video monitors

[Little L's Mom]

Does anyone have a reccommendation for a good video monitor?

[lunarcleo]

It's not the cheapest monitor out there, but I can now definitely recommend the new "Secure Sounds Digital Handheld Color Video Monitor with Remote Controlled Crib Soother" by Summer Infant.

My SIL highly recommended getting a video monitor when we transitioned DD to her crib (from a co-sleeper bassinet in our bedroom). We tried the Summer Infant Day and Night monitor that we were able to pick up at BRU. My husband and I are both very sensitive to low-level noises (this was part of why we transitioned her from the co-sleeper when we did - I was having a hard time sleeping through the cute little noises she makes while asleep!), so we found that there was way too much static on the 900 MHz connection, even when the volume was turned all the way town. We returned the monitor right away.

I decided to look into digital video monitors to try to get rid of the static. I considered Graco's digital iMonitor, but was scared off by some negative online reviews. I then saw that Summer Infant has this brand new product, which I was able to find on Target.com (http://www.target.com/Summer-Infant-Calming-Sounds-Monitor/dp/B000JFHHO8/sr=1-3/qid=1211925787/ref=sr_1_3/601-3039723-9490511?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Asummer%20infant%20monitor&page=1).

Let me give you some pros and cons of this monitor. First the good stuff: the digital connection is extremely quiet - pretty much no hiss or static, and you can hear as much as you want to from the nursery. The video picture is quite nice - it's a small screen, but you can easily tell whether the baby is asleep or awake without getting out of bed. The biggest bonus of this monitor is the crib soother unit that it comes with. This is an extra piece that screws on through the crib rails. Other brands have separate crib soothers - music boxes and such - the neat thing about this is that you can remotely activate it from the video monitor. I have found that sometimes when I put DD down the crib, I'll get back to bed and see on the monitor that she's probably still asleep, but is restless. I'll press the button to turn on either music or nature sounds, and immediately her body becomes still and she is fast asleep - without me making an extra trip to the nursery! I consider this an invaluable feature. The music or sounds stay on for 20 minutes if you don't turn them off first.

There are a few things that could be better about this. For one thing, the only battery option on the monitor is a special rechargable, and there is no warning when the battery is starting to run low and needs charging. Instead, when it gets too low, it apparently has trouble maintaining the signal with the camera, and will keep entering the "searching for signal" mode, which involves a high pitched beeping noise, perfect for waking you up! We solved this problem by running the long power cord along our headboard and keeping the monitor plugged in at night.

The crib soother also features two vibrating speeds. When I purchased this, I thought this would be a wonderful feature, since DD loves her vibrating bouncy seat and PNP bassinet mattress. However, once I got it installed, I realized the flaw in this design - anything that features bare plastic vibrating up against the rails of a crib is going to sounds like a jackhammer! I was thinking of putting some fabric between the soother unit and the rails, but haven't tried this yet. It is ridiculously loud both in the nursery and over the monitor and hardly even imparts any vibration to the mattress or the crib itself! Not to mention, there are buttons on the video monitor (like for the music) for remotely turning on the vibration. After DH twice woke the baby in the middle of the night when he was reaching to look at the monitor and accidentally turned on the jackhammer feature, he actually took our hot glue gun out and sealed up the two vibration buttons so we can't accidentally hit them.

One other caveat. We realized after a few days that the volume level resets itself to some medium level every time the monitor unit is turned on, so you'll need to put it back to your desired volume. In my case, I keep it very low, and was confused as to why I was suddenly hearing every little movement again throughout the night.

So to make a long story short, I do highly recommend this unit, just don't use the vibrating feature and be prepared to use the AC adapter.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Without finding much info on here, and just going by the Amazon/Target reviews, we ordered the Summer Infant Day and Night Color Handheld Monitor with the 2.5" screen through Target.com. It was on sale for $170 and in my cart, but I was weighing the decision and the price rose to $189:32: We got the matching extra camera for $79 and went through AAA to get 10% off. It arrived in maybe 2 days, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Here it is... http://www.target.com/Handheld-Color-Video-Monitor-Screen/dp/B00020V5A2/sr=1-13/qid=1213038854/ref=sr_1_13/602-5086380-0357443?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Asummer%20monitor&page=1


We'd been using a Graco iMonitor that we loved, but we now felt the need to see what was going on in DD's room, esp. since she'll be transitioning to a bigger bed soon. Once we charged it and set up cameras for both rooms, we were amazed by the picture and sound quality. The distance on this thing is great, too! We can stand in the back of our yard and see clearly into each kid's room! We haven't tried it out down the street, so we're not sure exactly how far it will reach. It is not digital, so others could see our DC potentially, but I doubt that will happen. DH is enjoy the capability of putting the monitor wherever he's having breakfast or playing chess online. We've only had it for less than a week, but for now we're loving it! :)

[BabyMine]

http://www.4ucam.com/

We have been through several monitors and this one works the best for us. I like that I can change the direction of the camera remotely.

[WatchingThemGrow]

http://www.4ucam.com/

We have been through several monitors and this one works the best for us. I like that I can change the direction of the camera remotely.

So you can do two rooms with the pan/tilt? I couldn't find a lot of reviews for it, so I was cautious. Is this the site you bought it from?

[BabyMine]

Yes, we just got the second camera for our new baby. We haven't put it up yet. I love my camera. The pan/tilt is awsome. Couple things though. It is 2.4ghz so make sure your cordless is 5.4ghz. The xbox will interfere with it when it is plugged in. We keep it unplugged. They are very quick to ship.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Yes, we just got the second camera for our new baby. We haven't put it up yet. I love my camera. The pan/tilt is awsome. Couple things though. It is 2.4ghz so make sure your cordless is 5.4ghz. The xbox will interfere with it when it is plugged in. We keep it unplugged. They are very quick to ship.

Does it mess with your wireless network? I think that was the problem I may have read about with some 2.4 Ghz models. Ours is 900 analog, so it shouldn't interfere. We don't have the Xbox or cordless phones, but we wish we did as I can never find my cell!

[BabyMine]

It does not mess with our network. We have a Linksys compact wirless G internet wireless camera right under this camera. We use the linksys for the inlaws so they can see over the internet. But not a problem with interference.

[Little L's Mom]

This is fantastic information--thank you! I appreciate everyone's time and knowledge on this--thanks.

[BabyMine]

I forgot to add. These type of units eat batteries. We also got the Snap-on, 3 hours, rechargeable MiNH-battery for 860QN monitor. We just charge it every night. It stays on the unit and we never had to worry about batteries again. We got it from the same site.

[cellenly]

This doesn't have any fancy features.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BM-242A-N&cpc=SCH

We've been using the geeks.com monitor for 2 years, and after we got rid of cordless in our room, it's been fine. It hasn't interfered w/ our wireless/netgear g. We've also bought a 2nd one & use it to switch b/w the 2 baby rooms. The 2nd one has been fine.
Our friends also use 2 of them for their two kids, and they haven't had any issues w/ their home (also have cordless phones & wireless net). Our home is 1 story a bit over 2000 sqft, theirs is 2 stories a bit for 4000 sqft.