Baby Monitors

JamieK1882 · July 2014

Ok I apologize but I suck at searching. I seriously just tried searching this topic, and it brought up tons of comments that even mentioned the words "baby monitor." If this is repetitive, please just copy the link to where I should be looking below.

If it's not repetitive, what baby monitor would you recommend? I already added the Snuza to our registry, but was looking for a monitor as well. Do you recommend video or just sound? Thanks!

rox825 · July 2014

I gave H the task of researching and choosing a baby monitor and this Levana Jena is what he went with. The Baby Bargains book says that this brand's newer models (including this one) are pretty good and the reviews are decent, but we obviously haven't used it yet! We decided to go with video for the added reassurance once the baby is sleeping in the nursery.

misterdonut · July 2014

We are going with the infant optics dxr8, as it has had consistently the most and highest reviews (look up the dxr5 its predecessor on amazon). Otherwise the Motorola came in second for us.

mb314 · July 2014

I never found a video monitor to be worth it, given the price. We got the basic Sony Baby Call monitor for DS and it works just fine. I have never regretted not getting a video monitor, particularly since DS slept in our room for the first 8 months.

CarrieAnne09 · July 2014

We got a Motorola video monitor for free with our Airmiles points - we never use them for any other purpose so I thought we might as well. The website I linked below has good reviews of both sound and video monitors

https://www.babygearlab.com/Baby-Monitor-Reviews

rox825 · July 2014

flutterbuggie said:
We will probably just get a basic audio monitor. You can't be staring at the screen all the time anyway. I have heard that the video monitors could be hacked into, anyone know if there is any truth to that?

Certain kinds yes, certain kinds no. That's one of the things I had H look into. I don't know how but with some yes I think it's possible.

CarrieAnne09 · July 2014

rox825 said:

We will probably just get a basic audio monitor. You can't be staring at the screen all the time anyway. I have heard that the video monitors could be hacked into, anyone know if there is any truth to that?
Certain kinds yes, certain kinds no. That's one of the things I had H look into. I don't know how but with some yes I think it's possible.

There are some that it's just a camera that goes straight to your phone using wifi rather than to a separate handheld screen - those ones can be hacked. But from what I understand the video ones like the Motorola with a handheld screen aren't using Wifi so they can't be hacked.

gaillynnforbes · July 2014

Have you heard of Dropcam? (It's kind of like a Nannycam but more sophisticated). We originally got one to keep an eye on the kitties when we went on trips out of town, and we could keep track of what was going on at the house from the Dropcam app on our iPhones. You can buy as many Dropcams as you want for any room in the house. When we found out we were expecting we just bought a second one for the baby's room. You can hear and see everything going on in the room that you have the camera set up in, and keep tabs from the app on your phone from anywhere. We like the idea of being able to "spy" on the baby if we go out for a date some night and leave baby with a babysitter. They are a little pricey, but worth it. Good luck on your search! There are lots of good options out there.

Maelara · July 2014

We got the v-tech video monitor. It's amazing. I will always recommend a video monitor, it helps my sanity oh so much!

phdprocrastinator · July 2014

rox825 said:

We will probably just get a basic audio monitor. You can't be staring at the screen all the time anyway. I have heard that the video monitors could be hacked into, anyone know if there is any truth to that?
Certain kinds yes, certain kinds no. That's one of the things I had H look into. I don't know how but with some yes I think it's possible.

Any monitor that is wi-fi enabled can be hacked into. So we didn't do that!

We registered for a video monitor, but were iffy as to whether it was necessary. I've got to say, I babysat for a friend with just an audio monitor and felt totally BLIND without video. It was very helpful for me, personally, to be able to look at the monitor to determine the reason for DD's cries (sometimes babies are just loud - and you don't want to wake them because they're being loud). Also, once we got to the point of doing CIO, it was helpful to see that DD was actually calming down. There were times that I was about to head into her room, only to see on the monitor that she was actually starting to lay down. She would go from 100% volume crying to asleep in just a few minutes.

We had a Motorola model for DD. After 2.5 years of use, the night vision is no longer working. Of course, we don't use it much now, and audio-only would be fine at this point (sometimes she starts asking for water or something like that, and we like to get it to her before she leaves the room).

Other people never have monitors, but this is one luxury we wouldn't want to pass on. I see the new models allow for panning the room and zoom - way cool! (and useful! DD always managed to sleep just out of range of the video, but a small adjustment would have found her).

Kristil2014 · July 2014

CarrieAnne09 said:
We got a Motorola video monitor for free with our Airmiles points - we never use them for any other purpose so I thought we might as well. The website I linked below has good reviews of both sound and video monitors
https://www.babygearlab.com/Baby-Monitor-Reviews

We got this one too with our air miles points

angelajo19 · July 2014

We have a Summer Infant video monitor and love it. Like PP said it's nice to be able to see why DD is crying and not to head into the room and escalate the crying. Especially right she is going through a little bit of a sleep regression so being able to peek using the monitor in the middle of the night to see if she's just fussing in her sleep or whether she is up and needs some comfort makes a big difference. I highly recommend getting a video monitor if at all possible (one that can't be hacked of course).

It's also just fun to stare at them when they sleep. :-)

jac409 · July 2014

flutterbuggie said:

We will probably just get a basic audio monitor. You can't be staring at the screen all the time anyway. I have heard that the video monitors could be hacked into, anyone know if there is any truth to that?

I have read about this too and that is why we didn't get one. We have a basic Summer Infant audio monitor and it has always worked just fine for us. I have never regretted not having the video monitor, though I know a lot of people really like them.

mockingjay1 · July 2014

I have a question about video monitors (and/or audio)... not to thread jack the OP, but we live in a 2 bedroom in a 4 plex so it's all one level. The bedrooms are next to each other. Is it necessary for me to get any kind of monitor?

Carebella · July 2014

I planned on getting a Snuza based off the feedback here and was dreading having another big research project. So when I noticed they have the Snuza Trio now that offers the alert with audio and video, I called it good.

CarrieAnne09 · July 2014

Kristil2014 said:

We got a Motorola video monitor for free with our Airmiles points - we never use them for any other purpose so I thought we might as well. The website I linked below has good reviews of both sound and video monitors
https://www.babygearlab.com/Baby-Monitor-Reviews
We got this one too with our air miles points

@Kristil2014 - I wish they had more good stuff on airmiles for babies! We honestly never use those points for flights so we have a ton.

Kristil2014 · July 2014

CarrieAnne09 said:

Kristil2014 said:

CarrieAnne09 said:
We got a Motorola video monitor for free with our Airmiles points - we never use them for any other purpose so I thought we might as well. The website I linked below has good reviews of both sound and video monitors
https://www.babygearlab.com/Baby-Monitor-Reviews
We got this one too with our air miles points

@Kristil2014 - I wish they had more good stuff on airmiles for babies! We honestly never use those points for flights so we have a ton.

Awhile back they had a peg high chair that we also picked up. They also had a peg convertible car seat that I wanted, but was too late in ordering. Keep checking out the airmiles site, more good baby stuff is bound to get listed.

CarrieAnne09 · July 2014

Kristil2014 said:

Kristil2014 said:

We got a Motorola video monitor for free with our Airmiles points - we never use them for any other purpose so I thought we might as well. The website I linked below has good reviews of both sound and video monitors
https://www.babygearlab.com/Baby-Monitor-Reviews
We got this one too with our air miles points

@Kristil2014 - I wish they had more good stuff on airmiles for babies! We honestly never use those points for flights so we have a ton.
Awhile back they had a peg high chair that we also picked up. They also had a peg convertible car seat that I wanted, but was too late in ordering. Keep checking out the airmiles site, more good baby stuff is bound to get listed.

I saw the high chair! I was going to look into it actually. (Wow we totally hijacked this threat - sorry ladies!)

Kristil2014 · July 2014

Sorry ladies for hijacking the thread.

phdprocrastinator · August 2014

dmo1371 said:

I have a question about video monitors (and/or audio)... not to thread jack the OP, but we live in a 2 bedroom in a 4 plex so it's all one level. The bedrooms are next to each other. Is it necessary for me to get any kind of monitor?

My house is super small. It's only 750 square feet, and the two rooms are right next to each other. Still love the video monitor.

ShelleyElla22 · August 2014

dmo1371 said:
I have a question about video monitors (and/or audio)... not to thread jack the OP, but we live in a 2 bedroom in a 4 plex so it's all one level. The bedrooms are next to each other. Is it necessary for me to get any kind of monitor?

We have a pretty small one level as well and our boys' bedrooms are directly next to our room. I still can't imagine not having a video monitor. My boys are 3.5 and 2 and I still use it every night.

I have had some issues with my summer video monitor but have heard great things about the Motorola ones.

sparklingwhit · August 2014

I got a security camera that links video to my phone and iPad and Nexus tab. I work for a technology company and one of my vendors hooked me up with it and a second one to put at SIL's house so DH and I can log in from work and see them playing when she starts nannying. I also registered for the Levana movement sensor thingy.

misterdonut · August 2014

We have a dropcam for the dog but not using for baby-- caveat is that is uses your network wifi, so its competing with all devices. Often had lagging or drop issues.

meeshybee · August 2014

jac409 said:

flutterbuggie said:

We will probably just get a basic audio monitor. You can't be staring at the screen all the time anyway. I have heard that the video monitors could be hacked into, anyone know if there is any truth to that?

I have read about this too and that is why we didn't get one. We have a basic Summer Infant audio monitor and it has always worked just fine for us. I have never regretted not having the video monitor, though I know a lot of people really like them.

This exactly. I figure that if there is no wire connected to the monitor somebody somewhere could hack into it, which creeps me out. Our basic audio monitor works just fine. After a few weeks I could tell the difference in their cries (hungry, hurt, upset, etc) so I never felt it was an issue.

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