Video Monitors - DropCam

[emdrix]

Hi there!

I'm wondering if anyone has used Dropcam HD as their video baby monitor?

It seems like a great fit for us as it uses secure wifi, you can watch online or on your phone, and it will send you alerts (text/email? maybe) when the baby makes a sound etc. Has anyone used it?

Thanks!

Erin

[aCOMom]

We have two dropcams. Super easy to install! They have worked very reliably for us during the past 4 months - I've had to unplug/plug them back in perhaps two times each when they didn't seem to work for a little bit. The down side is they only work as well as your wireless network - that is, if your wireless network goes down, so do your cameras. We watch them on our iphones and on our PC. You can watch on your ipad too, but a specific ipad app is coming soon it seems.

I like being able to 'check up' on my babysitters/nanny interacting with the child from work. I can see what time they really got down for a nap, whether they read books, etc. You'll have to sign up for a DVR plan if you want to keep your footage history.

I like that you can talk into the room - like when I have to sternly remind my older to fall asleep for his nap when I'm tied up nursing the infant. We like being able to zoom and the night vision. I'm an "information" fanatic, so I love being able to see when the kids make noises. The dropcam DVR keeps track of noises and movements. For example, I can know exactly what time a child got up by checking for their first noise of the morning, fell asleep by checking the last noise after I put them down, etc. If my child gets up very early, I know it's a good day for an earlier nap time.

The cameras get warm, but I think that's normal for the devices. You can always use an extension cord, but you'll need to find a place to mount it somewhat close to an outlet.

All in all, we've been very pleased with the dropcams!

Side note - I think all the docs who do sleep studies for infants should require their study participants to use these so we have accurate results for how long sleep cycles are and how much sleep infants get! I always wonder about these sleep books twhen the data is often self-reported from parents! :)