I Need Some Thoughts on Monitors.

Hi E., congrats on the baby. You need to make a few decisions before deciding on the monitor. First do you want a video or just audio. Do you want a 2 way or only one way. How may recievers do you need. I had the book baby bargains and loved it. I did some independant research also but for the most part went with their advice on most things. A forum to look at is the baby bargains forum where parents have questions and answers on just about everything baby related. I have one suggestion get something that you both light and sound on and such that you can reduce the volume on. Typically a digital monitor will be best to avoid interference.
Good luck

I would advise the Sony brand - I bought several monitors when my child was young and so many received interference from the phone and wireless interent - This was a great product and we never had any problem. I loved them and would recommend them to everyone I know!

I have both wireless internet and a cordless phone in my home. I have a fisher-price monitor that has no problem with any interference. This is the monitor I have.
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2011&e=detail&...

We have the one by Summer. It was about $50 at Babies R Us. Been using it for well over a year and have no complaints.

Hi! I was given a fisher-price lights and sounds baby monitor as a shower gift. It has one monitor and base. I have liked that the base has a night light which was great when my daughter was a newborn since she seemed to do better with some light in her room. I have also liked that you can turn the monitor sound down but still see what your baby is doing by the lights. It may sound crazy, but sometimes you don't want to HEAR them cry. Then you can make the decision whether she is really serious about her calling you, etc.

We have a cordless phone, cell phones and wireless internet in our home, which I also work out of, so there is a lot of other equipment around too. When I traveled to another family members home, I did have some interference once with a local radio station while my daughter was upstairs sleeping. In fact when she awoke and began to cry, the monitor did not register it, and my sister-in-law had to get her since I was downstairs unaware that she was calling me.

Other than that, I have been happy with the monitor I have except for one thing. I wish that I had two monitors instead of one since I have to move the one back and forth from my office to our bedroom, every day. When the next baby comes along, I will get one that has two for sure!

Hope this has been helpful!

A. F.

We have used the Safety First monitors with the walkie-talkie system for the last two years and have really enjoyed the versatility of them. It comes with 3 monitors (so up to 3 locations can be listened to at one time) and 2 receivers (which are cordless - love that!) that can work as walkie-talkies. We also have wireless internet and cordless phones. Our only issue was when our neighbors decided they loved our system so much that they bought the same one when their 2nd child was born. We just had to make certain we operated on different frequencies (very easy)and we have had no interference since. We do hear each other when the walkie-talkie feature is used, but it has actually provided a lot of funny moments! Just make sure you never say something too private! : ) Good luck making your decision!

We have both wireless internet and a cordless phone and bought the cheapest fisher price monitor at Babys R Us - it was 20 dollars. It works great.

I have cordless phones, wireless internet, and a baby monitor. Consumer Reports is a good place to start when looking for reviews but I also check out the reviews on Amazon, babiesrus, and epinions.com.

Personally, I have a Safety 1st Lights and Sound monitor with a camera. I've been using it for 2 years and it works fine. Sound is clear on both monitors and I love the light feature. If I have the sound turned down I can look at the lights and see that he is making noise. I'm not sure that the camera is necessary. It does work and surprising well in the darkness, but I have to put my hand on it to make the picture clear. I also find that I don't use it that often. My other complaint about the TV receiver unit I use is that the power button is right on top - like a snooze button! I've turned it off in a morning stupor when my alarm goes off! There is no power light to know it is on.

I would look for one with sound and lights, more than one receiver, and uses battery and AC power.

Good Luck!
J.

We have the Graco Video monitor. It is ditigal and doesn't interfere with our cordelss adn wireless internet.

We have the Sony BabyCall and it is great! I love that it is voice activated, so I don't listen to static or that awful white noise- I just hear when the baby cries.

We have wireless internet and cordless phones in our house. We have the Fisher Price sounds and lights monitor system. We've had it for two years and it serves the purpose. We have not picked up on anybody else's conversations in the area and we do not get static unless we put our cell phones near the monitor, so we just keep them away from it. I like the lights feature as you don't have to have the volume way up loud because the lights will arch up when the baby cries or is making some type of noise. Good luck with your decision!
R.

We have the Safety 1st monitor and it works well. We tried another type and did not like it. We've had this one for almost three years and it still works. We have cordless phones and wireless internet and there is no interferance. The monitor is clear enough to hear the baby breathing. My husband and I always made sure to have a ticking clock in the room as a test to be sure the monitor was functioning. This monitor does not have any static - the other one (I don't remember which brand) did have static. This monitor is reasonably priced too. I think it works better than others more expensive. Good luck finding the right one for you. :o)
Peace,
J.

I have a cordless phone and wireless internet. We have the Fischer Price Lights and Sounds Monitor. It is only about $20 and is very sensitive even when turned down low. I have never had any problems with it.

Hi E.,
I know this is not the reply you are asking for but I REALLY thought it was important.

YOU are the best baby monitor and the most important! There is no substitute for your seeing the baby, observing the color and temperature of her/his skin, position in bed, and listening to the breath sounds, regularity, rhythm and clarity.

A monitor will save some steps but remember that electronics fail. Please use wisely.
Blessings!
J.

As far as electronics

We have the Graco iMonitor. It is digital, so it is made to not interfere with other household appliances. It comes in crystal clear for us, no static, despite wireless internet, cordless phones, etc. With 2 parent units, it retails for ~$85. I believe it was rated well in Baby Bargains.

Hello! I returned three monitors (Safety 1st, Evenflo and I don't remember what the other one was) that either stopped working or would pick up phone conversations and other interference. Then I got the SONY BabyCall and I have no complaints. We've had it for almost three years and it works beautifully, no interference, no static, very sensitive.

I have cordless phones and wireless internet in my house. I have the Summer monitor. I got it at Babies R Us and it works good. I think it was $50. It has a light indicator on it to tell when there is noise coming from my son's room. I have no interference what so ever. Good luck.

E.,
My parents bought me a Summer brand monitor at Walmart for my baby shower and I think it is the greatest thing not only can I hear my son I can also see him - It has a camera base that you can place where-ever your baby is sleeping and carry the hand held with you to watch and see every move your little one makes. I love it even though it is a Walmart product!

Stay away from Fisher Price. I am anxious to hear the relpies because we will need a new one for Baby #2. Our Fisher price one drives us nuts- it always get interference and every morning around 8am or so it picks up a religious channel and all you hear is someone shouting through the monitor.
Good Luck!

I have one by Fisher Price, not sure which model, but i think it might be called lights and sound. It has one base and two recievers. Can be used plugged in or it can run on batteries without a cord. I have picked up a few conversations from other peoples telephones or something (I think that happened twice.) It has two channels to choose from so if that happens too much you just change the channel to avoid that. So that wasn't really a big thing. But one thing I don't like is that if I set the reciever next to say the sound speakers of our computer or if i set my cell phone down too close to it I get a lot of static noise on the reciever when my phone rings. I just don't use it a whole lot since we live in a smaller house and it was a gift, so I havn't replaced it. hope this helps.

we have a video monitor and love it. it takes alot of leg work out of things. to just be able to see them and know there ok. it is made by summer I think it was about 80 or 90 dollars.it is about 50 60 dollars cheaper than the other video monitors and it seems to work well with all the things you have mentioned.I know they have them at toyrus and i think walmart. any monitor whether video or not can transmit your phone calls.to another nearby monitor so make sure you turn of the camera\monitor. esp if talking about your neighbors. all monitors have radio transmition ,thats how they work.so you are likely to interference with any of them try to put it a decent distance from the phone and computer. we had a different monitor before the summer one I think it was saftey first ,and had alot more interrference ,every time my phone was going to ring i would know beforehand because the monitor would start freaking out .I havent had a problem with this one yet and its been about six months good luck if you need further info let me know M.

If I could give a new mom O. piece of advice on a monitor it would be--GET A VIDEO MONITOR!!! They are GREAT and I wouldn't be without O.. My son is turning 5 and I still use it! With a 2 story house, when my son was a newborn I had an audio monitor and still found myself running up and down the stairs with each sound he made (new mom jitters!) But when I soon got a video monitor it was so convenient to look an see, that it was just a little yawn, cough, etc and I found that I disturbed my son less with the video monitor.
I accidently drop-kicked my first video monitor down the stairs and it was replaced THAT day! I've had 2 brands and they were both great with myinternet and cordless phones.
The extra cost is worth it. Good luck!
My current video monitor is a Summer - I wouldn't buy anything else BUT a video monitor!!!!

We have a cordless, microwave, wireless internet..etc...
We have been using Safety 1st for 13 months now and only had interference 2x on the listening end. It was the neighbors phone.
Good luck!
Chris

Hi there, we have a video monitor made by Summer. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!! It's the best being able to see my daughter -- that way, I can figure out if I really need to go into her or not in the middle of the night. It works amazing in the dark. Seriously. Her image comes up fantastically. It comes with one camera and one monitor. The only downside is that the battery is drained a lot faster if you have the screen on all the time. (You have the option of hitting a button on top of the monitor to see your child on the monitor; otherwise, it works as a sound monitor.) So what I do is keep the monitor on my nightstand, always plugged into the charger at night. During the day, I don't have it on the charger and it can survive three-four hours worth of naps easily. It will just loose its juice sometime in the middle of the night if I don't put it on the charger.

Let me know if you have any questions!

T. :)

We have the Sony BabyCall for my daughter and it is fabulous. You can set it up to hear everything, or just pick up on voices, so you don't hear any background noise or static. We use the Graco iMonitor with our son and love it as well, 2 years and still works great. The only negative I have heard about that is for people who live in older homes there can be some issues with reception. We live in a new home, with cordless phones, wireless internet, and satellite tv and have no problems.

I checked out a ton. I bought a digital one and it works great! The digital ones will not pick up the static of your internet, cell phones or cordless phones. So, any digital one is great.

we had the cheaper fisher price monitor as well. i think ours ran around 26 bucks at target. not sure if they all are the same... but if we would sit our cell phones near the monitor... when they would ring, it would interfer with the monitor and make a very loud staticky sound. not enough to make me go out and buy new. but over time, we just learned to keep our phones away from the monitors. and they served their purpose. we also have a video monitor in my daughters room. its nice b/c i can turn on my tv and look at her and not always have to run in her room for every little thing. i can just check on her and make sure everythings ok and she has no idea. this too is slighty staticky on the screen. sort of like the "old days" when you would adjust the tracking or something on the vcr. it sort of looks like that, just b/c of the interference of our other speakers and tv set up. but it too is clear enough that i can see her and it even has night vision. that has been a lifesaver. good luck with your descision.

We have the same equipment in the house as you, and we have the Fisher Price lights and sounds monitor. We have had no complaints with it in either place we've lived. We've had it for 3 years and plan on using it with baby #2 eventually. Ours came with 2 monitors, and you can buy individual monitors separately if you want them for other rooms. My son is old enough now to unplug our monitors and throw them around the room (until I catch him and take it away!), and they still work just fine. Good luck!

I have lots of wireless computers and phones throughout my house and have no trouble with my Summer video monitor and I love it. Mine's the one with the handheld unit with rechargeable batteries and night vision. I've had it for 2 years and am buying another one because I'm pregnant with my third. Also, I considered the "mobi cam" which appears to do all the same stuff, but also have the ability to see two rooms/ cameras on one reciever, BUT it doesn't have rechargeable batteries and I've read that people burn through batteries and it's a big complaint on the parent reveiws. However, if you really think you won't need to move the reciever around and use it on the battery option, then I think that'd be a good one, too. Good luck!

Sony makes one that is AWESOME! I have 2 of them- there are a ton of different channels you can switch to and they have NO static. I also love that they have a voice activated feature. The monitor sounds like it is off until someone makes a noise in the room, then you hear everything. When I turn these on I can hear my kids breathing!

I have the "sony baby call" system. We have a cordless phone, wireless internet, and live in a large rental complex (I was concerned about picking up other peoples phone calls)... it's been great. I keep it plugged in, but there is a battery option, so you can easily move it from room to room. The only down side is there is only one speaker/receiver, so everytime I changed rooms (bedroom to living room) i have to unplug it and move it.

I asked all around when I was prego, and the guy I spoke to at babys-r-us told me that this was the most reliable for the conditions named above. I don't know what your needs are, if you want a video or 'high tech' system, but this one is simple, small and reliable! Maybe sony has a 2 speaker option these days! Good luck!

Is this your first child? How do you feel about SIDS? My son was premature and spent time in the NICU because of respiratory problems so I was a wreck. He slept with us every night until I found out about the Angel Care monitor. It is a sensory pad that goes under the crib and it senses when the child moves, breaths, etc... If the baby does not make movement/breath for a predetermined amount of time (I think 10 secs), an alarm sounds. This just helped me feel so much more comfortable with him being in his own room. It also has the standard feature of being able to hear other noises.
When he started rolling around and SIDS became less of a risk, I switched to a TV type monitor, its a Summer brand. This was great because I could see if he was crying because his leg was stuck in the crib or just because he didn't want to go to sleep.
Both worked fine with internet and phone. One piece of advice though, they say if you have a 900 mghz phone, then don't get a 900 mghz monitor. Good luck and congrats.