What to consider when buying a baby monitor

When we had our first baby we were rushing to buy crib, infant seat, stroller, clothes, baby bottles....the list is endless. To our rescue was Google. We were able to search for products, read the reviews and decide on what was best for us. But not all my choices were correct. I realized that the baby monitor I bought is not digital and I can hear my neighbours talking because either they have similar unit or their unit works on same frequency! As our baby grew I also realized that I should have rather invested in a video monitor so we know she is out of trouble while playing in her room. So I invested in another baby monitor, this time a video one. SInce I spent considerable amount of time on consumer reports and Amazon reviews I decided to put together my learnings on the baby monitors. I am reviewing Summer infant video monitor.

Should you invest in a video monitor instead of audio monitor?

Three reasons that I can think of on top of my head why a video monitor is better, 1) Infants wake up very easily on slightest of noise, with audio monitors sometimes its very hard to determine the reason behind some nosies coming from baby's room and you have to go to their room. You may accidently wake them up. 2) Many times we just go want to check if the baby is wearing her blanket properly and is comfortable. With video monitor we can do this without disturbing her. 3) Once you baby is grow up and you can leave her in her play room on her own you still want to keep a close eye on her to make sure everything is alright.

Private channel

Most of the wireless home devices, cordless phones, wireless routers etc. work on 2.4 GHz frequency. This results in an interference especially in analog devices. You may hear you neighbours talking on your receiver and if you can listen them chances are they can listen you as well! Summer Infant Video Monitor uses a digital private channel which eliminates cross talk and interference from similar devices.

2.5 inch Color Screen

The 2.5 inch color LCD screen on Summer Infant Video Monitor gives enough clarity to monitor baby's actions. There is an on-screen menu which can be used to pan, scan and zoom camera which actually works very well. The camera is infrared capable so it also works when there is not enough light in the room. The picture on the monitor is black and white in this case which is normal since the infrared cameras cannot determine colors in dark. The monitor also has LEDs which light up depending on the level of baby's sound. This feature is very handy when we want to keep the volume muted.

Rechargable battery

The Handheld monitor works on rechargable batteries which are included, so we save money on alkaline batteries. We charge it every night but single charge can last for upto 10 hours. The video can be switched off on the monitor to conserve battery. The LED on the monitor indicates when the battery is low. The included second adapter is really handy just in case the batteries run out of juice.

Range

The monitor has decent range. Though the specs say 350', it works well within home. The monitor indicates that we are out of range when it cannot talk to the camera anymore. I tweak the antenna direction depending on where I plan to stay in the home for most of the time.

What can be improved

The volume control is one of the most common functionalities yet tucked away inside on-screen menu. But we got used to it. Some of the users also where bothered by the infrared LEDs on the camera flashing every now and then when its dark. But its barely visible and does not bother the bay at all. This is not a perfect monitor but is definitely better than similar devices. There are newer models which cost over $300 but not many people own them so its hard to determine if they are worth the cost.

Where to purchase

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