Advice on Baby Monitors?? (X-post from babybumps)

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youreachristianman95

New member
Hello Predads!

I have been tasked with finding a baby monitor and it is a bit overwhelming looking at all of these different models. I really want to get a top of the line one as I plan to use it for this baby and hopefully another :) Can any of you please recommend some or let me know some to definitely avoid?

Thanks so much!
 
@youreachristianman95 Just a minor suggestion in case it's applicable:

If your dwelling isn't too large and you're not an extremely heavy sleeper consider not using a monitor. You'll likely hear the baby making a noise even if you don't have one.

If you haven't considered it I might suggest having the kiddo sleep in your room for the first few months anyhow in a bassinet or a pack and play with a bassinet. Getting up every 2 hours is a lot easier when you don't need to trek across the house/hall to the baby's room.

We went without a monitor easily. The biggest thing with having one is that it'll kind of keep you awake, or wake you up when you don't need to wake up. The little ones will wake themselves up multiple times in the night and won't always need help falling back asleep.

Consider it, or at least maybe try and go without it for a little while. If it seems like it's necessary at any point just pick up one at your local big box store that fits into your budget. Honestly, they're glorified walkie-talkies ;)
 
@linkb I concur. We have a monitor and haven't used it except maybe once or twice while in the shower. My son is 4.5 months. We are considering starting to use it soon though, now that he will be moving into his own room soon.
 
@linkb I hear you guys. We will definitely have the baby in our room for the first few months probably. I think for our peace of mind we will get one, but I really wasn't thinking about the fact they the baby will be in the room for that long... thanks!
 
@jimmykiff That's what I am looking at now. A few people have suggested it. I just don't understand where you put the movement sensor thing... its it just under the sheet? Also it looks like the sound monitor and video monitor are one thing. Is that true or are the separate? Where did you place yours?
 
@youreachristianman95 For the sensor pad you put a thin piece of wood on top of the spring thing under the mattress...put the sensor on that and then the mattress over that. It all shows up on one monitor. You can turn any aspect on or off. Infrared camera is automatic. You can move the camera or zoom in from your handheld monitor.
 
@youreachristianman95 I have a big enough house that we needed it. I really like having the video monitor as we can see her start to thrash around and get into her room fast enough that we can sooth her back to sleep. If we wait for the screaming, she is up for good.

We have an Infant Optics, which is relatively cheap but works fine. Its major downside is that it killed our wireless network when in use until I got a new wireless router that has a 5 MHz band.
 
@youreachristianman95 Just a note if you decide to go the video monitor route, make sure you find one that allows multiple cameras if you are planning on using this for more than one kid. Also you may want to check out the book "Baby Bargains". They rank everything and can give you a great rundown of the monitors that are out there.
 
@youreachristianman95 Wireless IP camera. You can do everything a baby monitor can do from an old computer or tablet or even your cell. This is a bit harder to setup (if you have 0 experience) but will save you $$$ in the long run.

I went the dropcam route, at $150 and no local DVR it isn't for everyone. There are plenty of great cams around $90.
 
@dyron I got a Foscam 8910 for about $85 on Amazon, they even sell them in two packs for $170. It's wireless with pan/tilt, two-way audio, night vision, and motion-detection. You can monitor and control it from any web browser, and there are some decent smartphone/tablet apps for this purpose as well. You can upload images at intervals, on schedule, or upon motion or sound detection to an FTP server(or sent in an email), so it's got potential as a decent security/nanny cam as well.
 
@youreachristianman95 Do not buy a boxed monitor set that you can only use for babies and that is exorbitantly priced and adds a device to carry around with you.

Most people, and likely you, have several smartphones or tablets lying around. Either ones you currently use or old ones that would still be useful for this. There are lots of apps to convert old phones into dedicated baby monitors, but what I did was got an IP Camera.

In fact, I got this IP Camera.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16881103063

You get that and download mydlink from the appstore/playstore and you have a baby monitor that you can repurpose for security later. It has audio, night vision, and you can view it from nearly any screen in your house, be it computer or smartphone or tablet.

I use it all the time. If we can't hear the baby and get worried that it stopped breathing (sounds weird, but you'll worry about that) we just pop up the phone app and voila. Living baby on the screen.

I got mine on sale for like $56. You can also get a model for a bit more that acts as a wifi range extender as well.

So you can spend $50 - $100 for a device you'll, use until it breaks or spend $150 - $300 on a monitor you'll use once or twice and sell for half that. I went with option a.
 
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