Baby Monitor - Philadelphia,PA

We had a Graco. Just a basic one. Worked great. Some like monitors, others don't. It's all about the individual and what they like really. Everyone has their unique ways of caring and raising their wee ones. :-)

I think consumer reports reviewed baby monitors. Might be worth checking out.

We loved our Summer infant day and night video monitor, until the airport "lost" it. We ended up getting a Sony Baby Call from walmart and it works just fine for us, and the quality seems great. Since you are used to not using a monitor at all, I would recommend the Sony Baby Call (regular monitor). We spoiled ourselves with the video monitor, and I miss it greatly, but if we had started with the regular monitor, I would have never miss what I didn't have!.

My best advice (as a mom currently using a monitor): get a monitor with multiple channels. Some channels are really fuzzy; others will link you to someone else's monitor (you'll hear their baby and they'll hear yours). We are using the Sony monitor - and it works great!

ok just so you know, I thought a video monitor wasn't worth the extra cost but it so totally is. sometimes babies will cry in their sleep and you dont know if you need to go in or if they're just having a bad dream. sometimes you get paranoid and need to see if he's still in his bed. sometimes you just miss your baby and want to see him. :) its one of those things that isn't absolutely necessary in life but once you have one, you'll wonder how you ever did without it. kind of like a cell phone. get hte video camera!

I always thought a video monitor was overkill and I wouldn't use it. But, we had a sound only one and we didn't know if we needed to go in or not as our baby cried out a lot in her sleep, so we finally broke down and bought the Summer BestView monitor. It has a camera, sound, pan and tilt, and it is WONDERFUL! I can look and see if my kids are crying in their sleep, jumping up and down, or laying there awake. A sound one is ok, but a LOVE my video one and I just would not want to go back. You can also add extra cameras if you want to, and it is digital so you won't pick up other people's (we live in a mobile park and we heard a lot of other babies that weren't ours all night) and it doesn't pick up cordless phones either. So, if you don't want video, at least go digital and get a model that it seems like your neighbors won't have....we went through several with multiple channels and we heard a lot of other babies besides ours. Its such a hard decision! Also, check craigslist because a lot of people will either give them away or sell them for very cheap once they are done with them, and its not like they wear out really.

We have the Sony BabyCall monitor. It's no-frills and at a low price point. We leave it plugged in our bedroom at night, but I clip it on my pants or carry it around during the day. I've never lost a charge, even during a three hour nap. And I can take it with me when we're outside working in the garden or playing and hear just fine. I'll hear a static sound if a car drives by, but just right at that moment and then it's working fine again. A monitor is probably a great idea if your oldest likes to play outside. That way you aren't saying, "We have to stay in on this beautiful sunny day because the baby's napping." You don't need to give the older sib another reason to resent the new baby, right?

Just go for a very simple model. I got a cheesy one, cheapest I could find at Walmart YEARS ago and still have it. Comes in VERY handy when someone is sick. Also even used it when my father came to live with us at the end of his life so I could monitor him while getting some rest. They are a GODSEND!

I have the Sony Baby Call. It's just sound and lights. My daughter is 4.5 and we still use it (2 story house), and it works great. The battery has been great, and Iove the "voice activation" feature, so you can sleep without the white noise.

That being said, I am pregnant with #2 and the one thing I want for this baby is a video monitor! we not have a colonial house, so I want to avoid running up the stairs as much. in our 2 bed condo, it was no problem, we could hear everything. I wished I had one most when she was age 1-2, when I wasn't sure if she was playing or try to sleep, climbing out of the crib, etc. Also, I know if i try to go check on the baby, big sis will follow me and is never as quiet as i like her to be. Whenever I babysit, she doesn't get the joy of naptime for the baby!

The first decision is digital vs. analog. I think it is recommended you get digital if there is concern of others living nearby picking up your signal (which I think can happen with analog, and say the Smith's next door could hear all your conversations).

My first baby I went digital with a Graco digital one ($130?). It stinks, in the sense that when it's on I can hear constant "white noise" of it picking up the noise in her room (ceiling fan). Secondly, it's battery is terrible. So if my child is sleeping and I want to go outside and take the receiver with me, it lasts about 5 minutes if it isn't plugged in.

My 2nd child I went with a Sony analog one and I love it. The battery life is so much better, and it has two "on" positions -- one is picking up all noise, and the second one position is "voice activiated" meaning it buffers all the other noise (it is silent) unless baby cries than it "comes on". (Sony 900MHz BabyCall Nursery Monitor with 2 receivers -- $62 at Target)