Choosing the Best Baby Monitor 👍🏻

Author Bubs n Grubs Baby BlogPosted on Comments [ 0 ]

The best baby monitor is going to be different for each and every parent.  Everyone has different needs when it comes to baby monitors. This is why you need to spend some time thinking about what features you need in a baby monitor to find the best baby monitor for your specific needs. If you don’t, you could end up wasting money on one that doesn’t do what you need or wasting money buying one that is a complete overkill or impractical for you.

Remember, having a baby monitor is not only about the safety of your child, it can also be about parents managing their own stress and anxiety levels. Especially in the first few months.

Let’s quickly work out what type of baby monitor is right for you.

I always say that the first question you need to ask yourself is “do you need video or just audio”. If you only want to hear if baby is having an issue, a simple good quality audio baby monitor may just be all that you need. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are in a home where there is a lot of electrical inference or a particularly large home Audio Baby Monitors will give you longer distance.  Video Baby Monitors which have remote access with direct wifi can help as wifi will usually give a better distance also.

Audio Monitors

If you want to see baby as well as hear baby, then you need a video baby monitor which will push the budget up.

The next question is, how remote do you want to be able to be when checking in on baby? Just at home or when you are anywhere with mobile internet?

In addition, if you have respiratory issues in the family line, you may wish to consider a breathing monitor that alerts you as a pre-warning system if baby’s breathing rate drops below 10 breaths per minute like the babysense Monitor. This is the only true breathing monitor on the market to our knowledge.  Most as movement monitors which cause regular false alarms, so be careful. We love the babysense because it actually monitors breathing rates and alarms before the baby stops breathing.  I liken it to a smoke alarm, vs a fire alarm.  You want to know before it happens, not after. If Monotoring breathing is what you’re after, then this will be the best baby monitor for you.

Babysense 7 Oricom Secure 715

 

Now that you have narrowed down if you need an Audio Baby Monitor or Video Baby Monitor and if you need one with full remote access. Lets make sure you choose a brand that’s a true baby monitor specialist.

The Importance of Choosing the right Brand

In regards to brands, you need to choose a brand that is truly invested in baby monitors for the long term.  There has been and still are a lot of brands that literally buy product from a factory in China and slap their brand on it and then market it online as theirs.

The problem with buying one that is not from one of the few big brands is that the quality, practicality, reliability and more importantly, security is simply not there. They haven’t got the experience to learn from. The warranty is useless when they are no longer around because they jumped into the market and failed and get out. This is why we only sell brands that are here for the long term and are actual designers of their own product and experts in baby monitors. Top brands, offer support directly to the customer, not only for warranty but even setting them up correctly.

We recommend and sell Oricom, VTech and Kodak. They all offer good customer support and warranty support, are specialists in monitors for babies and offer great unique features with the latest technology. When looking for the best baby monitor, the brand is key.

What Features do you need?

Now that you have narrowed down  which type is suitable, we need to work out what features are important.

Regardless if you are wanting to monitor just sound, or video and sound or if you want remote access, there are other features you need to decide if they are important to you. Some of them include these below:

Important Features regardless if you choose audio only or video:

  • Baby Room Temperature Monitoring
  • Two Way Communication so you can talk back to baby
  • Night Light
  • Ceiling Projection
  • Volume setting
  • Lullabies and / or white noise / nature sounds
  • Battery or mains only power for the baby unit
  • Size of Parent Unit
  • Self Standing Parent Unit

Features for Video Baby Monitors on top of above Audio Only Features:

On the Baby Unit:

  • Camera with vertical and Horizontal angle adjustment
  • Infra-red for night use
  • Digital zoom
  • Pan and Tilt – Manual or Motorized
  • Mounting Options
  • Humidity Monitoring
  • Motion Detection

On the Parent Unit

  • Display Size
  • Rechargeable battery pack – What is the Battery Life
  • LCD for room temperature monitoring
  • Speaker/microphone for 2 way communication with baby unit
  • Volume Control
  • Vibration Alerts
  • Low battery audible alert
  • Out of range audible alert
  • Multi Camera Capable
  • Sound Activation
  • Split Screen Capable if you have Multiple Camera’s
  • Feeding Timer

Remote Access Baby Monitor Features in addition to above:

  • Direct Wifi when at home to stream directly to your phone
  • SD Card Recording
  • Remote Recording of Images / Video
  • Motion Alerts
  • Secure & encrypted local and remote video transmissions

Screen Size on the parent unit is an important feature you need to consider, particularly if you are NOT going with remote access. Bigger is not always better in that situation.  If you want something that is truly portable around the house, then a smaller parent unit will be important to you.

If you want the best of both worlds – a bigger self standing screen that can sit on the kitchen bench for instance, but also the portability, then a remote access model with direct wifi will be ideal for you. You will then be able to use your phone with direct wifi and still be able to use the large screen on the kitchen bench or dining room or where ever you are in the house.

Multiple Camera Baby Monitors are handy too.  Often there is more than one location in the house that baby spends most of their time. ie. the baby room and maybe when they are in the playpen or somewhere else in the house. Or perhaps you want to be able to monitor baby in their cot from multiple angles.

Here’s the top baby monitors that we recommend:

Summary:

I hope this article has helped you to understand the world of baby monitors and to understand what features are important to you to find the best best baby monitor your specific needs.

At Bubs n Grubs, we have a great range of baby monitors. We, the owners (Judy and myself) hand pick each product based on what our combined experience of over 20 years and over 13 years in this business has taught us. We have learned from talking to mums and dad’s and understanding what their needs are. Don’t forget we have a highly trained team of products specialists who can spend time with you to give you the right advice in store or over the phone.

Click the button below and check out the range and don’t hesitate to pop in to store or call one of our baby products specialists for any questions or advice you need about finding the Best Baby Monitor for your needs.

Get Instant AccessSee you online or in store soon!

 

Frank

 

About the Author

Frank is a founding owner of Bubs n Grubs. He is also the sole author of the Bubs n Grubs Baby Blog. He has been personally evaluating baby products & testing them before offering them to our customers since 2009. In addition, he is consistently giving manufacturer’s feedback & product development advice, reviewing & getting customer feedback. He has been doing this since the business started in 2009. He is proud to be one of the rare baby store owners in Australia who regularly engages with customers in his store. Frank values the constant feedback and regularly seeks it out. He has been featured on the Morning Show & the Today Show on Channel 7 and Channel 9 and is a recognised expert in baby products as a result.

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