Baby Monitor: What Type is Best for Your Family?

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A Baby monitor is such a wonderful product to have. Without one, I’d constantly be peeking into my son’s room to see if he was awake and okay. Some of you may even have your children’s bedroom on a different floor of your house than your master bedroom. It can be extremely difficult to hear your child cry from far away.

Even with a one-story house, I can’t hear my son when he is crying in his room. We sleep with a loud fan on in our bedroom that makes it hard to hear anything else. I can’t hear my son crying without a monitor. For me, the pros of a video & sound monitor (vs a sound only monitor) outweigh the cons. Let me explain why.

I am a mama with big-time anxiety! It gives me peace of mind knowing I can always glance over and see what my son is doing. It helps me to be less stressed and I sleep better having it.

Why it is Beneficial to have a Video Monitor over a Sound Only Monitor!

We saw when our son managed to climb out of his crib! We rushed into his room as he was hanging on to the outside.
Having a video baby monitor allows you to see what your baby is doing, even when they are quiet! Are they sleeping? Are they awake? Has their swaddle come loose?
I’ve seen when my son’s gotten sick and thrown up in his crib. Even when he’s done it quietly and he tried going back to sleep.
I can peak over at the monitor even with small sounds. There’s no second-guessing and thinking “was that sound nothing or does my baby need something?”.
If you have more than one child, you won’t have to guess which kid is up and making the noise!
You can see if your child is asleep or awake without the risk of going into their room and waking them up.
Most video-monitors can be used as a sound-only monitor by keeping the screen off. You won’t have a distracting screen light on in your room the entire night but can still click a button to turn the screen on and peek in on your child if wanted or needed.

A video monitor can give you the validation you need when you are deciphering if a baby’s cry or noise is something that requires a trip to their room or not.

Was that cry him settling himself back to sleep? Is that noise a toy falling out of the crib? Was the thud him hitting his head? Is he crying because his paci fell out of the bed? And something that keeps coming up for us lately… is my son crying because he slipped his foot through the crib bars and is stuck?

Also, when your child gets older and transitions to a toddler bed, you can look over and see if they are out of bed! The monitor I have and love allows you to talk through the monitor. I’ll be able to give my child directions like “get that little booty back in your bed” without getting up.

Why You May Decide You want a Sound-Only Monitor or No Monitor at all:

I do have several friends that have a sound-only monitor or do NOT have a baby monitor at all. Being able to hear your baby or child needing help is what is most important. Sound is what wakes you up, gets your attention, and gets you to their room. My friends without monitors can hear their babies from their bedrooms.

Benefits of Sound-Only Monitors:

They feel safe knowing they are in earshot of their kids and don’t need anything further.
For those with sound-only monitors, a pro is that they cost less and take up less space.
You don’t have the shining light that comes from keeping a video-monitor screen on all night.
Sound-only monitors are simple and don’t have all these buttons and features that can be complicated.
They are also easier to set up.

My piece of mind comes from having a video monitor. But, do what is best for you! What helps you sleep better? Which makes you feel like your baby is safe?

Speaking of feeling safe, I also want to mention another kind of monitor, The Owlet.

What is The Owlet?

The Owlet is a comfortable “sock” that wraps around your baby’s foot. It monitors your baby’s heart rate, oxygen levels, and sleeping. The sock connects to a home base and will also send notifications to your phone. It will notify you with lights and sounds if something is wrong.

The owlet is small and can easily be taken places to monitor baby’s breathing: if your baby naps in a pack n play at someone else’s house, you are on vacation, even if you are holding your baby while they nap and you want to be extra cautious!

My best friend’s baby recently had RSV. Her baby had to stay in the hospital overnight. She said when they were discharged, having the Owlet on her son saved her sanity. She was so worried about his breathing while he was recovering from RSV. The monitor let her know whether his oxygen levels were still okay or if they needed to head back to the hospital!

My Favorite Video & Sound Monitor

I bought THREE baby monitors before I finally found one that would work and had the features I needed. The house we were living in didn’t have good cell reception or internet service. This meant most monitors wouldn’t connect well. 2 of the 3 monitors would not let me know if the monitors became disconnected from each other.

I would wake up in the middle of the night and the video monitor would say “no service”. The two I had would not beep to wake me up and let me know my monitor was no longer working. I couldn’t hear my baby cry from my room and my monitor was my lifeline to his room. It was out and I didn’t know it.

FINALLY, I found a monitor I love that will also continuously beep if the monitors become disconnected from each other. That also rarely happened because this monitor somehow managed to work pretty well in my dead-zone of a house.

Although it was the most expensive out of the 3 I bought, it is THE BEST. I LOVEEEE this monitor. It is the Infant Optics DXR-8 Video Baby Monitor with Interchangeable Optical Lens.

There is a button on the parent monitor so you can talk to your baby through a speaker on the monitor in their room. You can add baby monitors and have the parent screen switch back and forth between the rooms when you have multiple kids! When you talk into your monitor, your voice plays in whatever room the monitor is currently on! There are multiple lenses for different views of the rooms as well.

Now that my son is 2 and a toddler, he plays in his playroom by himself sometimes. He also has little toddler friends that come over and they hang out in the playroom. So, I bought an extra camera for that room.

Now I can spy on the little ones while I get to hang out with the other Mamas in the living room. I can see what the rugrats are up to while being in the other room instead of constantly peeking my head in!

Again, whatever type of monitor gives you the most peace is what is best for you. For me, that is a video monitor♥.