How to Choose your Baby Sound Monitor
Author Name: Heidi Holvoet, PhD
Is
she still breathing?
A baby sound monitor is
the simplest and cheapest wireless baby monitor to check on your baby
without waking
her up.
Here's how to make sure you actually
can
hear
your baby breathe, cry
when she wakes up, or if she's happily babbling after a nap ...
It's such a typical
parent
trap
. Finally (!) you get baby to sleep.
She's quiet for a while. Then you start worrying, does she really
sleep nicely, or
is something wrong? You go in and she's fine but "thanks to you", she
wakes up ...
To me that is the main use of a baby monitor: being able to hear
your baby without disturbing her.
A wireless baby monitor also gives you more
freedom
to move
around the house during naps: you can hear when something is wrong, if
she wakes up crying, ...
It's also good to have if you sleep
in
a different room
, too far away
to hear every cry.
A sound monitor is less expensive than a video monitor, but
still, it's not a give-away and you need to get the right one. So
here's the basics to help you choose.
The best baby sound monitor is ...
... one that gives you crystal clear sound quality without background noises (static).
Analog vs Digital
A baby sound monitor , or audio monitor, takes the sound from the transmitter (in baby's room) and sends it to the receiver (which you keep near, around the house).
There are analog and digital sound monitors.
You must know that any baby sound monitor (cheap or expensive)
that
does not have
the digital DECT technology can interfere with other equipment
in/around your house (cordless phone, wireless internet, microwave,
wireless game consoles, ...).
And that means that, with a non-digital (analog) monitor, you can have
static - background noise. Annoying because the receiver is then not
silent - not good if
you want to have it on while you sleep.
Worst case, the static is so loud you will not hear baby's breathing,
or light cries ...
A digital monitor is more expensive than an analog one.
But, some analog ones can still be very good! Trouble is, the
same analog monitor that is crystal clear in one
household, can have the worst static elsewhere ...
Another difference between digital and analog monitors is privacy and
security. The analog's
signals can be picked up, e.g. by your neighbors' cordless phone - not
exactly the privacy you might want. Digital ones are totally secure.
Must-haves
Sound quality
should be your main concern. Too cheap and you may hear nothing but
static, too expensive and you probably spend more than necessary.
If you need guaranteed sound quality, and you can spend $80 or
more, don't hesitate and get a digital DECT one, like the
Philips
Avent Basic Baby Monitor
. They
also guarantee
privacy
.
Otherwise, get a good analog monitor, and avoid using it near other
wireless equipment (see below for detailed reviews).
Good extras
Once you have the sound quality you need, these are interesting extras
to look out for, depending on your own taste and preference:
- Lights (my personal fav extra): a light signal shows you when noise is detected in your baby's room. Good when you're in a noisy room, or if you want to limit the sound volume on your receiver (like when watching a movie).
- Temperature display letting you know if baby's room is at a good (constant) temperature.
- Two-way speaker : allows you to talk to your baby through the receiver, or to your partner when he's in the room ...
-
Batteries AND AC adapter
: best to have the two options. With
batteries you're independent of plugs, but plugging it in avoids using
countless batteries.
If battery-operated: make sure there is a light warning of low batteries!
My Top 3
I actually have a winner in each category: Best Price , Hear Baby Breathe and Digital Sound Quality .
Best Price
The
Safety
1st Crystal Clear Baby Sound Monitor
is probably the cheapest one out
there with still very reasonable quality.
Many parents are very happy with this one.
Especially if you don't have other appliances that work on the same
frequency
(49MHz), this may well be your very best-buy.
What I like as well is that it comes with an AC adapter so you can plug
it in rather than use (many!) batteries.
That saves you the battery costs and is of course better for the
environment.
But the battery option is there if you need it, for
example when traveling.
Read on for more reviews + troubleshooting.
Article Author: Heidi Holvoet, PhD - Founder, senior sleep consultant
Heidi Holvoet, PhD, is the founder of the Baby Sleep Advice website and movement, an award-winning author, baby & toddler sleep consultant with 15+ years experience as well as a certified lactation counselor.
Over the years, Heidi has received several awards inluding a Mom's Choice Award (MCA) and National Parenting Awards (NAPPA) for her Baby Sleep Advice website, programs and books. Also, Baby Sleep Advice was awarded "Most Trusted Infant's Sleep Solutions Company 2023" in the Benelux Enterprise Awards 2023.
Heidi continually conducts personal research and participates in continued education and in that way stays up to date with current scientific and pyschosocial infant care.
She is also a member of the Association of Professional Sleep Consultants of which she was one of the earliest contributors. She obtained her PhD degree in physics at the University of Ghent in Belgium.
Heidi is passionate about helping babies and their parents sleep more and better, with her trademark approach that has been proven and praised time and again by parents worldwide to be effective and truly no-tears. Respect for you as a parent and your baby, is at the heart of Heidi's warm and kind support. Her approach always keeps in mind a baby's needs and abilities at any given age, is based on pediatric science and the most up to date knowledge in infant care and sleep science.
As well as the award-winning baby sleep programs, Heidi offers popular 1:1 consults and easy-access 30-minute SOS Sleep sessions.
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