baby monitors

[jojo2324]

I was just wondering what baby monitors you all are using out there. I was interested in the FP Direct Link, until I read several scathing reviews on babygear.com. What appealed to me most was the fact that it can (supposedly )scramble the waves so that others can't hear you.
Also, we have a cordless phone that works on 900 mhz, and I'm sure that can pose a problem with some monitors. Also, I don't know how I feel about the whole lights and sounds idea. I'll be stressed out enough (and probably sleeping with the baby in its crib to make sure he's fine!)and I don't know that me running to check every time the light goes off is beneficial to me or the baby. I know that a lot of monitors are personal preference and trial-and-error, but I would like to hear what others think. Thanks!

[TaraNY]

Personally, I think the light feature is great. I've had many a long, hot shower in peace because I could see from the monitor display that my baby wasn't crying or even stirring...with the water running, I wouldn't have been able to hear those things. Ditto for hair drying, or being in the basement 2 floors away doing laundry.

As for reception, everyone's experience will be different. What works perfectly for some people might not work for you at all. It totally depends on what phone you have, what your neighbors have, etc. We don't get any phone interference on our FP Sound & Lights 900mhz (but we have a 2.4ghz cordless) but we do get interference from our microwave!

[Elaine]

I agree with Tara -- the light feature is great, esp. for showering, hair drying, vacuuming, stuff like that. We have the Graco 900MHz and haven't had any problems with interference, except we notice that if the receiver is plugged into the outlet on the outside wall of the house, there is a lot more static. So we just moved it to the outlet on one of the inside walls.

I don't know how far away from the baby's room you will be at night, but my experience was that we all slept better without using the monitor at night. My daughter makes a lot of little noises, snorts, snuffles, etc. while she sleeps and I think early on I probably interfered with her normal sleep pattern because I thought that every little sound meant I had to get up and go to her. After about the first month, and total sleep deprivation, I decided to turn off the monitor. We are just across the hall, anyway, and always hear her when she really needs us (i.e., time to eat). JMHO

[coreysmom]

I bought a Fisher Price Vibrating Monitor earlier this year and love it. You can turn the vibrating off, and there is a light display too. Usually if I have the light display on and the sound off, I'll turn on the sound if the light display goes off.

If I'm doing this right, here's an old post from me about it:
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dcforum/DCForumID5/198.html

Good luck!