Product Spotlight: Baby Monitors

jvk2012 · August 2019

Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product. This week we're talking Baby Monitors!

Wifi or not?
Audio? Video? Both?
Can you add more than one camera? If so, how does it scan between them?
How is battery life?
How is reception?
If video, how is the visibility when the room is dark?
Any other features you love or hate?

lanie1000 · August 2019

We have the Infant Optics for DD.

Wifi: It doesn’t use WiFi which was a plus for my husband when he picked it out.
Video or Audio: It’s both video and audio. I like being able to see if she’s truly awake or just making noises in her sleep.
Visibility: Visibility at night is just as good as during the day...which is not great. I mean, you can see well enough, but it’s definitely not high definition.
Multi-camera: We have two cameras set up so we can scan or switch between the two depending on where she is in the crib.
Battery: Battery life is decent. It lasts the whole night and then we charge it during the day.
Reception: this can be a challenge. It doesn’t like to work when the microwave is on or when we’re watching AppleTV. My husband had to remedy this by making it a little foil-lined box to sit in.
Features: I’m sure most video monitors do this, but we really find the temperature handy. Our house isn’t always consistent so it’s helpful to know if we need to close a window or turn on a fan to keep baby girl comfy.
Would I buy it again?: probably not. The reception issues and video quality are reasons enough for me to want to at least look into something a little better.

doodleoodle · September 2019

We have the Philips Advent Dect SCD560

Wifi: Idk 🤷‍♀️ I can see the WiFi bars on it, but it’s never been connected to our WiFi.
Video or Audio: Audio only. The thought of people being able to hack into the monitor and see the baby really turned me off to video.
Battery: Lasts FOREVER
Reception: We have a decent sized house and have never had any issues, and it can also be used while I’m outside.
Features: Displays the temp and warns you if it is too hot or too cold, you have the option to cut out background noise like a sound machine and have the monitor only pick up louder noises, the baby unit doubles as a night light and plays lullabies for about 10 minutes, you can also push a button on the parent unit to talk to the baby.
Would I buy it again?: Definitely.

craftywitch · September 2019

I am just a party pooper on all the products lol... I’m anti-monitor. When we had a big suburban house we kept the doors cracked. Now that we live in 800sqft I can hear my toddler fart so I can’t imagine needing a monitor. I will get up for screaming, but otherwise I’m a better mom if I’m not woken or worried over every little thing.

jvk2012 · September 2019

We also have the Infant Optics DXR-8

Wifi or not?
It's not wireless as in it doesn't connect to the internet. For security purposes we did not one that was able to be hacked or connected to the internet. We also didn't want to have babysitters/grandparents/etc download the app and give the monitor password if they were to babysit. This way we just leave the video unit for someone to watch if they are babysititng.

Audio? Video? Both?
Both. The video portion was very helpful while sleep training so we could figure out if she was up or just yelling. We also had to use it for awhile to make sure she wasn't trying to escape MOTN when she would wake up and be mad at us. Once we transition her to a bed, I will like the video so I can see if she is alseep and in bed.

Can you add more than one camera? If so, how does it scan between them?
You can add another camera which we may do for the new baby. Also researching other camera options because I would prefer to have the volume off in DD's room and the sound on in the baby's room but not sure that would be possible.

How is battery life?
Good. I plug it in every night because it doesn't typically last overnight for us.

How is reception?
Good. Sometimes it cuts out if we are downloading a lot on the internet but it's never really been an issue.

If video, how is the visibility when the room is dark?
During the day it's in color. At night it's not. Ours is set up across the bedroom from her crib and I can see well enough to know if she is laying down, tossing and turning, or standing up.

Any other features you love or hate?
I had an issue with the camera at one point and their customer service was great. I like that you can talk through it to the child, but we have only done that a few times recently. The temperature feature is nice as well although it is usually off by a few degrees but it gives us the general idea of the temperature in her room.

Would I buy it again?
Absolutely!

jvk2012 · September 2019

@craftywitch, I sleep with the sound off but I like the video part for sleep training. I also like the monitor so I can do things like go in the basement or sit outside without wondering if she is awake or not. Especially when she was little and couldn't yell as loud.

TennisLove30 · September 2019

I used a cheapie $20 monitor from Target with my daughter. It only had sound. It lasted 3 years. We’ll probably do the same for this one.

zseirecarg · September 2019

We currently have and use the Summer Infant Pixel and will buy a second camera for it. We had (and is now at my parents) the Samsung Brightview and got the Pixel for reasons I'll list below

Wifi or not? Neither have WiFi someone in my last BMB's got hacked and someone was watching her/her baby never ever. PSA, don't get a wifi monitor.
Audio? Video? Both? Video and Audio
Can you add more than one camera? If so, how does it scan between them? Yes for both - but I am not sure how it scans.
How is battery life? Both were good for one 2hr + nap and the amount of time is stayed up while babe was sleeping at night. Neither would make it naps and through the night.
How is reception? Pixel, great. Brighview, not as great
If video, how is the visibility when the room is dark? This is one of the main reasons we switched to the pixel from the brghtview. The BV has a sensor on the camera to turn it to nighttime mode, and if there was the littlest bit of light it wouldn't switch and I couldn't see a thing. Very annoying.
Any other features you love or hate? VOX (aka voice activation), so this is huge IMO. This means your monitor will go to sleep when there is no sound being heard by the camera. Most monitors have VOX but there are settings within that that are important. The Brightview is better in this category, the VOX silenced the audio AND the video. So at night when we were sleeping it would only wake the monitor and audio when it detected sound. The Pixel ONLY turns the monitor off, and it manually has to be shut off each time it wakes if it is plugged in, which is not ideal at all. The audio (if turned on) is always on, so there is a bit of a hum even if the baby is silent. Each has a setting for low and higher detection.
Also - the Brightview battery swelled and required us to replace it after about a year. The monitor still worked, but had to be plugged in, in the meantime.

jessieR358 · September 2019

We have the infant optics. We live in a long ranch style home and I needed one with long range reception. It still doesn’t quite reach the nursery all the time, but it’s the best I could find. I went through 3. I scan it between the 2 yo and 4yo room.
I would buy it again.

kiwi2628 · September 2019

We bought the Nanit for our last one.

Wifi or not? Yes to wifi. We have pretty secure passwords on our home wifi, we dont use it elsewhere except friends or inlaws house for a night or so, and we feel pretty comfortable with wifi. Plus its great to check in if I am out at work or something and I wanna see how the nanny is doing with him.
Audio? Video? Both? We have both but I never use the audio
Can you add more than one camera? If so, how does it scan between them? Not sure TBH, I have to figure that out since we are absolutely getting another
How is battery life? The battery for travel is great but it is a plug in so no battery issues
How is reception? 100%. So clear in both light and dark
If video, how is the visibility when the room is dark? see above
Any other features you love or hate? You can add on tracking so it will tell you (and show you with video) when you baby woke up throughout the night (since they wake up so much and you dont even know). It was great for sleep training to be able to see when he actually woke up to learn his patterns and stuff. We will absolutely be getting another one.

brookert615 · September 2019

I think we will probably go with the Nanit with the swaddle so I’m glad to hear good things about the camera! I was dead set on the Owlet and then I stumbled upon the EMF radiation hole and after digging so much I threw in the towel!

chipsnsalsa20 · September 2019

@craftywitch I’m with you on that one, but we will be moving into a bigger apartment when baby arrives that way the boys (I love saying that 🥰) will have their own room. So, that’s been making me consider some type of indoor surveillance camera if not an actual monitor. But even then I couldn’t see myself looking out for every move and sound coming from it. Kinda just want to keep an eye on them making sure DS1 isn’t being a total butthole to baby brother.

leksiL · September 2019

@jvk2012 yesssssssss - I used to get all my weeding done during nap time and didn't want her waking up and crying for a long time without me hearing. Now we weed together but babies are not so easy.

@craftywitch - I also turn the sound off at night, and agree that waking up for every little peep out of baby is not for me. But I like having the monitor especially for naptime, since my almost 3 year old can't open the door by herself yet.

@brookert615 - having that much information about baby would not help my neurosis haha. I think the whole Nanit/Owlet thing is predatory on worried parents and I wouldn't support that - maybe an early UO.

brookert615 · September 2019

@leksiL I get how it can definitely make people more worried. The problem is I'm already high-worry and I'm hoping the two cancel each other out haha.

leksiL · September 2019

@brookert615 I hope it helps you.

kiwi2628 · September 2019

@leksiL I am stupidly laid back as a mom and I love my nanit. I never got the swaddle (didn’t even know there was one), but it’s mostly good if you are into nap/sleep training. I never have the sound on, not even during the day. I mostly just check it at the end of nap time to see if he’s already awake or if I need to give him 10 more minutes. But the sleep tracker for sleep training was clutch

leksiL · September 2019

@kiwi2628 we never sleep trained so I am completely ignorant on how something like that would help.

brookert615 · December 2019

Reviving this thread because we just got an awesome deal on this and wanted to share! It’s on sale which is 50 off original price and then with the email sign up code you get another 25 off! So $174 after all of the discounts!

https://www.mysmartbeat.com/buy

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