What are baby monitors for?

[MaMaPo]

My 2-month-old daughter is starting to get better in terms of falling asleep in her crib, but she only goes in there for naps at the moment (when I'm in and out of the room doing chores etc). For nighttime she goes down in her carrycot in the lounge with us, until we take her to our bedroom with us.

At some stage I'd like to try to put her down for nighttime in her crib, in our bedroom. I'm assuming we should get a monitor to check on her but (and I know this sounds stupid) I'm not sure why!

Is it to hear her when she cries, so we can respond? Is it to listen out for other noises (or lack of them)? Am I missing something?

Our girl is tremendously noisy, even during sleep. Our bedroom is also very close to the lounge and we'd probably keep doors open. I imagine we would easily hear her crying.

Do we need a monitor?

[MakingAnotherList]

I had a monitor my older children but never got around to buying one for my youngest and it seems a bit pointless now as he's 15 months.
If you will be se to hear your baby without it's not really a necessity.
The only frustrating thing is when we're watching a film and have to keep pausing it because we think we hear DS screaming. His room is nowhere near our living room though.

[MakingAnotherList]

If you will be ABLE to hear

[LarkinSky]

We've not bothered getting a new monitor for DD2 (now 16 weeks - DD1's monitor broke) for those exact reasons - we can hear her when she cries (even over the TV!) so don't need a monitor. I think even when she goes into her own room at night - the room next door to mine and DH's - I'll still hear her. Becoming a parent has made me the lightest sleeper in the world .

[TheSkiingGardener]

You need to be able to hear her. If you can do that without a monitor then don't buy one!

[cassell]

When I was a baby about 9mths old my dm had put me down for a nap absolutely fine, she then heard a little odd noise over the baby monitor and went to check - I was blue and not breathing and had an extremely high temp - if she hadn't heard the noise on the baby monitor and gone to check I wouldn't be here today.

For that reason (and because we're on 3 floors and Dcs rooms are on the top) I've religiously used baby monitors and still do for ds1 (3.10) and ds2 (9mths). Ds1 is a v noisy sleeper and now I can't get to sleep without the sound of him snoring through the monitor .

It also means that you can here them quicker so get to them in the night before it gets to full blown screaming. With ds1 I use the 2 way function to tell him to be quiet/stay in bed/ask him what he wants without having to go upstairs

[CrackedNipplesSuchFun]

I've not had such a traumatic experience like cassell's mum but the baby monitor has alerted me several times of my DS vomiting when poorly.

Also, th helping in hearing them when they first start fidgeting and unsettling.. My DS likes the music on his.. So when he does his usual trick of stirring at anywhere between 5-6 I can pop the music on and get him through till 6:30-7... My monitor is my sleep hero!

[FunnyBird]

Our monitor, like many I imagine, has flashy lights so we can see if baby is stirring. So don't have to switch tv off/mute to check. And can monitor from noisy kitchen with dishwasher and washing machine and extractor fan at full whack. And can shut him quietly in the room and get on with normal life without persuading toddler to tiptoe around.

[LarkinSky]

Crikey Cassell, what a story. Actually, all of your comments about why baby monitors are needed have re-persuaded me that we should have one after all. I think because DD2 is still so little she's rarely been in a different room to me yet, so I've not really needed it, but I will do as she starts going to sleep at a reasonable time (ie not the same time as me and DH - fingers crossed!).

[Hedgepig]

I've only used one when we were downstairs and the baby was upstairs as we couldn't hear them.

[MortifiedAdams]

We live in a flat, all one level, and never used a monitor at home. However, we do own one and send it to the grandparents when dd stays over incase they want to use it.

We also go on self catering holidays in rented houses, so we take it then as usually dds bedroom is far away from the living room.

[BuckyMummy]

We have found that our BabyPing Video Monitor has been amazing for sleep patterns too. The older they get the more they are likely to cry in the night time for attention rather than because they are actually upset.

I find my video monitor amazing because you can tell very quickly weather your LO actually needs comforting or is just being a cheeky monkey! Not going in and giving her attention everytime she cries (but still being able to see that everything is totally fine) means she will start to sleep through the night much faster :)

[bonzo77]

Useful if house is so big/ noisy you wouldn't hear them otherwise. Also good for quieter noises: with ours you can hear the baby breathing which is reassuring. Also if I don't close his door properly the cat breaks into his room and gets in his cot, and I can hear this on the monitor too, but wouldn't without.

[Mampig]

Up to around a year or a bit more, I use the monitor that has the movement pad attached. It's designed to start an alarm if no movement is detected in the crib or cot. It's very reassuring if you are not in the same room as the baby while they nap or sleep. Just had to remember to switch the damn thing off when lifting the baby out!! Several times I would be half way down the stairs and it would go off!! But at least I knew it worked