Question about baby monitors.

osarusan

Hello all,

I want to buy a baby monitor, but have never had one before, and had a question about them.

I see that most are a set of one unit which goes in the baby's room and one unit that goes in the parents' room and is also portable.

The one that goes in the baby's room generally seem to be just plugged in to the mains, but the parents' unit can be operated off the mains or off batteries (the portable aspect).

My question is - are the batteries in the portable unit normal AA or AAA batteries which need to be replaced, or are they rechargeable ones - in which case: can they be recharged simply by inserting an adaptor into the phone (like charging a mobile phone) inserting the whole unit into a base charger (much like a portable land line) or do the batteries need to be removed and placed in a separate charger?

Here is one I was looking at: it says the batteries are rechargable, but I'm not sure if they need to be removed before they can be recharged separately or if they never need to be removed.

Parent unit includes mains adaptor - batteries required for parent unit 2 x rechargeable (included).

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9021327/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CNursery%7C14417537/c_2/3%7C18793869%7CBaby%2Bmonitors%2Band%2Bsafety%2Bgates%7C14417612/c_3/4%7Ccat_14417612%7CBaby%2Bmonitors%7C14417613.htm

I am guessing that these are charged like a mobile phone, but wanted to hear from others.

Thanks all.

jlm29

I have an angel monitor, which I got as a gift. The parent unit has rechargeable batteries and is just plugged in to charge, like a phone.
The baby unit can be mains or battery operated, but just takes ordinary non rechargeable batteries.
That's probably not very helpful, since it's not the one you're looking at.

jlm29

I have an angel monitor, which I got as a gift. The parent unit has rechargeable batteries and is just plugged in to charge, like a phone.
The baby unit can be mains or battery operated, but just takes ordinary non rechargeable batteries.
That's probably not very helpful, since it's not the one you're looking at.

kandr10

I had a mitorola and you could plug it in to the mains to recharge, like a mobile phone. However I had problems with the connection. Had the unit replaced and the replacement broke too. A friend had s similar issue. I would be put off Motorola for that reason.

osarusan

kandr10 wrote: »

I had a mitorola and you could plug it in to the mains to recharge, like a mobile phone. However I had problems with the connection. Had the unit replaced and the replacement broke too. A friend had s similar issue. I would be put off Motorola for that reason.

Thanks.

Is there anything else you'd recommend instead?

scarepanda

That's the unit we have. Love it if I'm honest, very responsive when bubs is mooching. We've lost connection a couple of times, but that's only happened when we've been in the furthest room away and it tends to reconnect immediately, it bleeps when it's not connected so you know. You just plug it in like a phone to charge. The battery lasts the full day on portable mode, but it does take a few hours to recharge. That's not usually a problem though as we just plug it in when we're heading to bed.
We've rarely used the music function on it, but the speaker from the parent unit works good.

kandr10

osarusan wrote: »

Thanks.

Is there anything else you'd recommend instead?

No sorry, we didn't look at any others after as our child had got big enough that we didn't need it. This happened after about a year. Maybe we just got our use out of it? It was good otherwise so maybe that one is worth the punt if it's a reasonable price?

Just to add, when I say connection, I mean the physical connection. The port had cheap plastic around it and got pushed inside meaning it couldn't be plugged in to recharge. It got to the stage a while before that that you had to plug it in for it to work and it didn't work at all as a portable unit. After about a year as I say.

Hazelnut Button

osarusan wrote: »

Hello all,

I want to buy a baby monitor, but have never had one before, and had a question about them.

I see that most are a set of one unit which goes in the baby's room and one unit that goes in the parents' room and is also portable.

The one that goes in the baby's room generally seem to be just plugged in to the mains, but the parents' unit can be operated off the mains or off batteries (the portable aspect).

My question is - are the batteries in the portable unit normal AA or AAA batteries which need to be replaced, or are they rechargeable ones - in which case: can they be recharged simply by inserting an adaptor into the phone (like charging a mobile phone) inserting the whole unit into a base charger (much like a portable land line) or do the batteries need to be removed and placed in a separate charger?

Here is one I was looking at: it says the batteries are rechargable, but I'm not sure if they need to be removed before they can be recharged separately or if they never need to be removed.


http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9021327/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CNursery%7C14417537/c_2/3%7C18793869%7CBaby%2Bmonitors%2Band%2Bsafety%2Bgates%7C14417612/c_3/4%7Ccat_14417612%7CBaby%2Bmonitors%7C14417613.htm

I am guessing that these are charged like a mobile phone, but wanted to hear from others.

Thanks all.

I have that monitor and haven't had any problems with it. So simple to use. It's very sensitive and picks up any movement. Talk back function is great too. The parents unit recharges like a phone as you said. Just plug it in and your sorted. Battery lasts quite a while when unplugged. I would highly recommend it.

farmchoice

i've had 3 over the years.
the first was an angel care one very good and lasted for 5 years and 2 childen brought it abroad etc eventually just got smashed, really good monitor and at the high end price wise, it has a lot of features but to be honest most are a waste of time.

the second one was a really cheap one from tesco that i got for the in laws house when we are there, this is a piece of crap but in fairness it does a job and its on the go now for 3-4 years so no complaints in that regard buts its like a cb radio a lot of interference connections need jiggling about etc

the 3rd was a mid priced one form toymaster around €50.00 it might be a Motorola not sure, its grand does the job fine.

of the 3 i suppose the last one was the best in the since that it does the same job as the expensive one really.

they are all rechargeable.

Xdancer

I have the Motorola one. I used it for 3 years without a problem and just pulled it out there to see if it still works and it does. I found it great and would recommend it.

mirrorwall14

I have a cheap ALDI one and it's perfect. Also have the cheapest Argos one in the parents and that's great too.

We do have a cheap internet camera in his room too tho we only check it when the monitor screams

osarusan

Thanks all, went for the one I mentioned in the OP in the end. Hopefully they will get good use from it.

Chakuma

I apologize for bumping....just my 2 cents

Glad I found this thread. I have recently been cited for lack of supervision and I am fighting it. I am complying with the minimum standards but the rep is going above and beyond them. I have had other reps in here and no problems. This is specific to the new girl.

In SIDS training there has been a huge emphasis on NOT relying on supervision devices, that nothing replaces physically checking on the baby. Minimum standards state visual or sound monitoring. Oh boy can I hear them and within a few steps I am in there rooms.

I also found the following docs links from the American Academy of Pediatrics, National Institute of Health, and the FDA stating very clearly to NOT use those devices or that they can NOT be trusted and give a false sense of security.



So I am torn. I have tried visual monitors but they are not clear enough to see breathing and they don't notify you if they stop, so I returned them in the past. So if I am in the bathroom with a toddler the monitor right outside in the living room is useless. Even if portable I am not going to hold the viewer(cell) in one hand while I sit a toddler on the potty and wipe her butt with the other (that was suggested). Small house 1200 sq ft and all kids sleep in the separate rooms with hard flooring so sound travels!

So I offered to look into bed pads, and sleep apnea monitors but I am hearing nothing but bad things. Moms seem to feel better, but no science to back it up.

This would be a marketing ploy at this point and be going against the above organization recommendations. But that is a lot of money for straight up marketing to make everyone "feel better". Honestly I don't have it right now.

Any tips appreciated. I am writing a formal complaint and fighting it but I really want to find a compromise.

I love watching videos on YouTube, here is one of them, I hope it will answer your question

mirrorwall14

Chakuma wrote: »

I apologize for bumping....just my 2 cents

Glad I found this thread. I have recently been cited for lack of supervision and I am fighting it. I am complying with the minimum standards but the rep is going above and beyond them. I have had other reps in here and no problems. This is specific to the new girl.

In SIDS training there has been a huge emphasis on NOT relying on supervision devices, that nothing replaces physically checking on the baby. Minimum standards state visual or sound monitoring. Oh boy can I hear them and within a few steps I am in there rooms.

I also found the following docs links from the American Academy of Pediatrics, National Institute of Health, and the FDA stating very clearly to NOT use those devices or that they can NOT be trusted and give a false sense of security.



So I am torn. I have tried visual monitors but they are not clear enough to see breathing and they don't notify you if they stop, so I returned them in the past. So if I am in the bathroom with a toddler the monitor right outside in the living room is useless. Even if portable I am not going to hold the viewer(cell) in one hand while I sit a toddler on the potty and wipe her butt with the other (that was suggested). Small house 1200 sq ft and all kids sleep in the separate rooms with hard flooring so sound travels!

So I offered to look into bed pads, and sleep apnea monitors but I am hearing nothing but bad things. Moms seem to feel better, but no science to back it up.

This would be a marketing ploy at this point and be going against the above organization recommendations. But that is a lot of money for straight up marketing to make everyone "feel better". Honestly I don't have it right now.

Any tips appreciated. I am writing a formal complaint and fighting it but I really want to find a compromise.

I love watching videos on YouTube, here is one of them, I hope it will answer your question

I’ve never heard of citing for lack of supervision? Are you in Ireland?

Cienciano

I think you need to relax about it a bit. You can't sit by your baby every night with your hand on their chest. I had a visual one which broke and replaced with a sound only. If they cry, you can hear it. That's all the monitor really does, you're not replacing checking the baby.

Milly33

I would think the mains plug in charge ones would be better, from any point of view as such with products.. While tis handy to put batteries into something they you really do have to get good quality batteries and all that goes.. If you have screens in your house I can recommend a camera. We got ours on Wish and have to say tis great.. The connection cuts out every now and again but it is easy to fix. We have the camera in her room, and then have an old ipad or along that lines, to watch on on. You can move the camera by using the screen which makes it handy as you can pop it anywhere.. There is sounds, and you can talk also to them on it...

bungaro79

For what its worth, I'm returning our BT 5000 video monitor tomorrow. Second this around we've had a with this model (wanted to exchange for a different model but now Smyths only stock this one), the lights at the side flash to indicate sound but no actual sound came out