Baby monitors

  • Thread starter Thread starter mjt
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utter waste of time, those movement things make you paranoid, once you've had a baby you won't bother with any of this crap with the second, save yourself the dosh now. If your house is big enough just get a basic one so you can hear when he/she wakes if not don't bother
 
MrMoonX said:
utter waste of time, those movement things make you paranoid, once you've had a baby you won't bother with any of this crap with the second, save yourself the dosh now. If your house is big enough just get a basic one so you can hear when he/she wakes if not don't bother
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I concur!
 
We got an AngelCare one, it's more for peace of mind than anything. If you get one be prepared for the occasional panic where the alarm goes off, usually when baby decides to curl up in one corner of the cot.

I'm glad we had an audio monitor. Around six months ago we woke in the night to hear our son whimpering on the monitor. His temperature had spiked and we couldn't wake him; turned out he'd had a febrile convulsion but could easily have been something more sinister.
 
A basic audio one is useful. As you get more experienced your ear become more attuned to the babies and kids noises. They are still useful as you are so tired you won't hear as well. So the monitor is handy.
 
We've got a video BT one with seperate display unit:

http://www.shop.bt.com/products/bt-video-baby-monitor-7500-lightshow-078690-9V8G.html

Got it cheap on Amazon and it's pretty good, have it on a camera tripod next to the cot. Normally just have it on audio only but the video is useful to check on her every now and again. Comes with a charger base and also can just plug in a micro USB lead.

It plays white noise which works well with our daughter. Video res is ok, but could be better - the night vision is very good.

Pressure pads are too much hassle.
 
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We bought a Motorola video monitor. You have to have the camera pretty close to the cot to be able to see anything, and it's pretty terrible at night. Stopped using the camera after a while and just used it as audio on the other side of the room because he just kept grabbing the power lead and pulling it down. So I'd say, pointless getting a video one unless you get a really good quality one, but audio is handy for newborns.
 
Rather than go for a monitor I fitted an infra red ip camera in our babies room, which does audio as well. You view it using a browser on any device. We really like it, anywhere in the house you get a crystal clear image of him (night vision is as clear as bright daylight) in his cot and can steer the camera to where you want it.

No way we'd hear him crying from his room if we have doors shut all the way over in our living rooms in the evening so it's nice to be able to hear him and then quickly look in on him on the camera before we go up...
 
Angelcare. It also tells you the approx temperature in there as well which is useful.

We only use the pad when she's ill though as when she's not she moves all over the place and has quite a big cot so moves out of range - alarm goes off.
 
Why do people want to see the temperature. Surely you know if it's too hot or cold and unless you have some wildly variations in temperature why bother? Pretty sure my kids bedrooms were the right temperature and probably will be the same tomorrow.

Bolt on junk. Helicopter parenting.
 
Jez said:
Rather than go for a monitor I fitted an infra red ip camera in our babies room, which does audio as well. You view it using a browser on any device. We really like it, anywhere in the house you get a crystal clear image of him (night vision is as clear as bright daylight) in his cot and can steer the camera to where you want it.

No way we'd hear him crying from his room if we have doors shut all the way over in our living rooms in the evening so it's nice to be able to hear him and then quickly look in on him on the camera before we go up...
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We have one of these also, I can get the app on my PC/Phone so can always check on him. We are in a biggish house so it's nice just being able to check that rather than going into his room to see if he's awake in the morning etc.

We do have a standard baby monitor as well.
 
Get a pressure pad one, because if something happens for the sake of a few extra quid and a clicking noise you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

Our first baby died at 4 days old, during the night.

For our subsequent children we had a pressure pad monitor (a Johnsons then an Angelcare). Our second had one instance of tripping the alarm, we went to her and she wasn't breathing, the alarm was set to 20 seconds so by the time we got to the cot she hadn't breathed for almost a minute. Jolting her out got her breathing again but she spent the rest of the night in hospital being checked over.

Whether she would have started again on her own, probably, but the alternative was unthinkable in that stage of our lives. It paid for itself a thousand times over in one instant.
 
SickAsAParrot said:
Get a pressure pad one, because if something happens for the sake of a few extra quid and a clicking noise you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

Our first baby died at 4 days old, during the night.

For our subsequent children we had a pressure pad monitor (a Johnsons then an Angelcare). Our second had one instance of tripping the alarm, we went to her and she wasn't breathing, the alarm was set to 20 seconds so by the time we got to the cot she hadn't breathed for almost a minute. Jolting her out got her breathing again but she spent the rest of the night in hospital being checked over.

Whether she would have started again on her own, probably, but the alternative was unthinkable in that stage of our lives. It paid for itself a thousand times over in one instant.
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Sorry to hear that, devastating :(

I don't think there's anything wrong with doing everything in your will to ensure your child's safety. If the tools are there to be used, use them.
 
I have to say, having a video monitor is very handy as well because being the lazy git that I am, when she makes a massive amount of noise in the night, I can safely see what she is up to from the comfort of my bed and make a decision based on the video feed as to if I need to get up and see her or not. I.E. crying whilst laying down = bad dream will calm herself, stay in bed. Crying whilst standing up = bad dream and she will not settle, get up and out of bed.
 
Having read some of the replies in this thread I'd go for the best that money could buy. Fingers crossed you'll spend £whatever on an all singing, all dancing monitor, and hopefully you'll never need any of the non standard alarm functions and you can bitch about it to your friends about what a waste of money it is.

However for the sake of a few extra quid it could save your babies life - you'll probably never need it, but why take the chance?

We only had standard baby monitors for my two, if I'd read this thread 5 years back we'd have had a much more comprehensive one.
 
i use a motorola video one. baby crying, turn on monitor, see her hunting for dummy, she finds it and gets back off to sleep.

without the video youd get up, walk to her room by which point she could be nodding off and you disturb her.

we had a pressure one which previously which would go off quite a bit with false alarms so ditched it in the end. the monitor ones worked well for us as is what id recommend.
 
We just got a fairly basic Tomy one for our son. It's audio only but also has a night light on it and can play music as well which sometimes comes in handy to sooth him.
We didn't go for a pressure mat one as my brother in law had one and they said they were in a constant of worry with it as it kept going off when their daughter was fine but as some of the posts on this thread show, sometimes you only see the value in these things when it's too late :(.
 
Can anyone recommend an infra-red camera thingy that can be coupled with an iPhone app?

We used to have a simple walkie talkie one, now (20mths old) we just listen out for him as he makes enough noise if he wants something or needs help re-settling, but for number two I might consider the sensor pads if they don't give off too many false alarms, as I'm sure each alarm will cause us a micro heart attack!
 
Pressure mats are fine if used properly. A good one will have two mats that can be used with one or both. One is fine until they start wriggling around then you need the two. Any false alarms are usually mats not fitted correctly.

Cameras are next to useless, they will not tell you baby has stopped breathing.
 
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