Baby Monitors

thedarwinfish

just to throw a query out about baby monitors....been looking at reviews of various monitors online and getting more and more bamboozeled...
any recommendations or ones to avoid...
much appreciated

sillysocks

I think there was a post on this recently so if you have a search you might find more answers there, but We have the Angelcare monitor and find it brilliant.

It has a mat that goes under the mattress which sets off an alarm if the baby stops breathing for 30 seconds. We've never had a problem with the sound quality of the monitor either.

Gives us great reassurance, especially when she first moved into her own room.

thedarwinfish

thanks found the other discussion after a bit of delving thanks for the heads up

ROZLYN

Yes Angelcare monitor without a doubt. Came highly recommended to me by three other friends. Never felt the need to use the pad, but the monitor is very sensitive and no frequency interference.

Moonbeam

The angelcare one is great but there are a few different ones.
We did not get the one with the mat etc as I would have never slept!!
I find we rarely use the monitor at all though.

qwertytlk

Hi i was planning to go for the angel care one with the sensor mat, it was around 100euro, hen a friend told me about the tommee tippee one which is the same as the angel care one-it has the normal audio device but also has the sensor mat and alarm if baby stops moving. It was 59euro i think, so if u do go for it u are saving 40euro! I have it and have been using it since my son was born 6 weeks ago and we find it great. The sound quality is great and the motion sensor fives great peace of mind.

xzanti

That Angelcare one sounds terrific..

We got a TommeeTippee one it has served us very well.. has a room temerature monitor on it and is very clear...

Frank Black

Whatever one you get - make sure it's digital as opposed to analogue.
Made the mistake of getting an analogue one first and there was constant interference from taxi radio cabs in the area.

sillysocks

If you decide on the Angelcare one check Tesco out for it first. I think it's nearer 80 eur there and I got it on special for 55 last year.
It does have a temperature display as well.

-Corkie-

sillysocks wrote: »

If you decide on the Angelcare one check Tesco out for it first. I think it's nearer 80 eur there and I got it on special for 55 last year.
It does have a temperature display as well.

55 is a pure bargain. We got the one with the mat and it was 90 euro iirc. They are a fantastic job though..

Akrasia

we bought the cheapest one in the shop, very basic model. it works fine except that when the receiver is on and the base station is off, it can pick up sounds from all the other cheapskates who bought the same model as us.

It only had two frequency choices so we were constantly moving between A and B so we wouldn't be accidentally evesdropping on the neighbours.

Toots

I got the Angelcare one in Tesco Dundrum the other day for €79. They don't seem to constantly stock it though, because I looked a few other times and they didn't have any baby monitors there, I just happened to notice it this time when I was wandering past.

vibe666

ditto on the angelcare one, we got ours on amazon, but the price seems to have gone up since last month when we got it, so its not as good value.

but it iswell built, the movement sensor works perfectly, no false alarms at all, it's got a temp sensor too and the (crystal clear) sound only comes on if he starts making noises so it's not constant like some of them.

two thumbs up anyway, great for peace of mind and what price can you even put on that?

Akrasia

vibe666 wrote: »

two thumbs up anyway, great for peace of mind and what price can you even put on that?

14.99 is the price of the peace of mind. the other 70 euro is the cost of convenience

vibe666

Akrasia wrote: »

14.99 is the price of the peace of mind. the other 70 euro is the cost of convenience

would you care to elaborate on that at all?

Hobbitfeet

Just wondering about whether we need a monitor at all. My partner says yes we do of course we do but I'm not so sure. Baby will be sleeping in our room for at the least 6 months as I will be breasfeeding will bf till about 1yr or just before. Our house is not huge and I will be able to hear baby from downstairs. So what do you think do we really need one. I think the angelcare mats sound like a good idea but I wonder would it just make me more nervous and looking out for every little noise. No experience with this at all only for my sister who has a 10 month old and never used a monitor with no problems.

How Strange

We live in a small apt and up to yesterday we coslept but we wouldn't hear him when we're watching tv. Also have used it lots when away for weekends etc. We thought the same as you but I'm glad we got it because they're very useful. I also thought it'd make us more nervous but it doesn't.

sillysocks

Our house is quite small too but I wouldn't be without the monitor. I think it does the opposite of making you nervous at every little noise because you don't have to strain to hear noises from upstairs or have to wonder if that was the baby making noise or not.

At night it gave me great peace of mind for the same reason-I turn it down low so don't hear every murmur but do hear her if she wakes and without it I think it'd be a lot harder to sleep soundly myself in case I'd miss something.

vibe666

my brother's second child stopped breathing early one morning sleeping in a crib right next to his parents. only an early morning bathroom break at just the right time and the fact it was light enough for my brother's wife to notice his face had turned blue alerted her, and her screams woke my brother. luckily enough, he had done some training in CPR and was able to administer it until the paramedics arrived and they were able to work on him and after spending time in hospital for observation he was fine and has suffered no permanent damage as a result.

personally, a cheap baby monitor is going to tell you when your baby cries, but unless you live in a mansion or are half deaf, you're going to hear that anyway, but you could be awake or asleep with your baby right next to you and it would be very easy for you to not even know that they had stopped breathing and that is what makes the angelcare monitor with movement pad an essential piece of kit imho.

our baby is 2 weeks old now and it works perfectly. when the baby is sound asleep you don't even hear a peep out of it (aside from the optional metronome tick to tell you it's in contact with the base station), but within 20 seconds of it not sensing movement the alarm will sound, which has only ever happened if one of us takes the baby out without turning off the monitor first (which has been echoed in all the reviews i've seen of it).

the monitor stays on whenever the baby is sleeping, even if we are right there next to him and it's doing a grand job.

at the end of the day, SIDS is a real problem that leads to the deaths of thousands of babies a year and if i have to spend a few quid extra on monitors and the right type of mattress and this, that and the other to minimise the possibility that my child becomes part of the statistics then so be it, even if some of the things i end up paying for turn out to be snake oil, it really doesn't matter to me compared to the life of my child.

Tayla

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Just wondering about whether we need a monitor at all. My partner says yes we do of course we do but I'm not so sure. Baby will be sleeping in our room for at the least 6 months as I will be breasfeeding will bf till about 1yr or just before. Our house is not huge and I will be able to hear baby from downstairs. So what do you think do we really need one. I think the angelcare mats sound like a good idea but I wonder would it just make me more nervous and looking out for every little noise. No experience with this at all only for my sister who has a 10 month old and never used a monitor with no problems.

Personally I never used a baby monitor for the sound feature, I only wanted the angelcare one for the sensor mat.
I've heard some people saying that they were worried the sensor mats would make them more nervous but if anything the mat makes you less nervous and you don't have to worry as much at nighttime, the peace of mind you get from having the mat is priceless.

Hobbitfeet

Thank you everyone for your replies. The angel care one seems like a good idea will have a good think and research it a bit more have lots of time to go yet

vibe666 so glad your brothers child was ok.

Tinkerbell4484

Definatly the angel care one.my friends daughter was 13 months when she died of SIDS. My baby was 2 months at the time & my husband went straight out and bought the monitor. It gives me great peace of mind Best thing I ever bought