Baby Monitors

What Should I Look For When Buying A Baby Monitor?

Trying baby monitors in your home is the only way to be certain that you end up with the right type for your home environment.

What Types Of Monitor Are Available?

• audio monitors  are the most basic. They transmit sound only.
• sound-and-light audio monitors allow you to view the sound level via a light display on the receiver.
• video monitors allow you to see your child on a small screen.
• a two-way communicator monitor allows you to communicate from mother to baby and baby to mother.
• movement sensors slip under the mattress and sound an alarm if the baby completely stops moving for more than twenty seconds.
• travel monitors are receivers that  clip into the transmitter and you can take anywhere. Batteries or A/C power can be used.

What Should I Be Looking For When Buying Baby Monitors? 

•  belt clips to allow the monitor to follow you as you move around the house
• hanging hooks for ease of use
• an extra parent unit is always handy in two storey houses.
•  a battery backup for the child unit will provide added reassurance and rechargeable batteries are more economical
• a low-battery indicator is a nice feature
• sound activated lights are useful and prevent household noised drowning out baby
• multiple channels are helpful when trying to get the best reception
• LCD monitors to allow you to see your baby
• adjustable volume and sound controlsv
• voice activation can help to save battery power

Do The Baby Monitors Pick Up Static Or Interference?

This can include phone conversations, radio stations, or conversations through neighbors’ baby monitors

Although baby monitors have improved over recent years there are still a couple of things to consider:-

• Do you live in a flat  or a house? 
• Is your property large or small?
• How much audio and video equipment do you have
• What will be the distance between the base transmitter and receiver?

All the above can affect the reception. You may need to experiment with baby monitors from a couple of price ranges to find one that works in your environment.

Baby monitors come in three frequencies, 49MHz, 900MHz, and 2.4GHz.

Less expensive monitors often use the 49MHz frequency, which can ahave more interference from cordless phones, cell phones, or even a neighbor’s baby monitor. The 900MHz monitors are less likely to experience interference from other sources,  2.4GHz, often provides the widest possible frequency and the best clarity, unless you have a home wireless network.