BabyMonitorsDirect Blog

In this modern age we are increasingly drawn towards gadgetry and the next “new thing” that comes out; but is this necessary when it comes to something as simple as a baby monitor?  Many would argue that we did pretty well without the new style baby monitors, and that simple audio monitor sufficed.  This is indeed a good argument, but it offers the opposition that if the technology is better and more effective, why indeed should we not buy it in order to better take care of our children?  If we didn’t evolve in this way goodness only knows how our children would be cared for.

Seeing is believing

Many modern baby monitors are video based so that you can use cameras in your baby’s room to see as well as hear them.  How many times in the past have parents heard a particular type of noise on their audio monitors and wondered what on earth it could be coming from the baby’s room?  Now that we can see our children on video baby monitors we can see what’s wrong and make a more informed decision whether or not we should go to the child.

Controlled crying

Not only do video monitors provide peace of mind, they are also an excellent tool to use whilst practicing controlled crying.  This is a technique that helps to get your child to sleep alone as they get a little older (not less than six months), and go back off to sleep on their own if they wake during the night without too much comforting.  Older babies can sometimes become a little over attached to their parents and this makes them unable to sleep unless the parent is there.  As we all know, your children need to break this habit.   Controlled crying allows you to do this.  You simply leave the child crying for five minutes before going to comfort them briefly by reassuring them you are there and available.  After that you leave them for ten minutes before soothing them, and then 20 minutes.  With a video baby monitor, during this time you can put your mind at ease that your child isn’t in any danger.

To conclude

Whilst using baby video monitors can provide you with an excellent way of monitoring your baby/child, whether control crying or not, you should always address any major concerns with your health visitor or GP.  Your health visitor can explain a little more about controlled crying and give you the pros and cons.

When your baby is tiny and unable to move around much at all, a pretty standard video  baby monitor will suffice.  However, when they begin to start crawling around and need to be out of their cot and perhaps playing in the nursery you may need to keep a closer eye on them.  This is where multi camera baby monitors come in very handy indeed.

Many parents use a play pen in the beginning to keep their baby from getting into too much mischief, but if you have a fully equipped nursery that is baby safe anyway, you may want to give your baby a little more room for exploration.  It’s very good for their physical and mental development to get around and discover things, and if you have a baby gate in position there should be no reason why you can’t leave them for short periods of time, under the close scrutiny of a video baby monitor of course.

This is where the multi camera baby monitors come in handy.  Not only can you position one looking over where the baby sleeps you can also have them positioned in different parts of the room so that you can have it all covered.  Complete peace of mind comes from having the whole room under surveillance.  The beauty of many of these multi camera baby monitors is that the monitor on which you view the cameras often comes with a split screen baby monitor feature so that you can see all the cameras on one screen.

Capture the memories with your baby monitor

There is no escaping the fact that, whilst some people may not agree with monitoring their baby or child with video cameras, you can certainly capture some fantastic moments in your child’s development.  Some video baby monitors come with a function that allows you to record certain moments on camera when you’re not in the room.  This is perfect for capturing your child beginning to walk and talk and discover new things.  Children grow up far too quickly these days and capturing all the moments you can is a wonderful thing to be able to do.

The hardest thing about being a home working parent is keeping your eye on the kids.  It’s easy if they’re off to school or pre-school, but when you have them at home you have to continuously battle between having to get your work done and needing to be there for the children.  The only way sometimes is to try to struggle through with your baby/child in the same room, and this does not make good business sense.  The best way to get around this is to have your child in another room and monitor them via an internet baby monitor.

Internet baby monitor

The internet baby monitor is one of the very latest in monitoring equipment and it’s made a welcome entrance to the market, allowing thousands of home workers to continue their jobs, safe in the knowledge that their children are safe.

This is a baby monitor that you can connect to wirelessly from your PC whilst you’re working.  The camera will be in the room with your child and you will be able to know exactly what the baby is doing all the time, when you choose to watch and listen.  This way you don’t have to keep getting up and down to see to them.

Let your children play

Of course one of the main advantages of the internet baby monitor for your child is that they are enabled to play in a less restrictive environment.  Many home workers used to depend on the play pen to keep their child safe whilst they worked, but now they can watch the children on a wireless video monitor it’s safe to leave the child in their nursery with access to all their toys, in a safe environment, free to explore and develop all they need to.

To conclude

With the new internet baby monitors everyone is a winner.  The parent is allowed the free time in which to work or do whatever they need to whilst their child is free to safely roam around their room and play under the watchful eye of the wireless internet camera.

The audio monitor, whilst being made semi redundant by the advent of the new systems on the market, namely the video monitor, is still a wise and practical choice for many parents.  The price of many video monitors is quite high and above many parents budget.  This is not to say that video monitors aren’t good, they most certainly are, but parents shouldn’t feel obliged to buy the best thing on the market just because they’re told this.

Keeping within a sensible budget

We all know as parents there are an incredible amount of things we need to buy to kit out a nursery and indeed ensure our baby’s safety.  Baby cots, mattresses, toys, clothes, bottles and sterilisers etc all cost a lot of money, but each and every one of them are essential.  It’s all very well having a state of the art video baby monitor, but if your baby has nowhere to sleep then you’re likely to cause as many more problems for you to monitor.

Many people prefer to make sure they have all the essentials first and then look at their budget in order to choose a baby monitor.  There is no shame in buying a cheaper audio baby monitor and in most cases if your baby is under stress or experiencing difficulty in any way they will make themselves heard.  This is a natural way for your baby to let you know if they are in trouble or sick.

The digital audio baby monitor

An old perennial problem with some of the old audio monitors was that they could sometimes fail or pick up interference from elsewhere.  The new digital developments with these monitors have pretty much eliminated anything like this from happening and their reliability has been dramatically increased.

Keeping mum and dad sane!

Another distinct advantage of the digital audio baby monitor has over the video monitor, other than the price, is that it prevents the parents watching their baby too much.  It’s very easy to become a little neurotic with a video camera in your baby’s room, particularly if they are still very young.  Watching the baby all the time can be detrimental in the long run and it can command a lot of the parents time when they could be getting on with other things.

When we think of baby monitors, we typically think of the analogue audio monitors that have been around for years, but technology has moved on and now video monitoring is commonplace, largely because it is so much more affordable these days.

Video footage provides a whole new dimension for you when you’re keeping an eye on your child and even allows for remote viewing should one of the parents have to spend a night away from home, perhaps as a result of work. The nursery video stream can be viewed over the internet to keep mum or dad in touch with the family, even though they are elsewhere. As it is encrypted and password protected, this footage is totally secure.

Digital technology isn’t just about allowing video, however – it also ensures improved audio. Interference was common with old analogue systems, but digital systems negate this. Digital signals are clearer anyway, but many video monitors will automatically scan for the channel with the strongest signal on top of that.

Other features have also been brought in, including talk back communication and the ability to record footage. Some systems will allow you to remotely pan and scan the camera in the nursery and you can even get video baby monitors which offer night vision.

There are various different kinds of baby monitors, but the one thing they all have in common is that they help you keep an eye on child, allowing you to know that they are safe and well.

The most common forms involve use of radio systems to allow parents to view or listen to their baby remotely. Most commonly, this will involve keeping an eye on them in the nursery while you are in another room, but newer systems also allow for the viewing of a live video stream of the child via an internet connection, should one parent be away with work or for some other reason. Needless to say, this footage is password protected and totally secure.

Many video baby monitors are also compatible with your TV, which is great should your TV allow for picture-in-picture viewing. This feature means that you can instantly be made aware should your baby need attention.

In addition to video monitors, you can also get sound and movement monitors which will complement the video system. A movement monitor makes use of a sensor pad which is placed underneath the baby’s mattress. This will detect movement and is sensitive enough that it can alert you should there be an abnormal breathing pattern.

By combining these different forms of baby monitors, parents can benefit from the peace of mind that comes from knowing that they are able to keep an eye on their children.

Baby monitors originally just transmitted sound, but video baby monitors are now common. You might think that a video monitor provides the best way to keep an eye on your child from another room, but there is more that can be done. Movement and breathing monitors provide additional valuable information to parents when used in conjunction with a video baby monitor system.

Breathing monitors are used in maternity wards throughout the country and you can get something similar for your home. A sensor pad is placed beneath your baby’s mattress which is so sensitive it can track breathing patterns. Should breathing become erratic or stop, you will be alerted so that you can act immediately.

Breathing monitors are available for various prices, but it is not the case that a cheaper monitor might let you down. The main difference is likely to be the size of the sensor pad, so there is a chance that the baby will roll off one of the cheaper pads should it be too small. In this eventuality, all that happens is that you are alerted when you needn’t be – a false alarm. This is an inconvenience, but nothing more than that. The important point is that even a cheaper monitor will not let you down in the event that your baby does start breathing erratically.

Some people would say that baby monitors are pretty redundant, arguing that: “we never used to use them years ago” or “the baby is usually in the next room anyway”.  However, these reasons cease to be good arguments when you compare them with the amount of accidents and tragedies associated with babies who are left unmonitored.  If we have the technology then we simply must use it.  Baby monitors are incredibly important, and the mere fact that you are reading this article is evidence enough to suggest that you feel the same way.

The most important reasons to get a baby monitor are:

• Safety and peace of mind.  Having a monitor will allow you to know what’s going on in the baby’s room whenever you need to and wherever you are in or around your home.  It’s not always about safety alone either; sometimes it’s more to do with your own peace of mind.
• Sleep.  It is essential that parents get enough rest.  If you haven’t had adequate sleep then you will be little to no use at all when the baby wakes up.  Sleep deprivation causes irritability and depression.  Having a monitor will allow you to go to a different room and get some well deserved, quality rest.
• Space and time.  If you are able to clear a little space for yourself amid the sometimes chaotic environment a baby creates, it will be invaluable.  Having space from your baby to do other things whenever possible is equally as important as sleep to keep you mentally healthy; if you have a portable monitor then you can go wherever you like in the house to put your feet up and relax.

Which baby monitor is best?

There are baby monitors for virtually every circumstance these days and they all work as well as each other.  It’s really up to you and your budget to choose the one that suits the best.  Gone are the days when all you could get to monitor your baby was a simple audio monitor; and although these are very useful in their own right, cost effective and still in use today, there are many others to choose from too:

• Digital video monitors
• DECT audio monitors
• Multiple camera monitors
• Night vision monitors
• Webcam monitors
• Long distance and hotel monitors
• Breathing effort monitors
• Talkback monitors

And there are many, many more.  Without going into too much detail about each individual baby monitor, you can see from just this short list that there is indeed a monitor for everyone.

The very best way to decide which baby monitor is best for you and your baby is to think carefully about the environment in which you live and work.  If you have a large home then a baby monitor is almost certainly a necessity.  Also, if you perhaps have a home where you spend a lot of time in the garden for example, you needn’t stay indoors because your baby is sleeping, you simply need to invest in a mobile baby monitor that works outdoors and you can take anywhere you like.

Only when you have a good idea of the type of baby monitor you’re looking for is it time to go shopping; this will prevent you having to trawl through pages of products on the internet or march up and down your local store trying to decide which one is best.

We can help you make the right choice to suit your needs; read our handy Baby Monitors Buying Guide for an introduction to all the different types of monitors and features available.