Discussion
In a bid for the most tedious post on PH ever can anyone out there recommend me (my wife) a baby monitor?
Being our first child we have been typically presented with a vast array of the thing ranging from simple walky talky type things to night vision jobbies with cctv, room temperature, and tea making facilities etc...
What just works and doesn't cost a bomb??
Being our first child we have been typically presented with a vast array of the thing ranging from simple walky talky type things to night vision jobbies with cctv, room temperature, and tea making facilities etc...
What just works and doesn't cost a bomb??
Simpo Two said:
Sorry, can't help. It was just sheer luck I made it to adulthood - no baby monitors, no seatbelts, even snow in the playground. Statistically I should be dead 
My thought exactly but you know what women are like; neurotic and sentimental, amongst other things.I'm hoping this post will reinforce the fact that.
a) we don't really need one
and
b) we definitely don't need to spend >100 quid on one!
That 20quid one sounds like just the job.
I am afraid that I went for the one with the movement sensor pad thing that goes under the mattress. Basically it detects movement - ie breathing - this flashes a green light on the parent handset. An alarm goes off if there has been no movement for 20 seconds.
Now to be honest - if your baby had stopped breathing you would need to know what to do about it. Both mine were prem babies and we were recommended these by SCBU just for peace of mind. (we also had hospital breathing monitors).
They are not cheap - the tommee tippee one is over £100. Mind you there is a cheaper tommee tippee one from Argos - about £45. I have had both of these and have had some issues and had to send one back.
I also believe there is an angelcare one - from Babies R Us.
Now to be honest - if your baby had stopped breathing you would need to know what to do about it. Both mine were prem babies and we were recommended these by SCBU just for peace of mind. (we also had hospital breathing monitors).
They are not cheap - the tommee tippee one is over £100. Mind you there is a cheaper tommee tippee one from Argos - about £45. I have had both of these and have had some issues and had to send one back.
I also believe there is an angelcare one - from Babies R Us.
http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Babies-R-Us/Safety/Monito...
These are great - digital too so no interference.
These are great - digital too so no interference.
Coco H said:
I am afraid that I went for the one with the movement sensor pad thing that goes under the mattress. Basically it detects movement - ie breathing - this flashes a green light on the parent handset. An alarm goes off if there has been no movement for 20 seconds.
Now to be honest - if your baby had stopped breathing you would need to know what to do about it. Both mine were prem babies and we were recommended these by SCBU just for peace of mind. (we also had hospital breathing monitors).
They are not cheap - the tommee tippee one is over £100. Mind you there is a cheaper tommee tippee one from Argos - about £45. I have had both of these and have had some issues and had to send one back.
I also believe there is an angelcare one - from Babies R Us.
We have the £100 Tommeeeee tipppeeee one or whatever the piece of pants is called. The pressure plate doesnt work properly and the radio monitor thing has constant feedback. Now to be honest - if your baby had stopped breathing you would need to know what to do about it. Both mine were prem babies and we were recommended these by SCBU just for peace of mind. (we also had hospital breathing monitors).
They are not cheap - the tommee tippee one is over £100. Mind you there is a cheaper tommee tippee one from Argos - about £45. I have had both of these and have had some issues and had to send one back.
I also believe there is an angelcare one - from Babies R Us.
We also got their thermometer and its rubbish as well - steer clear IMHO.
Just a point worth mentioning... my friend was given one by another friend when their first child was born. When they turned the volume up they could hear adults talking in the background.. their neighbour had the same model and they hear each others conversations through the monitor 
- Do remember that the licensed frequencies are all the same (choice of about 4 IRC)
- If you do decide to buy one; make sure you get one with channel-hopping (changes channel if it detects another one in the same vacinity, or one with manual different channel adjustments.
- Use a wired intercom with Baby Listening function
D14 AYS said:
I thought the thread was going to be about young lizards 
I do not like the sound of something that detects movement/breathing. Do you not spend your life staring at the thing, living for the green light to stay on? bit like pavlovs dog, you'd end up panicking at traffic lights after a while.
Private Volvo is now 18 months old. We bought a monitor but never use it - believe me, when the baby cries you can hear it miles away, microphone not needed!
One thing we do have though is a CCTV in his room on top of the wardrobe looking at his bed. It transmits wirelessly to a box that is plugged into an AV socket on the TV. If we hear Jr coughing or kicking off we can flick channels and make sure he's OK (which he invariably is!). Without the TV as first time paranoid parents we'd hear a cough and be up and down stairs all night.
Oh, and thermometers are a waste of time as well. The mother always knows best........
One thing we do have though is a CCTV in his room on top of the wardrobe looking at his bed. It transmits wirelessly to a box that is plugged into an AV socket on the TV. If we hear Jr coughing or kicking off we can flick channels and make sure he's OK (which he invariably is!). Without the TV as first time paranoid parents we'd hear a cough and be up and down stairs all night.
Oh, and thermometers are a waste of time as well. The mother always knows best........
halo34 said:
Coco H said:
I am afraid that I went for the one with the movement sensor pad thing that goes under the mattress. Basically it detects movement - ie breathing - this flashes a green light on the parent handset. An alarm goes off if there has been no movement for 20 seconds.
Now to be honest - if your baby had stopped breathing you would need to know what to do about it. Both mine were prem babies and we were recommended these by SCBU just for peace of mind. (we also had hospital breathing monitors).
They are not cheap - the tommee tippee one is over £100. Mind you there is a cheaper tommee tippee one from Argos - about £45. I have had both of these and have had some issues and had to send one back.
I also believe there is an angelcare one - from Babies R Us.
We have the £100 Tommeeeee tipppeeee one or whatever the piece of pants is called. The pressure plate doesnt work properly and the radio monitor thing has constant feedback. Now to be honest - if your baby had stopped breathing you would need to know what to do about it. Both mine were prem babies and we were recommended these by SCBU just for peace of mind. (we also had hospital breathing monitors).
They are not cheap - the tommee tippee one is over £100. Mind you there is a cheaper tommee tippee one from Argos - about £45. I have had both of these and have had some issues and had to send one back.
I also believe there is an angelcare one - from Babies R Us.
We also got their thermometer and its rubbish as well - steer clear IMHO.
We borrowed one from my brother-in-law. We've never used it in 9 months. The only time we've used one was at a friends house and they had gone to the trouble of getting theirs out of the loft and setting it up for us. We know people who have got a system where if the child stops breathing, a mat under the cot detects it and sets off an alarm. Of course, rolling off the (A4-sized) mat has the same effect. Cue panic in the night as all hell breaks loose and they dash into the nursery to find the child has... moved.
Honestly, unless you are in a 3-storey Georgian house with mega-thick walls, don't bother.
Honestly, unless you are in a 3-storey Georgian house with mega-thick walls, don't bother.
We have a CCTV type jobbie and we like it - we're a bit **too** used to it to be honest but it works fine.
We did consider one of those pressure ones but decided that when baby lies still (which WILL happen) the alarm will go off all the time which would probably drive us more insane...
We did consider one of those pressure ones but decided that when baby lies still (which WILL happen) the alarm will go off all the time which would probably drive us more insane...
We got given a fisher price one and it was cack. The inter ference was so bad that you couldn't hear little miss over the top of it. We now have the BT digital one £40 in argos iirc. It is very good. Little miss crys for about 2.ins sometimes before she goes to sleep, we hit the mute button and you can see the lights moving at the top to see how much sound she is making. Good battery life on the parent unit too. Would recommend.
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff