Two baby monitors?

MickeyM04 · January 2014

DD is expected to arrive right around the time DS turns 2. We will be transitioning DS into a toddler bed around that time. I am thinking I would still like to have a monitor for him though, because he hasn't figured out how to open doors yet, and when he does, we will have a gate up because we have a dog who sleeps in our room and is kind of protective and I don't feel comfortable with the idea of DS potentially wandering in our room in the middle of the night and scaring the crap out of the dog. So long story not so short, I'm thinking I want to have a second baby monitor.

My question is two-fold:

1. Did you keep a baby monitor for your first child when you got a second child? Why or why not?

2. If you did, did you have trouble using both monitors or was there an issue with interference? I'd hate to buy a second monitor, get it set up, and then neither monitor works because of interference.

If you don't have two yet but #2 is on the way, what are your plans for monitors?

Junebug060609 · January 2014

We are going to get a video one with two cameras. One for each kid. Have only used an audio one with DS thus far, but between itdying, him aalmost ready to move to a toddler bed, and a new squish on the way...the writing is on the wall.

MickeyM04 · January 2014

@Junebug060609 - can you send me your chosen monitor when you pick it out?

MickeyM04 · January 2014

@RachaelA, I was just looking at that one. Does the audio switch too or just the video feed? Do you get video/audio of DD1 and then video/audio of DD2? Any issues with them not matching up (ie getting video for DD1 but audio for DD2)? Is the switch annoying? Does it make any sort of clicking sound or anything? We will likely have white noise in DD's room (as we did for DS when he was little) and I imagine it could be annoying hearing white noise for 5-10 seconds, then silence for 5-10, then white noise for 5-10, and so on. However, I know that some monitors don't pick up ambient noise and only transmit sound over a certain # of decibels. Any experience with this? I suppose if you have two silent rooms and no white noise, you might not know the answer as to whether this is the case or not.

I like the split screen video monitors but obviously they don't pick up the audio on both rooms at the same time...

FmrAFBrat · January 2014

I have 2 monitors. We have our Summer Infant video one we use now for the baby and a Graco audio one we purchased for our toddlers room because we rarely use the video part of the monitor at night. The rest of the day they are where I can see them so it's kinda silly to use a monitor. They do not interfere.

Missa_g · January 2014

I love our Motorola. We have two cameras in the same room, one on each crib. We plan for the boys to stay in cribs until they're teenagers (I wish!) but our plan for a third, if we're lucky enough, is to leave one camera in their room in a corner so we can see both cribs and use the second for the new baby.

ETA: They do pick up sound separately but it's never been a problem for us. As long as we have the volume turned down we don't hear the ambient noise but we can still hear the crying/chattering. It's easy to select to view just one of the cameras if I need to zoom in on someone or want to watch/listen them longer for some reason. It's honestly probably our most used and loved buy so far.

Junebug060609 · January 2014

@peanut2929. The one i am eyeing is a Motorola. It has been highly recommended by several PALers.

Mom2anAngel2 · January 2014

I don't have 2 yet (hopefully we will be blessed soon) but we have the Motorola video monitor and love it. We went on a family vacation this past summer to the OBX and used 3 cameras with 1 monitor (there are 3 babies within 5 months of each other in my family). We set up a camera in each room and just carried 1 monitor around with us. It worked really well and there was no confusion at all. You can also just use the audio part if you don't wish to use the video part. DS tends to "talk" in his sleep, so I will turn the video on to see if he is just "talking" or actually awake. I find it very helpful.

ksyknelvr73 · January 2014

Well, I will admit I haven't 100% thought this through, but right now I have a video monitor for DS and I'm not sure when/if I'll be comfortable to stop using it. Granted, he is older than yours - DS is about to turn 3 and he is in a regular full size bed - but I like being able to see him in there and just make sure he actually IS in his room (he tends to leave his room and sleep in the hallway, he's weird, I know). Prior to DS being in his "big boy bed" we had been using the Angelcare monitor though, and I really want to use it again for this baby. So I think potentially we are looking at having 2 monitors - not right away, b/c this LO will be in our room with us for the first few months, but if I'm still not comfortable not using a monitor for DS then we may.

MickeyM04 · January 2014

Thanks everyone for your tips and recs! We have an Angelcare movement monitor for DS which we obviously stopped using the movement sensor pad like a year ago (and I am aware of the recall and got the part to fix the cord issue), but I was hoping to use that for DD and then just get an audio one for DS since really that's what we have right now basically with using the Angelcare and no movement sensor pad.

However I was then thinking in line with what some of you have said that it would be nice to have a video monitor so I can see DS once we transition him to a toddler bed, and there are lots of video monitors with 2 cameras that allow for side by side viewing or that switch back and forth. But DH is not particularly on board with spending upwards of $200 on a video monitor especially when we've basically just been an audio monitor family for a year.

I told him I would order an audio monitor for DS and then if we have interference or issues he has to let me get a video monitor because I'm not just going to try audio after audio to find out there's some interference issue. He agreed that if the audio monitor interferes with the Angelcare then we can just get a video monitor with 2 cameras so I don't have to try out 2, 3, or 4 audio monitors to find one that doesn't interfere.

adoxyinherear · January 2014

We aren't expecting another, but I love our monitor so much that I had to sneak in. We use an IP camera, acquired after we had the standard audio monitor and a video monitor given to us by a friend, both of which were junk.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/foscam-wireless-ip-camera-black/8830369.p?id=1218911494511&skuId=8830369&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=8830369&extensionType=

It. Is. Awesome. And we've figured that when we have two, we can just rotate the view to check on both of them - it swivels all over. We're able to access the feed both from our computers and from mobile devices, and my husband has made the connection a secure one. Having someone who is a little computer savvy might be a necessity just in getting it set up, but it's a wonderful alternative to the usual baby monitor if your children will be sharing a room. We've never had any of the interference/static issues we had with both of our baby monitors, and the IP camera is something we can use for other things once we no longer need it for LOs.

salsa_wifey · January 2014

I wanted two monitors as well when DS #2 arrived so I tried to add a camera. Turned out my monitor was obsolete so I bought a new monitor with two cameras. If you have Summer Infant, they offer a discount for being a loyal customer or something so I got a small discount by ordering from them directly.

My monitors work great - no intereference.

melly918 · January 2014

I had a Summer Infant video monitor for DS but it is now obsolete so I was unable to buy a second camera. The thing was falling apart anyway so I got the Motorola one with two cameras. The monitor can switch easily between the two cams. I think it has the option of working with up to four cameras I have had it since last fall and love it. Our DS is 4 and is in a downstairs bedroom while we are upstairs and it gives me peace being able to check on him. I will keep the cam in his room as long as he is ok with it. Once he gets to an age where I know he can be trusted more or needs privacy, I will take the cam down.

Junebug060609 · January 2014

theresat858 said:

Honestly, we haven't used a baby monitor in...at least 10 months. We had a video one up at our old place and never installed it after we moved (it's an internet camera). We don't need the sound monitor bc our house is so small. I'm not sure I see the necessity, and probably won't get a monitor for baby #2 if I ever get KU.

My main motivation is that D will be moving to a toddler bed soon. I'd like to be able to see what types of shenanigans he's doing before I open the door

I don't generally use our audio monitor with him (small house here, too), but I did this past week when he was sick with a nasty cold and i wanted to be able to hear if he was having trouble breathing.

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