Hi all,
First time dad-to-be here and thinking about buying a baby monitor.
Any tips? Advice? I was looking at the Angelcare AC1100 with Sound, Video and Movement Monitor at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004E9SWQ2
What have you used before and what worked for you?
Cheers
I'd just grab something like this…
http://www.amazon.com/VTech-Communications-Sound-Digital-Mon…
Parents have been successfully looking after babies for quite some time without having to panic over every little squeak.
Don't worry…. there will be plenty more for you to feel anxious and guilty about as they grow :-)
Will not use Angel Care again. Blardy thing kept giving false alarms and made me die a 1000 deaths nearly every night.
Over rated and over priced!
I went for an Oricom Secure 500 after the AC. It's around the same price as the AC, but it doesn't have the silly breathing and movement monitor to scare the hell out of you.
You can set the intensity of the monitor so that you can hear a pin drop or only hear something when bubs is in full hysteria (usually a setting to be used when they're older).
You can plug your MP3/CD player and let it play bubs favourite lullabies through the monitor.
The monitor has a 2 way talk and listen kind of thing. The parents can talk to eachother and hear eachother via the parent unit and the baby unit as well. A lot of the other brands only have a 1 way communication and that is where the parent can talk to the other parent from the baby unit, but not from the parent unit.
Battery life is fabulous and reception is crystal clear. No static what so ever. They come with a 3 year warranty and will replace if there's an issue instead of repairing.
You can operate the baby unit from the parent unit. Turn the music/ nightlight on and off, etc.
This is the new model by the way. It comes with a "starry night" ceiling projector, room thermometer and vibration alert:
http://www.gadgetcity.com.au/oricom-secure-610-digital-baby-…
I actually bought the Secure 500 from these guys and they're the cheapest around for both the 610 and the 500.
Can I say that you don't need one? Thats the best bargain -no money to spend at all!
We went through this, read all the choice reviews, shopped around and in the end we did not miss not having one (and I am a gadget guy!).
There is a real baby marketing bandwagon which makes you feel that you are not a good parent is you do not buy all the stuff.
If you are worried about preventing SID, the best thing you can do is not smoke (as far as the medical evidence goes).
I'd like to see the stats on number of lives saved by these devices or the number of successful legal cases where the device did not work.
Babies sleeping are noisy things. We could hear our snoring/snorting Son from 3 rooms away.
I bought the following monitor because our baby has her room a fair distance from ours and we like to know when she is crying… It works well and has not had any interference like a cheaper model I bought… Have used it for nealy 12 months now and have had no issues with it…
http://www.pharmacyonline.com.au/baby/safety-monitoring/aven…
I have my Oricom Secure 500 for sale if interested lol! I used it for 18 months until he was able to get out of his bed by himself and it's been sitting in a cupboard for nearly another 18 months. Still has a few months warranty hehehe.
The only reason I bought the monitor is because I was a single mother and am half deaf. I did not hear him waking up and screaming himself silly when I was lying on my good ear.
Oh and robotdad, I can guaranty you that not all babies snore and snort. My kid was very very quiet during his sleep. He still is. Just don't ask me about noise when he's awake o_O
LOL at the near-death situation from false alarms (Shout It Out) and noisy snoring babies (Robotdad)! I suppose I'll come to find out what babies are like when this little one is born.
Thanks for all the advice. We thought a good sleep without false alarms is very important so the movement sensor is out but she still thinks a video monitor may be useful for when she is preparing meals in the kitchen and bub's sleeping in the room. I've never seen a baby monitor before, am I wrong to think they are mobile and can be moved around?
I see all these monitors have room temperature sensors, what do they do and show?
I'll keep your Oricom in mind, Shout It Out, if we decide to go for just a sound monitor. I just found the answers to my questions too when I read the link you posted - duh me, need to read/google more before posting. Really like the night light and lullabies functions.
I suppose Robotdad has a point with not buying one but knowing myself, I'll probably be a nervous wreck and check on bub every 30 mins and become dadzilla.
You will find your natural comfort zone with baby-checking and you would be surprised at how well the internal alarm works. When the baby is sleeping, you are better off sleeping rather than having the extra stimulus of a well-intentioned monitoring device. Well rested parents and well rested babies make for better parenting. Our Obstetrician said straight out that we would be nuts if we slept in the same room as the baby. So the night before our RobotSon came home I disassembled the cot and moved it to the baby room. At least we could shut the doors to turn down his snores, sighs, whistle sounds and bubbly sounds -not to mention when he was working on pushing out his well-processed food!
Good luck with being a Dad. Its the best thing you can ever be.
Oh and when you can make your own people, you get to make your own rules [Seinfeld quote].
Oricom has a video monitor too, but I don't know why you would want one? You're pretty much guaranteed to find bubs right where you left him/her 10 minutes later in the first 5-6 months lol! :oP
As long as you put bub in a cot and pull up the drop rail, he/she wont be going anywhere until able to stand up and climb out. That wont be until 12 months onwards anyway.
I think the camera is still a bit over board, but I can understand your wife's concerns as most women have been where she is now. You spend 9 months baking this bun going through all the aches and pains, so you want to be 110% sure that you have done everything you can to prevent anything from happening to bub after it's arrival :o)
Oh and yes, you take the parent unit with you when you're not in the same room as bub. That way you can still hear him/her if and when necessary.
My daughter is now 4 weeks old, and we can hear every breath. She is loud, so no fear of not hearing a new born baby breathing while they sleep.
We went to Baby Bunting during a sale and got this pack which is a combination of the Oricom Secure 700 (which has night vision) and the Oricom Baby Sense 2 respiratory monitor. From memory we paid $299 for the combined package.
http://www.babybunting.com.au/index.php/catalog/product/view…
http://www.babybunting.com.au/index.php/catalog/product/view…
It is everything that we need so we can watch TV in one room and watch her while she sleeps in her own room. Her cries are amplified with the monitor and we can see if she is awake and crying or just having a baby nightmare and settling herself.
Baby nightmare??
Does your daughter sleep in your room? The only time I could hear my son was when he slept in my room in a bassinette. When I moved him to his cot in the next room, I stopped hearing him……
I been using facetime from 2 iphone or (iphone to ipad )as my baby monitor,
:)
This expired deal still appears to be active: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/61688
[edit] Doh, different model…oh well, decent deal anyway! ;)