A Guide To The Best Baby Monitors

A baby monitor is a device that allows you to see and/or hear your baby when they are in another room.  An audio baby monitor will allow you to hear your baby only, whereas a video baby monitor allows you to hear and see your baby.

Having a baby monitor has become more of a necessity for most parents as it allows them to concentrate on other tasks such as work, household chores etc without having to constantly check up on the little one. 

How To Choose The Best Baby Monitor

When deciding upon which baby monitor to buy, reliability is one of the most important factors.  Among that, there are many other factors that should be taken into consideration such as:

Audio or video – This is probably one of the more significant factors you’ll have to decide upon.  Each will have their own pros and cons as listed below.

Range – The furthest distance the parent unit (receiver) can be from the baby unit (monitor), although the ranges shown in the table is based on being in the open, whereas inside a house where there’ll be walls and doors in-between the two units the maximum range would be significantly less.

Most models do have a built-in function that will alert you if you are out of range.

Display – The size of the display screen will make more of a difference to video baby monitors, a bigger screen will allow you to see through the camera on the baby unit with more ease.

Two-way communication – If the parent unit is equipped with a built-in microphone then you can talk to your baby through the parent unit and vice versa. 

Night vision (video only) – Enables you to see your baby in the dark.

Remote pan/tilt/zoom (video only) – This allows you to basically control the camera on the baby unit via the parent unit.  You can move the camera up and down, left and right or zoom in and out. 

Lullabies help your baby fall asleep

Temperature monitor – A built-in thermometer will allow you to check whether the room temperature is sufficient enough for your little one. 

Lullabies – The smooth and calm sound of a gentle lullaby can help calm and relax your baby.  If that doesn’t do the trick, then perhaps the soothing sounds of a white noise machine for babies could be enough.

Battery life – A longer battery life will reduce the likelihood of the parent unit dying on you when you need it the most such as in the middle of the night.  Most units do have a power saving function where the battery life can be prolonged.

If you choose a baby monitor with a short battery life, be sure to always make sure the unit is fully charged before you go to bed and activate power saving mode when necessary. 

Models such as the Motorola MBP36S allows you to add up to 3 additional cameras

Expandable system – If you plan on having a bigger family then consider video monitors which will allow you to add additional cameras so you can monitor the children from one parent unit.  Unfortunately with video monitors you can only have one parent unit but models that allow you to add cameras will usually allow up to 3 additional cameras.

On the other hand audio monitors which are expandable will allow a maximum of 2 parent units but only 1 baby unit.

Scan mode (video only) – If you will be using your video monitor with more than one camera then scan mode automatically switches between each camera every 10-12 seconds.  This will prevent you from having to manually switch to a different camera every so often to check up on your children. 

Audio vs Video Baby Monitor

There are two main types of baby monitors which are an audio baby monitor or video baby monitor, some will include features such as a movement sensor pad as shown in the table above.

If you haven’t already decided whether you want an audio or video baby monitor then we’ll look at the pros and cons of each one so this can hopefully help you decide.

Audio baby monitor pros:

• Generally cheaper in price.
• Battery life usually lasts longer.
• Some models give you the option to purchase with two parent units.

Audio baby monitor cons:

• You can only hear and not see your baby.
• Can only pair with one baby unit, so if you require another baby unit for another child you’ll need a new baby monitor set.

Video baby monitor pros:

• You can see and hear your baby.
• Most models will have night vision mode which will allow you to see your baby in the dark as well.
• Some models allow up to three additional cameras, so if you have a growing family you won’t have to buy a new set just the camera.
• Some cameras can pan, tilt and zoom allowing you to monitor your child wherever he or she is in the room.

Video baby monitor cons:

• Battery life don’t last as long but power saving mode extends the battery life.
• Can’t purchase additional parent units, only baby units.

Table Information

After analysing and researching each baby monitor, we’ve compiled the information into a table which shows our best baby monitors.  The ratings are based on:

Price – Does the features justify the price or is there an alternative model which offer similar or more features at a lower cost.

Features – We’ll be looking at whether are all the basic features are included.  Some models don’t even have two way communication which we feel is a necessity.  We’ll be carefully analysing the models to see if the combination of features it offers makes lift more convenient for the consumer.

Quality – What quality of materials has been used in the construction of the baby monitor?