Favorite baby monitor?

[whitneyg]

We are moving to a two-level house tomorrow and will need to get a baby monitor since the bedrooms are both upstairs. We co-sleep, but put DD in her crib for the first part of the night before we go to bed. Do any of you have recommendations for a good, simple monitor that you like?

Thanks,
Whitney

[Vvivo]

We use the Graco UltraClear 49Mhz Baby Monitor. It is simple. Just sound (no video or motion). It was cheap -- only $27 on Amazon. It works well. And it also serves as a white noise machine! When you turn the baby unit off and the parent unit on, you get white noise from the parent unit. My only complaint is that there is no warning for when the batteries in the parent unit are dying or dead.

[Comtessa]

We have the Graco iMonitor Vibe and really love it. It's a bit more expensive than other models, but IMO it's worth every penny.

Here's all the reasons I like it:

• there are 2 parent units, so we can keep one in our bedroom and another in the living room - and since the darn things get misplaced so often, it's good to have two
• parent units have rechargeable batteries and sit on a base like a cordless phone - they can also be plugged directly into the wall - so they're easy to recharge and keep charged, but simple to grab off the base and cart around with you
• when batteries are getting low on parent units they have a super-loud beep and flashing red light, so you're never surprised by a monitor dying in the middle of the night
• different volume levels for the parent unit, including a vibration-only setting so that the unit vibrates when any noise is picked up by the baby unit
• persistent, loud alert from parent unit if the baby unit is unplugged or turned off (great if you have older kids who like to mess around with the baby monitor)
• really, really quiet - it picks up almost no "background noise" so it's not crackly and annoying when it's on. In fact, I usually leave the parent units on all the time -- I'm really sensitive to electronic noise, but I don't even notice these. When the baby rolls over in bed, or shifts even a little, though, you can hear it very easily. The sound quality is great.
• simple, lightweight little parent units can clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket -- I just tuck mine in my pocket when I'm going outside to hang clothes on the line, or do other chores. They work at a fair distance from the house, too.

Okay, sales pitch over. But I really, really like this baby monitor and highly recommend it. Moreover, there isn't anything I don't like about it! (Except maybe that it doesn't come in designer colors?)

[momto4plus4]

We have the Sony babyCall and love it. I'm typing one-handed while the babe nurses or I'd give you more details!

[newmum35]

I spent a long time researching baby monitors online several years ago. Although it wasnt cheap we ended up getting a security camera and a small tv This is because I wanted sound AND color video, wanted it to see clear even in dim rooms, and I did not want wireless (although mine does convert to wireless if I buy a special adapter) for those who are looking for the video type monitors theres a whole 'nother world of possibilities if you will consider security cameras and it of course will be useful later on should you decide to use it for something else

[Addie]

Originally Posted by momto4plus4

We have the Sony babyCall and love it. I'm typing one-handed while the babe nurses or I'd give you more details!

We have this, too. Great, simple workhorse of a monitor.

[amydiane]

Originally Posted by Comtessa

We have the Graco iMonitor Vibe and really love it. It's a bit more expensive than other models, but IMO it's worth every penny.

We have the slightly older version of this (ours doesn't vibrate) and we've been very happy with it. The batteries did eventually stop holding a charge very well, but we bought replacements on Amazon for like $3.