need advice - video baby monitor

[vtshag]

Hello all!

I am looking to buy a video monitor. I have a non-video monitor but my baby girl has stopped making any noise at all when she wakes up! So I think being able to see into her room and seeing what she's up to would make things easier.

Anybody have any advice on the best type to buy? I have seen a Summer Infant handheld model that is reviewed well on Target, but that's the only research I've done. Would love to get tried and true advice from actual users out there!

Thank you...

[MommytoEliana]

No real advice, but the Summer ones were highly recommended in the latest issue of Baby Bargains. I'm trying to decide whether to splurge on a video monitor or just get a new audio monitor for this baby. Decisions, decisions!

[Nyfeara]

We have the Summer Infant BabyTouch Digital Video Monitor. It has the two-way talk option, pan and zoom functions, and can handle 2 cameras. We'll be adding camera #2 soon, but have been using it with DS1 in his room and absolutely love it. He knows we can see him & talk to him thru it so he will position himself in front of it & ask questions or hold up things for us to see.

We have cell phones, laptops (wireless network), etc in the house and we absolutely do NOT get any interference or static from those devices. We were getting a good amount with the Sony BabyCall audio monitor.

The video monitor was definitely more of an investment, but expect to get a few years out of it. We were able to buy using a 20% coupon and some R Us rewards, which helped to bring the cost down some.

[Penny's Pappa]

We have the Summer Infant Slim & Secure with one camera. Overall I think this is a pretty good system. It has good night vision and the audio sensitivity is also pretty good. We sleep on a different floor than Penny, but rarely have any connection issues. We've never had any noticeable interference from our cell phones or WiFi or anything like that.

My biggest gripe would be that in those rare instances where it does lose signal, it doesn't give you any audible warning. The video just freezes and says "No Signal" or something. Fat lot of good that does us in the middle of the night when we have the screen turned off. Cycling the power usually fixes it, but I just worry sometimes that we'll lose signal in the middle of the night and not know it.

[firemama]

We also have the Summer Infant Slim & Secure with one camera. We put the camera on her crib back when she did not move. Once she started moving we put it on the other side of the room on her dresser, so now we only hear her. We just bought a corner shelf to point the camera down on her crib. I have a feeling soon she will be standing up in her sleep and we want to be able to see her again.

I am not sure how well this will work though (we haven't put it up yet). The corner is far enough away that she would never reach the cord (even though we are tacking it to the wall). But I don't know how good of a view we will get. Now I wish we had the one with the zoom option. I never thought about this when we bought ours.

These are things to think about. I am sure we should NEVER have put it on her crib, but I was okay with it when she was tiny and immobile. Once she started moving in her sleep, the camera was moved. Make sure you have somewhere close enough to put it, but far enough away so they cannot reach the cord. Maybe on a shelf or tall dresser.

Anyway, it works great. The night vision works good and the sound is great too. We also have cell phones and have no interference.