When to stop using the monitor

Suebee8

Hi Ladies,

I'd like your opinions on stopping the use of the audio baby monitor. We decided to go low tech for a few personal reasons and only use a plain old audio monitor for DD. Now that she is past the peak SIDS range of 3-6 months with no issues DH would like to turn off the monitor and just sleep with the door open in hopes we could get more sleep by not hearing every cough or momentary squeal. I'm not so sure since her room is down the hall from us and being an over-protective FTM I am a little uneasy.

So when is it OK to stop using the monitor and trust all is OK? When is it OK to not respond to every waking during the night and let her cry? Any experience and advice is welcome.

forestdancer

I would say when you feel ready. There is not harm to baby using it for a while. I just have it on low.. especially on the nights my step son is home. I don't want her waking him up for school.  If she fusses i let her cry, again unless its longer than 5 months when my stepson is sleeping. But she is pretty much past that point. 

 I'm a FTM when it comes to under 3 years old (then when step son came to be)  Although, I can here her through the wall I still like to have it to check on her when I randomly wake up through the night. Probably not the best thing for me in a way but it makes me feel better to be able to check without getting out of bed.

mben1119

We only use the monitor at night, because we keep DS's bedroom door shut because of the dog and cat.

We respond to DS whenever he actually wakes up. If he's up, it is for a reason. We do a diaper change, feed him if he's hungry, then get him back down to sleep. He STTN 95% of the time, so I don't mind getting up with him when he needs it.

kdjudd

My daughter sleeps in bed with us so this isn't really a problem for us. As long as you can hear your LO crying I would say that it is alright for you to go without it. However, if I was you I would probably keep it for awhile longer. Just keep it turned down low. 

brennarobbie

I think it's totally your personal choice. If you're both ready, go for it.

FWIW, we turn the audio on the monitor way down low so that we only really hear him when he's crying or making loud noises (which means he's fully awake). We have to keep his door and our door closed because of the dog and cat, so we're not able to hear him without the monitor. I think we'll continue to use it until he stops napping during the day.

unaveragejane

I still use our monitor b/c we have fans going in both our room and the nursery. If DS starts fussing, I put the monitor under my pillow or under the covers next to me. That way I can still hear it, but it is not loud enough to wake up DH. Usually he is just fussing in his sleep or rousing a little bit between sleep cycles. Most of the time he goes back to sleep on his own within a few minutes. If he continues for more than a few minutes, I go in to see what's wrong.

RMama2012

I have a video monitor and turned the volume off from the beginning (I only needed it after 6 months when I moved him to his own room).  I hear him from my room anyway and don't want to be awoken by every noise.  Also, I stopped going to him during the night so if he wakes up, I just check the camera to see what he is up to.

cltk12

It's a personal peference.

We'll probably use our monitor for another couple years. Even though DS is in the bedroom next to us, we can't hear him if he cries (he's on the far side of his room and we're on the far side of our room with closet in-between the rooms) We also can't hear him if we're on the main floor with the tv on and he's up in his bedroom, etc. 

Lots of my friends use them when their kids are ages 2-4 to 'spy' on the kids to make sure they are staying in their beds.

TMNTgirl

We have a video monitor. But we turn it totally and completely off at night. We have a small house and I am a really light sleeper, so I can hear the kids if they really need me.

I like having the video monitor because if I wake up randomly during the night I can just turn it on really quickly and check on them. Also - when I wake around 6am I can turn it on and see if they are awake or not.

thespianlawyer

We'll probably use ours until DD is out of her crib and can come into our room on her own if something is wrong.  Her room is on the other side of the house from our room and there's no way we'd be able to hear her if she started crying in the middle of the night.  Like PP said, I like having the video monitor so that I can quickly check on her to see if she's fussing in her sleep or if she's actually crying (and for the morning too, so that I can judge how much time I have before I have to go into her).

aadewitt

I went a week with out the monitor, I had left it at my parents house!!!  this was a few months ago- So I kept mine and baby's door open, worked fine- but Id rather still have the monitor.  I keep ours really low, basically so low that I can only hear slightly the humidifier and when he cries. 

I also go monitorless when we are my parents (mostly so my parents can get him at night ) but also cus hes in the room right next to ours- when hes hungry, we know it!

like you I am sure we could hear baby just fine- but id rather have it for now. Plus we spent the money might as well use it! .  

try a few nights and see how it goes, but if your not ready no worries