baby monitor help

[steven888]

Hi, does anyone have any recommendations for a baby monitor? Which one did you choose and which one was your second choice? Why did you choose one over the other?

I've been looking at the Summer Infant Day and Night Handheld Color Video Monitor but haven't really done any comparisons. I have also considered buying a security camera setup from Costco as an alternative but that setup would not be portable, which is something that I would prefer.

Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thank you

[jhrabosk]

I never felt the need to have a video monitor, so unfortunately I can't comment on that. Nine times out of 10, I can go into my DD's room without disturbing her.

We chose the Sony multi-channel monitor. Other than some occasional feedback issues, we've been satisfied. It has a good long range (although we live in a small place, so it really doesn't matter).

Good luck!

[WatchingThemGrow]

We've enjoyed that Summer Video monitor (the blue one) for a couple weeks now. Very fun. We have it set up for 2 rooms.

[steven888]

Thanks for your suggestions. Anyone else absolutely love your video monitor? Which one did you purchase? Thanks in advance.

[eliasmom]

We have the Summer Infant Quiet Sounds handheld video monitor - we first had the Sony BabyCall (audio only). I wish I would have bought the video monitor from the beginning.

It is so useful to be able to see if my DD is "really" awake or "really" upset without peeking into her room. I often couldn't tell from audio alone - my DD sometimes wakes up crying from her nap but is NOT really awake yet. It turns out that if I give her a little bit of time to really wake up, she is in a much better mood. If I go in there immediately, well, those are the difficult afternoons. ;)

The picture is really pretty good and I get much less interference than I did with the BabyCall. When I was pg and looking at monitors, I thought I would check a video monitor constantly and figured audio would do just fine. And it does. But it gives DH and me a lot of peace of mind to be able to see what is going on in DD's room without her seeing us.

HTH!

[WatchingThemGrow]

We have the Summer Infant Quiet Sounds handheld video monitor - we first had the Sony BabyCall (audio only). I wish I would have bought the video monitor from the beginning.

It is so useful to be able to see if my DD is "really" awake or "really" upset without peeking into her room. I often couldn't tell from audio alone - my DD sometimes wakes up crying from her nap but is NOT really awake yet. It turns out that if I give her a little bit of time to really wake up, she is in a much better mood. If I go in there immediately, well, those are the difficult afternoons. ;)

The picture is really pretty good and I get much less interference than I did with the BabyCall. When I was pg and looking at monitors, I thought I would check a video monitor constantly and figured audio would do just fine. And it does. But it gives DH and me a lot of peace of mind to be able to see what is going on in DD's room without her seeing us.

HTH!

Oops- I was wrong. We have the same one you have...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00020V5A2/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

It's so much fun to keep on doing whatever I want and just be able to peek in at either kid to know if it is REALLY time to go get them or not. BIL took a look at the monitor when we were out on the kayak last week at the beach. He found DD quietly taking off a poopy diaper. He grabbed her before it got REALLY spread around. Now, when we see one shoulder out of the sleepsack, we dart in there!

I love that you can turn the video off and still just have an audio monitor to save the battery.

[eliasmom]

BIL took a look at the monitor when we were out on the kayak last week at the beach. He found DD quietly taking off a poopy diaper. He grabbed her before it got REALLY spread around. Now, when we see one shoulder out of the sleepsack, we dart in there!

THAT is exactly why this thing is invaluable! I've noticed that when DD is particularly quiet (and I suspect she is not yet asleep), it's worth checking out the video, but I generally leave it on audio.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Another great thing is that she has NOT jumped out of the crib since we got it. When I see a leg going up, I yell. The leg goes back down.

[cath_b]

Hi, does anyone have any recommendations for a baby monitor? Which one did you choose and which one was your second choice? Why did you choose one over the other?

I've been looking at the Summer Infant Day and Night Handheld Color Video Monitor but haven't really done any comparisons. I have also considered buying a security camera setup from Costco as an alternative but that setup would not be portable, which is something that I would prefer.

Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thank you

A friend gave us the Summer Infant Day and Night Handheld Color Video Monitor off our baby registry and loved it from day one. It is clear, it has color, it has infra red so it works in complete darkness, and a complete life saver for those times when we need to leave our son in his crib for a little bit. We've not had real problem with our monitor except for the dead battery because we left it plugged in all the time. Read some reviews about cross reception and seeing someone else' baby on the monitor. This might be the case for townhouses, condos and apartments but we've never had that problem in the house.

Our second choice was the Philips Baby Monitor with DECT Technology. This has very good reviews but has no monitor and very pricey. We decided against this one.

Like you, we considered the Costco security set up but you need to be in front of your monitor to see what your baby is doing. The handheld monitor let's us bring him with us even when he's in his crib. We decided against this one as well.

Hope this helped.

[mominmarch]

We also have the summer video one... not sure what model, but we got it at Target. At first, we had just an audio monitor (the FP one) and we were fine with it, but around 9 months, my child started standing up in the crib and couldn't get down, she would scream and scream. We also CIO'd. I can't tell you how invaluable the video monitor was when someone recommended it then and we bought it -- I could watch her and know that she was fine. I will never forget the very first time we saw her go from sitting to laying back down, and from standing all the way down too. It felt so incredibly victorious. Of course, we were first time parents and real worrywarts, but I still derived great comfort from being able to watch her to make sure she was fine. My child was (is) a very light sleeper, so we really can't go into to check her as she wakes up now about 50% of the time if we do that. So now, I just pop on the video before I go to bed at night for a few seconds, and then if she cries in the middle of the night (if she is still laying down crying, then she is fine to leave alone, but if she stands up, she throws out her lovie and other items and one of us generally needs to go in). I truly do feel like the video monitor was probably our best purchase ever.