Here are the things to look out for when shopping for a baby monitor:
1) Battery
Check what kind of battery the baby monitor uses. Is it rechargeable? Maybe you want to read some reviews to see whether the battery lasts long. You don’t want the battery to run out of juice when you’re in the basement doing laundry.
2) How many receivers?
Some people are ok with just one receiver, but others like one each for daddy and mummy, so that the nearest one can go to baby when he/she wakes up.
3) Volume
Unless you’re getting a video baby monitor, sound is the main function and so you’d want to hear your baby clear and loud. If your house has a lot of background noise like air-conditioning or the tv is always on, make sure the volume in your monitor’s parent unit is loud enough.
4) Light indicators
Ok, so you want to put on headphones and listen to some nice music, or you need a shower but monitors can’t get wet. Get a baby monitor with light indicators that tell you baby is crying even when you can’t hear.
Personally, I find any and all indicators to be really good when using a baby monitor, because I need all the alerting I can get. If you get caught up in something, the best baby monitors have light and sound to alert you so that you’ll drop your task and run to your baby.
5) Interference, Static and Channels
Maybe you’re ok with a little static, or maybe you want to throw your receiver against the wall the minute it begins to make scratchy background noise.
If you don’t mind at all, even a cheaper analog monitor will do for you. If you like clarity and sound quality, go for digital monitors. And if you really want no interference at all, including not receiving signals from neighbors’ houses, it’s time to throw in some cash and get a DECT monitor.
After all, you wouldn’t want to respond to a cry only to find out that it was your neighbor’s baby in the end. Or worse, overhear their private conversations if you’re both using the same channel or the same baby monitor.
More channels will mean less interference. Nowadays models come with a range from a few channels to over hundred channels to ensure the least interference.
6) Sensitivity
This is also a matter of preference. Some people like to hear the white noise in baby’s room as an assurance that the monitor is working well at all times, but some would prefer just to hear baby’s sound.
Some models allow you to control the sensitivity of the microphone so that you can set it to pick up only the noises you want to hear.
7) Walkie-talkie feature
If your baby is already talking little phrases like mine, this could be a nice feature to have! Some toddlers don’t cry when they need mummy, but they like to know that mummy is around the house somewhere.
With this feature you can safely leave your kid in the room keeping an ongoing conversation with him/her while you do your chores around the house!
I hope you find this helpful:)
Happy shopping for a baby monitor!
Related Posts:
- Best Baby Monitor – Home
- Types of Baby Monitor
- Best Baby Monitors – Top 5 Picks
- Best Baby Monitor – Introduction
