Baby Monitor - Dover,DE

I think the baby monitor is necessary until the child can get out of the bed (and down any necessary steps) by himself or herself to get to you.

I have a 15yr old and a 6 yr old, both boys. Keep listening to that room until they are married and out of the house. Just kidding! But not really. I have an art studio. I keep mine on so I can hear what is happening in the house. They forget I have it on and can hear everything. Suddenly I just appear....Oooooooh. How does she know what we are up to!???? It is a very useful and powerful home monitoring system. You are just fine.

Mine is 27 months old and we keep in on to hear when she wakes in the morning of calls out in the night if she has to go potty. :)
It's as long as you feel comfortable :)

I am planning on keeping the baby monitor with me as long as my son is in a crib. He is 16 months now. I cant always here him in his room if I dont have the monitor on, and I dont want to have him crying in his room when I think he is sleeping. So until he is in a big boy bed and can come get me on his own if he needs me I am sticking with the monitor.

Our daughter is going to be 20 months and we still use it. It doesn't bother me to have it on in the background, and I want to be able to hear what she's up to. At this age, she may start to think about climbing out of the crib, and even though I'm sure I'd hear the aftermath of that, I'd like to be able to hear any suspicious sounds first.

You use it as long as you feel you should use it. I used mine until my daughter was nearly or might have been 3yrs old or 4 to be honest i can't tell you exactly. I just know i don't now. She's 6 yrs. You just realize one day you don't have it. You stopped naturally when you didn't feel you needed it. Good luck

This question made me smile. there was a day when my hubbie said...please. YOU can HEAR her across the STREET when she wakes!
boom...we got rid of it!
;)

I'm still using mine and my daughter just turned 21 months. I plan to keep using it for as long as I feel it's necessary. We'll probably be converting her to a toddler bed when she reaches 2 years, so I'll definitely want it then to make sure she's not getting into trouble in her room after climbing out of bed!

I still have mine since I have kids who have respitary issues when they become sick even after getting a cold. They will cough, throw-up, and wheeze, so I need it.

An idea for keeping the monitor is to use it for baking. to hear the oven timers by carrying the portable receiver with you while you are about.

if you have the video one, you could use it as an educational toy to videotape your baby and let her see herself in action.

you it to monitor your older kid's internet/TV watching.

etc...

My son turned 5 last week and I just stopped using it at night. It was a crutch and you definitely don't need it that long but I miss it! I wouldn't worry about carrying it around unless you are far away from her (she's upstairs and you're staying in the basement during that time) but I sleep better knowing I was tuned in to hear him at night and I could often divert a big wake up/crying jag by going in when he started fussing and just rubbing his back etc.

You keep it as long as you "feel" the need to monitor her. I'm assuming you're doing other things maybe house work, having a little me time or sleeping yourself. So it's good to know she's waking so you pretty much can gage what you up for next. With my son I kept it to monitor him when he woke because sometimes he would play. I even used it when he got older when family children came to play. It's a good tool.

We just turned the moniters off/unplugged them a few weeks ago. My son is 4 and my daughter is 18 mo. We did live on a different level, and I was afraid that if my son got sick we wouldn't be able to hear him. Also, I couldn't hear them when they woke up on a diff level. Now we're on the same level, and I realized I didn't need them. My kids always sleep through the night now. If there's a problem, I'll be able to hear them crying, and they can get to my room. I used the moniter during my son's naps until he was about 6 mo, I think, and then didn't use them at all for my daughter unless I was napping too. It may sound silly, but I always felt I had to look in on them, even with the moniter. We actually had to take my son to the ER last night, and so I slept with our door open, knowing I'd hear if he needed me. You need to do whatever works for you. If you're not ready to give it up, then don't. If you want to keep it until the child is older, then do that. But I think if you know the patterns enough, then you might be ready to let at least the naptime ones go. You really need to do it when you become comfortable with it.

I kept mine with me until my daughter was in a toddler bed and finally figured out she could get up on her own to go potty or come into my room if she was scared, etc. She was almost 3 when I finally gave it up. As long as the baby is in a crib, I would keep the monitor.

My oldest daughter is four and I still have a monitor in her room. I don't carry it around the house but it's beside my bed in case she wakes up in the night. If I were you I would slowly start winging myself from using the monitor so much.

Hi

I used a monitor with my first until he was 6 months old and decided to stop as I couldn't sleep hearing every little noise they make , it seems so much louder coming through a monitor , we also for some reason started picking up the neighbors noise on it as they also had a kid and were using a monitor...I do not know how this happened but we could hear them talking , moving around etc so we told them and we stopped using it , with the other 2 kids I didn't use one , they were in our room until they were 5 months and when they moved out they are only in the room next door so we can hear them no problem.

Hi! I still have one in my daughter's room, and she's almost four. It's not necessary, but it makes me feel better to be able to respond quickly (especially when she is saying she needs to use the potty - saves me changing the sheets). She insists on sleeping with her door closed, so I might not hear her without a monitor. Plus she doesn't have to scream and wake up the baby - a benefit for all of us.

J.,

Hi, I am a single Mom of a 5yr old, I still use "The Monitor" at night. I really do not need it, because if she needs/wants anything, she just comes upstairs to get me. It just makes me feel better I guess. I really cant answer your question, but just wanted to let you know that my daughter is completely normal. :) Me on the other hand.... Hope someone will be able to give you some advice, good luck.

K.

Hi J.,

My son is 3 and I still have ours on at night just so I can hear what's up with him.

I still use the monitor for the night. I sleep too deeply to hear her down the hall if she needs me at night so I use it. During the day when she naps, I sometimes turn it on if I am going to be in the basement doing laundry or something otherwise if I am on the level just below her bedroom then I can usually hear her just fine. My daughter is 3 by the way.

I'm sure it isn't necessary, but I still have a monitor in my daughter's room and she is almost 6, and one in my son's room and he is 3. If anything, it helps me to know when they are getting out of bed and coming into mine. Also, one time my daughter had a bad dream and was crying for us and I had forgotten to turn it on. She didn't let me forget not hearing her for a month. I figure eventually she will figure the monitor out and tell me to get rid of it, until then, i'll leave it on.

I only used it when my kids were little and I was outside with the kids who were not sleeping. It allowed me to hear if the baby woke up, but the other kids didn't have to stay inside and be quiet. I rarely used them otherwise. Partly because my kids slept in my room until at least 4 months, and partly because I wasn't sleeping because I was listening to every noise. You will be able to hear her when she wakes up, even without the monitor :).

Just like many of the other moms, my kids are 4 and 7 and I still use the monitor at night...that way they can call me and not have to come down the stairs half asleep. And I think I will use it until it burns itself out. :-)

My daughter turned 2 in August, and we still have a monitor. I don't want to scare you into continuing with it, but it saved our daughters life earlier this summer. She had a fever when she went to bed and the doctor told us to give her Motrin and put her to bed and we would have an uneventful evening...not the case. About 10pm my husband and I were about to go to bed and I turned the video portion of our monitor off, and moments later I heard something that wasn't quite right, so I turned the monitor back on to see her having a seizure in the corner of her crib. She stopped breathing and we had to administer CPR before the ambulance arrived. We spent 3 days in the hospital and she has fully recovered, thank god! But if we didn't have the monitor...well I don't like to think about that. Anyway, I guess my point is that if you feel any hesitation about getting rid of the monitor, don't. As parents our instinct is a great tool. Good luck!

My kids are 3 and 4 and I still keep the moniter in my room. Im in the back of the house and they are up front, so I like to hear whats going on when I am doing laundry or showering...... I also like to hear when they get up in the a.m.....they are my alarm. I set out cereal and drinks for them and let them watch a cartoon until I am fully awake. Being able to hear everything thru the moniter, I can attend to them if they start fighting or getting into trouble.
So keep it as long as you like.

The answer is, you keep it as long as you want to. If it makes you feel more comfortable knowing you can hear your baby better and you can sleep more comfortably with it, then absolutely, keep it. If it's bothering you and every little grunt and burp is waking you up, you may want to consider getting rid of it, or turning it down, for your sleep's sake! I have a 4 year old and 1 year old sharing a room, so they still have a monitor. Sometimes my 4 year old still wakes up calling out for me. I could probably hear her w/o the monitor, but I can usually get in there and catch her still in bed (and get her back to sleep faster), instead of having her come to my room because I wasn't responding. TOTALLY up to you.

my son is 3 and i have one of those monitors that are cameras. so the reciever is located in my bed room and to be honest i keep it so that i can keep track of my son. if it makes you feel cumfortable then why get rid of it.

i think having one for each age has its benefits. i wish i had one for my 9 year old so i can hear what comes out of her mouth when i'm not in the room. you have it for infants so you can hear them cry when you normally wouldnt be able to. can you not hear your daughter wake up without the monitor? do you want to be able to listen to her talk to herself in her room as she falls asleep or is wakng up? if so thn keep the monitor. but if it's truely not helping because you can hear everyhing uou want to hear without it then stop using it.

Thanks for asking this question. You are not alone. I have a 2 1/2 yo and I still use her baby monitor, even though she can get out of bed and come to me. i think it is a comfort thing for us (moms).

My daughter is 13 months. We keep the monitor on low at night, but I don't tend to carry it during nap times or first thing in the AM when I am up and she is not. And sometimes the monitor has not gotten turned on and honestly, if she needs us, we hear her. If you want to wean yourself from the monitor, try doing it at nap time first.

You keep it until you feel comfortable letting it go. You know yourself and your child better than anyone else. If you're not ready, what harm is it doing?

My son is almost three and I still use the monitor at night. His bedroom is on the other side of the house from mine and I am a pretty sound sleeper. Also, I love to listen to him talking and singing to himself when he wakes up in the morning. Trust your instincts about when to stop using the monitor. If you can hear your child when he awakens or cries, maybe you can stop using it. If you think you may not hear her, keep it on.

I turned the baby monitor off when my daughter was 9 months old. She is now 15 months old. I would check on her before I went to bed. I realized that I don't need the monitor to hear her all night. Her room is right next to mine. She will let me know when she needs Mommy. When she is sick, I turn it back on, mainly for my peace of mind.

Dear Jamie-

As the mom of many teens...I wish I had kept the monitor longer!!

But I agree with many of the moms...when YOU are ready...you will forget it one day...and SLOWLY wean yourself from it!!

Take Care!
Michele/catwalk

I kept the monitor until my second child was born and my older daughter was almost 4. They can get into a lot of trouble on their own, especially when they are old enough to try to get out of the crib or when you get rid of the crib. Even if you can hear her call for you without the monito, you may want to hear what she is doing when she isn't calling you. I would probably have kept in in there until she was 18 if I hadn't been expecting another!

Someone asked this question about a year ago and got a lot of answers - you might want to look it up.

I have 16 month old twins. First, let me just say that my husband has been working out of town every week since they were 8 weeks old....so I feel your pain on being a single parent during the week :) As for the monitor...I stopped carrying it around at naptime at 12 months old, realizing that I would hear them when they woke up from their nap without needing it. I do, however, turn it on at night next to my bed. I like the comfort of knowing I can hear anything that is going on at night....and we also sleep with all the bedroom doors closed and I wouldn't hear them through all the doors if they woke up (and I have a frequent night waker who often wakes up).