Baby monitor

yourdeadwright

Hey folks
Just wondering how old your babies where when you all first started using baby monitors for when they sleep ?
Did you use them straight away or wait till they where a little older and in there own rooms ?
Iv heard a lot about the angel mat baby monitors but can't really decide to get one or not ,our baby is only 4 weeks old

ted1

Anyone I know who got a mat , throw it away.

We didn’t bother with monitors our kids were loud enough and key us know if they wanted us

jlm29

I had an angelcare monitor (bought as a gift)- never used the movement mat, and the monitor broke after a year and a half of very light use. I wouldn’t buy another.
I bought a cheap v-tech monitor to replace it, and it’s grand. With the layout of our house, and the volume of my other kids, I need something to hear him with on the rare occasion he’s in bed during the day

linpoo

I started using mine from about 12 weeks when he started sleeping through the night from about 8pm or 9pm. I got the Motorola video monitors they're great.

Chocolate fiend

We didn't use one, we kept them in our room until they were 6 months old as per the SIDS guidelines and after that I never really slept that deeply anyway so I would have always heard them and our house isn't huge.

Everyone I know who has a mat has had a terrible fright from it. I wouldn't use one.

nazzy

Yeah, I would say from about 10 weeks when she was too big for the crib downstairs. My husband found one on amazon for about €50 that's great. Plays music and has a wee mic that you can speak into if you want to speak to the baby. Not that we use those yet to be honest. Clearly better for when older!

She's only 13 weeks now but it's going well, I find it helpful so far. I like the comfort of seeing her if she has been quiet for a long spell.

I concur on the mats - I think it would only have added to my stress. But you'll find your own way, do what works for yourself. And congratulations!! I hope all is going well for you and your little one!

Cakerbaker

We didn’t use ours for months as he was usually asleep downstairs with us in the evenings and we’d bring him up with us. Only started using it when we started putting him to bed upstairs on his own. We got a Motorola video monitor. We find it great in that you can see what’s happening if they’re making noise and can judge whether you need to go in or not. Helps reduce the chance of accidental wakenings!

CheerLouth

We have the AngelCare with the mat. It's worked fine for us. Used it with the mat on our eldest until she was about a year old, then w/o the mat. Once they start moving around in the cot, the mat becomes redundant. Currently using it on our second, he's 10 months now. Still use the mat every night with him.

Monitor is going strong after nearly three years of use pretty much every night. Only slight issue with it is that I find the Parent Unit doesn't hold the charge as long and needs to be charged every second night. But that is probably more to do with the rechargeable batteries than the unit itself. Overall, we've been very happy with it and I, personally, found the mat gave me peace of mind especially in the early days.

cant26

Started using the monitor when my kids outgrew their Moses basket and has to sleep upstairs in their cot, so that was 4 weeks on number one and 5 months on number two! Also use the angel care monitor with the mat. Kept our youngest in our room until he was 13 months but still used the monitor and mat. Love it. He’s in his own room now at 16 months and still use the mat. Think we were using it until our first was over two. Bar the odd false alarm there was no issues.

pwurple

Congrats on the baby!
It depends on what your experience is really. We used the angelcare mat, from birth. There was a history of cot death in our family, and it provided peace of mind for us. Once you've experienced something like that, your frame of reference changes. I would have been out of my mind stressing about it otherwise, checking the baby was breathing every 15 mins. 
We found it to be very good, no false alarms, once you got the hang of turning if off if you are picking the baby up.  We never used a moses basket, for the same reasons, risk reduction. Cots have more airflow etc. I don't know if they work in a basket.

But yeah, it is just buying peace of mind / reassurance that all is ok. If you don't have that worry in the first place to address, then no need.

Brian?

We used the same angle care monitor on both kids until they were out of their cots. Never a false alarm, never an issue.

sillysocks

Also Angelcare here. Used the mat for a year or so but you can use the monitor without it then after that. Our kids went to their own rooms quite young and wouldn’t have moved them without the mat. Just gives a bit of peace of mind.

My feeling on the mat was that yes there might be the odd false alarm (2/3 in 5 years!) but I’d prefer that than to have something happen the baby without one and to forever regret not having one (even though it may or may not have helped). Hope that makes sense.

appledrop

19mth old + still using Angelcare mat. Best thing we ever bought. Had 2 or 3 false alarms but that was literally when babs was lying sideways up at tip top of cot + glad to see it + move him. Personally I wouldn't have peace of mind without it but everyone is different.

tobdom

Congrats on the new arrival!

We started using a monitor consistently once we moved baby into their own room (around 5 months for us). We decided to go with a video monitor as we liked the 'comfort' of being able to see them, even if you kept the audio muted (overnight) as you would hear them if they were crying out.....

We bought this Motorola one which we were very happy with, good features etc: http://amzn.eu/gliv136 (shop around for sales if buying, Argos, Smyths, Amazon etc.)

However, with no.2 on the way we decided to get another and went for something significantly cheaper but one that works great and has a much crisper picture (albeit with a bit more lag time) than the Motorola one: http://amzn.eu/7nPVxke. This is not a dedicated baby monitor, but it does the job perfectly. It's an IP/WiFi camera with no dedicated 'parent unit', you just download the app onto your phone/tablet and connect the camera to your WiFi. Means you can also view it while out & about (not that you'd be leaving them unattended or anything!!).

jlm29

Lidl have a sound only monitor this week!

Millem

My baby was born at the end of August and I ordered a baby monitor on Black Friday! I got a very very cheap one and I love it! It’s a plug in Motorola one (no wires). I think it was around €15 on amazon.

GalwayGunner

OSI wrote: »

We use a Snuza Pico for monitoring his breathing (it attaches to their nappy and gives you loads of info like breathing rate, temperature, if they've turned over etc) and we have a Lollipop video monitor which is great as you can view it on your phone and talk back to baby through it.

I'm looking at baby monitors now too - the lollipop looks pretty good. Any drawbacks you've found so far?

5starpool

We just bought a generic camera from amazon (this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01I1A2RZ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). There is an app that you can use on any smartphone, so we use an old one that we had at home. It has a great picture, has night vision, 2 way sound, and you can view it from anywhere once the app is on your phone and the camera is plugged in. It is much cheaper than the camera monitors you buy which gives you the screen component, and works just as well in my view. We're very happy with this anyhow, we're using it now in fact.

Anne_cordelia

I don’t understand the microphone feature. Why would you want to talk to your kid through the monitor? Maybe it’s just my kids but if they woke up, they would need me there physically not just my voice. What do you say ‘go back to sleep’?

GalwayGunner

Quick update on this:

I bought the Lollipop 4 months ago and we love it.

The camera (day and night) is fantastic, the notifications are easily configurable and it's pretty easy to get set up initially.

Don't use the microphone/lullaby features as they are a bit gimmicky - but it's exactly what I was looking for so delighted.

Thanks