Questions About Baby Monitors
New parents (or soon to be new parents) often have lots of questions about choosing a baby monitor. Do a quick Internet search or stop in to your local baby store and you’ll see many different types with all sorts of features and more importantly, a wide range of prices. Do you really need a high definition audio and video monitor with night vision and the ability to record? Read on for the real scoop on buying baby monitors.
Assess Your Needs
Do you live in a small apartment? A large house with multiple floors? Does baby have his own room or is he bunking in with you? Honestly evaluating your living situation is the first step in picking out a baby monitor. Let’s face it; if you live in a small apartment with baby sleeping in your room, you probably don’t need extra receiver units or a system that works on your wireless network. You probably just need a simple audio unit, or even one with audio and basic visual capabilities. Even though my husband and I lived in a small two-bedroom apartment, I liked being able to see my baby on a screen. My floors were really creaky and this way I could check on him without worrying about waking him.
If, however, you live in a large house with baby’s room on a separate floor, you might want to invest in a unit that will allow you to see the baby from your primary living space. It might be worth it to invest in a unit with several receivers so that you could leave one in your living room, one in the kitchen, one in your bedroom, and possibly one in a basement. That way, you don’t have to drag your monitor around with you in the evening or during naptime.
Features to Look at When Shopping
• Frequency ““ Baby monitors with low frequencies (around 49MHz) are more likely to have issues with interference from other electronic devices.
• Digital/Analog ““ Digital monitors send information along an encrypted channel, whereas analog monitors are not , causing others to possibly pick up the sounds coming through.