baby monitors « Back to Group Discussions

[spotty4]

Do you use one?  Do you plan to use one?  If so, which one do you recommend? 

I know there are a vast variety of options available.  I am interested in hearing why you chose a particular brand or model.  Would you buy it again?  Is there a different one you'd prefer to have? 

Thanks for any and all input!

[dayiscoming2006]

I used one with my first and it was unnecessary. I've always did single level living type situation, so basically, you should be able to hear baby if they need you. If you have baby on a different floor for some reason, then a monitor would be good. 

[Sweet Huck]

We are  inheriting a very basic monitor from my mom (who bought it a few years ago for caring for elderly grandparents). I can't recall the brand, but as long as it's operable and of low-cost to me, I'm very happy to go with it.  While our house is tiny, it is multi-story and the walls are plaster, so I figure a monitor is a good idea. It will be helpful, too, if I need to duck into the front yard to pick the garden or something while baby naps.

[BabySmurf]

We didn't need a monitor until we bought this house when DS was about 3 or 4 months old.  At that point I *thought* we were going to be transferring him to his crib, so I wanted the crazy expensive Angel Care monitor - the one that will alarm if baby stops breathing.  Well, the crib transfer didn't work, not even for naps at that point, and you actually can't use the angel care thingie without it being plugged into the board that senses baby's breathing (becoming disconnected is one of the reasons why it alarmed).  So we couldn't use it. So when DS finally started to be able to be put down for sleeping, I bought the cheapest thing I could find on amazon.  I forget the brand now, but it was 20 bucks, and worked like a dream.  If you turned the volume up loud you could hear him breathing, and it was super sensitive without having to keep it in/near the crib.  DS smashed it at one point, so I got another, "safety first" brand, same deal.  The cheapest on amazon at around 20 bucks, and the same deal.  I don't *need* it most of the time, but it's great if I need to go out side and do yard work or a project down stairs where I wouldn't be able to hear him.  I do use it most days just because I like to know when he's about to wake up so I know I need to wrap up what I am doing - he's never been a schedule oriented kids, so his naps could, and can, be anywhere from 45 min to 3 hours.

I think monitors are a personal preference type of thing unless you would have a problem hearing the baby.  They are cheap and easy to get too, so it's definitely one of those things that you can wait and see on.  I personally like to hear my son sleeping and when he laughs and talks in his sleep, so even though we perhaps don't *need* one most days in a home our size, I like to use it. 

[zjande]

I did rely on our baby monitor a whole lot with my first few babies. I used it for all sorts of things- when we had a 2 story home, when I'd be busy in the noisy laundry room, or the noisy kitchen, outside doing yard & garden work, out in the garage organizing stuff, cleaning out the van, taking my other child out in the backyard, vacuuming.... it came in super handy over and over. I still have the same one tucked into the back of my closet just in case, but now I have so many older children that they just tell me when baby wakes up. My own built in flock of baby monitors.

I don't know the brand and that was never important to me. It was something I picked up at a garage sale eons ago. It's always worked just fine.

I would recommend a baby monitor to anyone. :)