer infant ones and they all suck. We prefer the Motorola ones much more!

ashtuesday

@bravoandprosecco @ashleyf911 @Mass-girl-at-heart Thank you, ladies!  Your video monitor reasonings make a lot of sense  Now I just need advice on humbly telling my husband he was right... 

leilaquinn

I was sure I wanted a video monitor, but since I decided to do an Owlet I am just going with an audio monitor.

isntthatspeshul

we have a levana and it’s pretty nice. I don’t think I can add a second onto it though so I’m in the market for one that has a great picture, multiple cameras, and good range. 

ShawnnaO

I love the title of this thread. 

We didn’t do a monitor for my daughter (I knew it would just increase my anxiety and I would never sleep because I’d be up all night watching her) but I think for this next one I want a video only monitor, just so I can check in and see if baby is ACTUALLY sleeping or just hanging out quietly in their crib. I often wonder that with P. 

kbiala

@ashleyf911 that is exactly what we do! Love our Nest Cam/cheap V-Tech combo,  especially cause my husband travels a lot for work, so he can check in on our son while he's gone. 

HappyMonkey817

Just popping in to say I love the name of this thread.

heatherdubrow

We have the infant optix video monitor and love it. It shows the temperature in the room and you can talk through it. We have two cameras for it.

npkat

Now I have been researching monitors and feel even more lost on which one to get

ksmwalters

@leilaquinn Don’t want to sway your decision but a friend of mine got an Owlet for her first and she got rid of it after only a month or two. She said that there were issues with it staying connected or something and would alert her that something was wrong when the baby was fine. Obviously that’s just one person’s experience but I wanted to share because it caused to her to experience a lot of anxiety. 

ShawnnaO

@leilaquinn @ksmwalters I didn’t want to say anything but I know a lot of people with the same experience. But having the audio monitor along side it may help you. 

leilaquinn

@ksmwalters and @ShawnnaO I appreciate input! I'm not sure when these experiences were, but my understanding is that the second generation is a lot more reliable, and now the sound for lost reading is different than a distress reading. I know I could be spending 300 silly dollars, but I am really overly fixated on SIDS, and just can't seem to talk myself out of the idea that there is a one in a million chance that it would be needed and I would be glad I had it.

ShawnnaO

@leilaquinn these were first gen experiences I think! In fact I didn’t even know there was a second gen. I hope it works well for you!!! If it does, the peace of mind will DEFINITELY be worth the money! 

barrelocarol

I never used a monitor bc I didn't see a reason. If baby was sleeping, I was wonderfully grateful for it. 

However, like @ShawnnaO  I would love to know if my 2year old is sleeping or not. It affects how quiet I am!

Question: Does anyone know what a P2P camera is? I don't know anything about them, or if that's even the right name. They are supposed to be very cheap, reliable, work with an app on your phone and even provide 2 way audio so you can see and hear baby and even chat with them (Aka tell my toddler to sit down).  I want one of these. 

ksmwalters

@leilaquinn Definitely a first gen experience for my friend! Her daughter is almost 2. 

bettyvonsomethingstein

I hated the Angelcare one.  The picture was crappy.  We have the Motorola one now with a camera for each kid and plan to add a third.  My one beef with it is if you want to show both cameras at the same time, it'll let you, but you only get the audio for one camera.  The other option is is goes to one camera for like 10 seconds and then switches to the second for 10 and just cycles.  That's what we use, and it works fine.

ksmwalters

Has anyone heard of the Nanit? I have been getting targeted ads from them on Facebook for what seems like forever, but I don't know anyone who actually has one. 

https://www.nanit.com/

missnc77

I'm bumping this thread to see if anyone else has recommendations. We're currently using the infant optics one we got in 2016 for DD1, but the color no longer works. It's looking like people are really happy with their Motorolas? We're going to need baby surveillance for 2.

Also re: Owlet, we used it for three nights. Our daughter kept kicking it off, the alarm would sound, and my husband would go into full panic mode and storm the room, waking her up. I thought it would help my anxiety, but it really just added to it, so we packed it up. But even if I did love it, I wouldn't use it as a reason to not get a video monitor. I currently have a 20 month old the spends her nap times ripping off wallpaper and trying to climb over her crib railing before she drifts off the sleep. She will also occasionally pull her arm out of her sleeve, so it's nice to see it and be able to fix it. It also comes in handy when they vomit all over themselves and their crib, then peacefully drift back to sleep. If it weren't for the video, she would have been rolling around in her own vomit all night. The anxiety of screen watching is real in the beginning, but it eventually gets better, and there are a lot of good reasons to have a video feed as they get older. Just my 2 cents.

BrittnieMariee

At first we had an audio monitor, and it died after a year. We didn’t even use it that whole time considering most nap times we cuddled, and we coslept for the first year. So we were really only using it at nap time for like 6 months. I hated it anyway. I couldn’t tell if DS was just rolling over or if he was awake. So we got the Summer Infant video monitor and I LOVE it! The picture is pretty good, it’s easy to check on DS, and you can add more than one camera. So we’ll eventually be adding another one for DD’s room. The only thing I’ve noticed is it sometimes has a pretty short battery life. Either way, I highly recommend it! It’s pretty affordable and easy to use. 

slr1229

Our Motorola monitor beeps at us in the middle of the night randomly and scares the bajesus out of me.  It’s still in range but just sucks.  I feel like there’s just not good one sock star monitor.  In search for one with two cameras too.

becausescience

We tried the Summer Infant WIDE VIEW 2.0 DUO and the night vision was TERRIBLE!  So it has been returned.  We're trying the Babysense one tomorrow.