Baby Monitors

Choosing the best baby monitor involves several steps. First, consider a digital baby monitor to avoid eavesdropping from neighbors. Secondly, consider buying either an analog monitor that has a different frequency than your cordless phone or a highly rated digital monitor to avoid interference impeding your signal. Thirdly, look at safety baby monitors with a long range if you have a big house, so you will always stay within reach. Lastly, when you set up your monitor’s camera or transmitter, be sure it’s out of the baby’s reach to prevent any unnecessary injuries.

When browsing for a baby monitor, the most important factor is clear reception. Muffled, fuzzy or screeching sounds will be distracting and difficult to discern from ambient sounds. With low-end wireless baby monitors, cordless telephone conversations may come through the channel or simple everyday appliances like microwaves may jumble the pictures or sounds. The best way to avoid interference is to purchase a quality baby infant monitor that has a similar range to your home size. If you buy one that is too large, it will be easier to pick up the neighbor’s frequencies. Also, tests show that digital baby monitors have less trouble with interference than analog baby monitors, so that should be considered as well. If you do settle on an analog monitor, ensure that your cordless phone and monitor do not work off the same Gigahertz frequency and look for a model that offers at least two different channel selections.

Another factor to consider with safety baby monitors is the warning system. With a low-end wireless baby monitor system, the battery could die suddenly without warning, parents could walk out of range without knowing and a baby could stop breathing without an alert. The best baby monitors will come with a built-in warning system of lights and/or beeps to let you know if you’ve gone out of reach, if your battery power is low or if your baby is in danger. The lights are also a useful feature because it allows parents the option of turning off the sound and relying on a series of flashing lights to tell when the baby is distressed.

There are many safety baby monitors to choose from, but here are a few top picks. The Summer Infant Day & Night Handheld Color Video Monitor with Crib Soother ($219.99) offers good quality images for a fair price and offer a soothing feature. The BebeSounds Angelcare Movement Sensor/Sound Monitor ($119) comes with two parent units and a mattress sensor pad to detect movements, although false alarms are possible with this model. The Philips DECT baby monitors are lightweight and have zero interference, although are a little bit pricey. The Ultra-Clear Graco baby monitor ($34.95) offers excellent quality for the price, although it does not come with video capabilities and it may have a bit of static in some households. As you can see, there are many models in many different price ranges.