Product Guide: Monitors

sbaby2019 · November 2017

Please review what you have used or ask any questions in this thread about baby monitors.

Monitor used or considering:
Link/picture:
Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
Audio, video or both?:
Pros:
Cons:
Additional thoughts or questions?:

cups4 · November 2017

My advice is get a video monitor. It will help you see if legs are caught in the crib, if they are too close to the slats, and then ultimately when they start standing and climbing out. We used Motorola with the toddler but are getting a two camera monitor from Amazon that automatically switches between the two cameras every 5 seconds so we can tell who is crying at all at night.

Babysense Video Baby Monitor with Two Digital Cameras, LCD Display, Infrared Night Vision, Two Way Talk Back, Temperature Monitoring, Lullabies, Long Range https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0742CJ6TY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_PhHeAbPY7EHFQ

bwow615 · November 2017

Ditto @cups4, video monitor all the way. We still use ours with DS. We have a summer infant model, my dad got it for us from bru off our registry. It has held up perfectly. I will have to look into whether or not we can add a second camera to it. I think you can but no idea at the moment how to do it.

tincupchalice · November 2017

I just use an audio monitor. Vtech digital audio monitor.

holli0801 · November 2017

Baby monitor app (on iPhones and iPad) was what we would use for naps... it’s free!!... he slept in our room for 9 months so we didn’t need one at night... after he moved into his own room I appreciated the video monitor at night time.. mine is an old hand me down so I’m not even sure what it is!

RachelT1234 · November 2017

Ditto to recommending a video monitor. We started with just audio, but the more mobile our little guy was the more it was needed. We still use the audio monitor, but use an Arlo camera and view the feed through an app. I just saw that Arlo came out with a baby specific video monitor. We've been happy with ours

onesmallcoconut · November 2017

I have the Summer Infant In View video monitor and can toggle up to 4 cameras. Recently got a second camera so now we can keep an eye on DS (2yo) and the new baby next year.

About $160 CAD

Pros: Decent range. Full colour. Zooms in. Has speaker system so you can talk to them (works great for telling your toddler to get back in bed lol)

Cons: Battery drains pretty fast if you keep turning the screen on to look at baby.

Also it's not one that is connected to wifi it's a digital tech one. I've only heard what I can assume to be rumors of wifi monitors being hacked into and people watching your house through them. Creepy AF to think about though, so it was something I wanted to avoid.

Poppy0419 · November 2017

I had a Summer Infant video monitor. And it no longer works because they won’t update the stupid app. So that’s fun. Let me try to figure out which one it was.

sandbar517 · November 2017

I agree that phone/iPad apps work well for naps and stuff, but they definitely drain the battery if you use them all the time. We definitely didn't want/think we needed a video monitor, but someone bought us one as a gift for the shower, and I'm so glad. We love it. We even tried to return it, but at the time they were only sold in Europe (her son works for the company), but I'm pretty sure they're available at Target, Amazon and a lot of other places now. Mine is the dLink DCS-825L monitor, and it has the normal temperature, sound and motion sensors, but the thing I like the best about it is that I can connect to it via the internet, so I can watch it at work, or I can give the username and password to anyone with the internet and they can watch it from anywhere in the world. It also works through an app, so it can drain the battery, too, but now that they're older we leave it off unless we need to check on them for some reason. It plays lullabies, or you can add an SD card with your own songs on it. You can talk to baby through it, take pictures or videos, and it has night vision (which is super creepy, but really helpful).

callthemw · November 2017

I like video monitors but seriously, don't get the Wi-Fi ones! We live in a world of hackers and internet savvy people who can easily hack into cameras. Tech CEO 's know this happens and even they always cover their cameras on their computers.

doraleigh35 · November 2017

I agree with getting a video monitor. We have a Summer infant one for DD and it has worked great. My biggest piece of advice is if you think you will need more than one camera in the future, get it now. We didn't get an extra camera and now DD's monitor is discontinued and I can't find an extra camera for baby #2. We are planning to just buy a new monitor with two cameras. Here is the one that we plan to get: https://www.toysrus.com/product?productId=107532656

cups4 · November 2017

@doraleigh35 @onesmallcoconut does the summer infant monitor switch between the two rooms automatically? I am worried at night if it doesn't switch I won't know who is crying or if they are crying if it only projects one camera at a time without me manually switching.

doraleigh35 · November 2017

@cups4 the one I posted above says it does an 8 second audio and video auto-scan of each room or you can select to view the rooms individually. The current model we have requires you to switch manually.

onesmallcoconut · November 2017

@cups4 I'm fairly certain it's a manual switch as it's one of the older models but haven't tried it yet.

zizzabell523 · November 2017

@callthemw That's the exact reason we don't have a video one. I'm too scared of the pervs out there!

Here's the one we use. We got it from our registry list. Amazon has it for 49.00.

https://www.amazon.com/VTech-DM221-2-Vibrating-Sound-Alert-Intercom/dp/B007NG5UEU/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1511199287&sr=8-4&keywords=baby+monitor+with+2+parent+units&th=1

It's audio only with 2 parent units. Worked great for me to have one in the bedroom and DH to have one in his man-cave basement so if we needed to tag-team at night, the other could hear the pleads for reinforcements lol.

The only negative things I have about it are:
1) Weird noises!! Oh my gosh, it freaked me out. I tried to tell myself it was just frequency noise or a little bug crawling over the mic. I have a feeling deep down it wasn't, though. It got better with time, thankfully.
2) The displays on the parent units have faded over time and constantly being on. We plan to replace with this baby.

cups4 · November 2017

@zizzabell523 there are video ones without using wifi

JNCPro3130 · November 2017

We bought a nest camera. It's not a baby monitor but if we're going to spend the money we wanted something we could use after we don't need it for a baby monitor anymore. I have a cheap sound monitor on my nightstand so I only pull up the nest if I hear DS.

LCKM · November 2017

We bought a Nest camera because we were worried about wifi cameras being hacked. I trust the Nest encryption and figured we could use the camera later for when we are out of town. It is pricier, but high quality and can be used for more purposes. It records video and sound, so I can rewind to see what chain of events led to a certain situations. I hope that helps!

charlestonchew · November 2017

FYI I asked DH to be sure since he's with IT that not all Wi-Fi monitors can be hacked. It depends on if the connection is secure. Older monitors had an issue but newer should be safer. You will know if it's secure if there is a password to access the video.

Ceridwen77 · November 2017

I hate my current video monitor and need a new one anyway so I can have two cameras. I’m thinking about some nest cameras but not sure yet.

sbaby2019 · November 2017

Good tips on having one that's compatible with a second camera! I'll definitely be keeping that in mind!

arteduc8 · November 2017

doraleigh35 said:

I agree with getting a video monitor. We have a Summer infant one for DD and it has worked great. My biggest piece of advice is if you think you will need more than one camera in the future, get it now. We didn't get an extra camera and now DD's monitor is discontinued and I can't find an extra camera for baby #2. We are planning to just buy a new monitor with two cameras. Here is the one that we plan to get: https://www.toysrus.com/product?productId=107532656

Definitely consider a second camera. We didn't and ours is discontinued so finding an extra camera is super expensive. We're considering a home security camera that syncs to our phones. Not sure which yet, so I'm definitely taking these recommendations. I'm concerned about the security, but DH is in IT so he'll do the research. I liked the Samsung video baby monitor one we have. My only complaint is I wish you could remotely control the camera to pan or tilt. When my toddler moves to a bed soon, she'll be able to get out of the view of the camera easily. I highly recommend a video monitor like others have said. It's helped so much with sleep training to see if DD is laying down and trying to settle while crying or standing up and angry. The cry sounds the same, but the body language is very different. We'd always check the camera before going in and interrupting her trying to self settle. Video monitor helps put parents at ease IMO. And it's entertaining to watch them and their little quirks when they are awake and playing in their crib or trying to fall asleep.

smashldp · November 2017

Target has a v-tech one with two cameras on its Black Friday ad. It's $90, I'm going to try to go for it.

lincbeesmom · November 2017

I used the summer infant video monitor for DS. It’s nothing fancy but it does the job. It’s going for around $85 on Amazon right now. There’s probably more updates ones by now since DS is almost 4.

Summer Infant In View Digital Color Video Baby Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I3K1D00/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_.IefAbDQDGSHT

mileswithmyles · November 2017

I need to look up the actual one I have, but I really vote for a video monitor. It really helped with sleep training and just giving me peace of mind that I could look in on him. And it is how we caught him climbing out of his crib shortly after he turned 2.

pandakov · November 2017

I’m old school (RE: cheap)

we’ll probably just use an audio monitor unless someone ends up gifting us a more expensive video monitor.

hotmessmamax3 · November 2017

I am all for the video monitor! I was super anxious when my babies were little- being able to just check in and see their bellies rising and falling to show they were still breathing gave me piece of mind.
Amazon has a bunch of video monitors for Cyber Monday today.

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