Appealing to my mom + tech savoir–faire, a friend from college wrote me earlier this week to get a recommendation on baby monitors.
Umm…
Our first baby monitor was lost in the move, but it wasn’t anything worth raving about. The second time around, we went for inexpensive, basic, and utilitarian and bought the Safety 1st Go and Glow. I chose it because it has a temperature gauge. That is all.
My cold-natured daughter has zero tolerance for the slightest dip in temp, whereas I hardly notice. It took MONTHS to realize this. Now the cozier, the happier… for mama and baby.
Range, video, etc… I could care less about, but the “Go and Glow” has worked remarkably well. I can’t complain. Not that Lou even slept in her own room until she was almost a year old…
Also, our house is small enough that we know exactly when she’s is ready to get up. She just bangs on the adjoining wall between her room and mine… or yells.
Not wanting to let my friend down, I did what I do best. Research! I reread reviews I’d seen in the past, dug up recommendations from other friends, and poured through various mom-tech sites. I sent her links to the baby monitors that I’d heard the most good things about, plus one that was debuted at CES 2011 that works with a smart phone. (Price was not yet disclosed, but I imagine “not cheap”…)
In my internet hopping, I found a baby monitor that plays into every single new parent fear. For instance…
Never miss a moment… ever!
The Lorex Live Snap Video Monitor has night vision and an SD card.
You can snap a thousand and seven photos of your baby sleeping, then post them directly to your Facebook page for all the world to enjoy. Quick! Someone warn, STFU, Parents.
Helicopter Parent, Coming in for a Landing
The sensor pad detects your baby’s slightest movements. The very slightest… it detects and reports to you. (I don’t even want to be aware of my every movement.) It also sounds an alarm if your baby isn’t moving.
What’s the point of buying a baby monitor when what you really want to do is stand over your baby’s crib with a hand mirror. For the price of this monitor, you could buy about twenty or thirty of those.
Paranoia, Metanoia
I also found a handful of Wi-Fi enabled, remotely-accessed baby monitors/nanny camera… and I just had to stop for this brief PSA. If you’re that suspicious of your childcare, you don’t need a baby monitor. You need a new babysitter.
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I know there has to be a legitimate need for these products. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be sold, right? Yeah… I’m thinking, “No. No there is not.”
Interesting to note. Do you know what there isn’t enough of? A single “reasonably priced” baby monitor for two kids in two different rooms, which is what my friend needs.
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The only time I could envision the need for the nanny cam version is if your in laws are your sitters and you’re trying to mount a case against them so that your husband will agree to changing the care system. HA!
Darn i just bought a super expensive one like a month ago, wish i would of seen these
just a small piece of advice is to get a couple of safety straps for the boys, at the time a friend of mine suggested it and i didn’t really pay much attention to it… however, we learned our lesson with a not so fun trip to the ER. regardless, thanks for posting… the new line from safety1ist is completely styling and adorable ;D
Hi, that was a very cool blog post. Thanks for sharing the content on the subject.