When Did You Take Out Your Baby Monitor?

I stopped the first few weeks... because I could hear my kiddo fine without one.

2 moms found this helpful

My daughter is almost 2 and I still use one. I plan on using it until it is more an issue of privacy. I have a shelf on the wall where I put it. I want to hear bad dreams and if she gets tangled in blankets. I have found it also comes in handy at other times. I like being able to let her play privately in her own room is she chooses while being able to listen in, just in case. We have also had some kids visit and they were told NOT to go into that room. I heard them through the monitor and were able to avoid trouble.
I think it is a matter of personal opinion and neccessity. Some need it, some don't.

1 mom found this helpful

I stopped when she was three for a few reasons but the biggest one was because I was traumatized about a month after she was born and had a hard time giving it up.

She was born two months premature and I had a scare about a month after we got her home. I fed her and put her in her crib and passed out in the bed next to her. About 10 minutes later, just as I was about to fall off the edge into sleep I heard a little noise coming from her. I couldn't place it and it was so soft and unassuming that I almost closed my eyes and let myself plummet into sleep. But something made me check, just in case, and it was a good thing I did. My little girl was lying on her back and had vomited. It had filled her mouth but she wasn't turning her head to clear it. It had filled up her mouth and spilled out the sides to dribble down both cheeks. She was choking on her own puke. She wasn't turning her head!

I snatched her up and flipped her over, like upturning a little vomit filled tea cup, so she could expel her last meal but it shook me to my core. It took me a long time to move her into her own room and even before that I had trouble sleeping. I kept startling awake shortly after falling asleep to check and make sure she wasn't choking.

I had a hard time letting go of the monitor because of that incident. I used to crank it loud so I could hear her slight movements and even her breathing. It hummed something fierce and my husband was a little annoyed but over time, I turned the volume down and eventually put it away.

Now she wakes up, runs in my room and jumps on me yelling, "GOOD MORNING MOMMY!" and I always mumble, "What on earth happened to my quiet baby?!?" to which she'll reply, "I DON'T KNOW!"

Me neither kiddo! Oy vey!

So I guess the short answer would be, when you feel comfortable giving it up.

1 mom found this helpful

My kids are 4 and 7 years old... I STILL use it, as a way to listen to my kids while they are upstairs or downstairs.... or when we have play-dates so I can hear the kids... and they know to talk to it, to call me... instead of yelling to me etc.
It is real handy, and can be used as a one-way intercom.... at any age.

all the best,
Susan

1 mom found this helpful

My son will be 3 in November, and we still use one. His room is upstairs, our room is downstairs, and I like to be able to hear when he has a bad dream or wakes up in the middle of the night and needs help getting to the bathroom.

1 mom found this helpful

I havent! LOL Our middle is two and we still use the monitor. EVen though our rooms are very close, sometimes he has bad dreams, or has wet through his clothes and cries but is too asleep still to come to us, so we can hear him and go to him. There is no right age, take it out when you feel you and your child are ready! I think they are a great tool to give you piece of mind that you can hear them if they need you!

1 mom found this helpful

Never used one, but I was comfortable with that. We have a smallish apartment, so could hear the baby if he cried upstairs. At night, we usually left our doors cracked and then when my oldest was on a bed, we left the door cracked with a gate in until he was old enough to climb the gate. Now we shut the door. I can still hear them (we share a wall) and the kids are 2 and almost 4. I am considering a monitor for the third one just so I can take the older ones outside while the baby is napping.

If you're wondering for yourself, I've always been surprised by people who use them for more than a year or two, but keep doing it as long as you feel better with it (not until they're teenagers, of course). I know people who had one for their six-year-old, but they had a townhouse and slept in the walk-out basement and their daughter and baby slept in the two bedrooms upstairs. That way they could sleep with a separate floor between them without worrying (which otherwise I would be terrified to do).

1 mom found this helpful

We still have it in the vicinity of the kids bedrooms. We can "listen" in while they are playing a hear what they are doing. They are 6 11/12 and 3 3/4.

1 mom found this helpful

I have two boys in one room ages 5 and 3 and my 1-year old daughter in the other room. We have a dual monitor so I can listen to both rooms. The boys are in bunk beds and old enough to open the door and come to our bedroom if they need us, but I still like to be able to hear what's going on in the room.
A friend of our had monitors in her sons rooms until they were almost 10 because one of the boys had sleep issues/nightmares. I think it's a personal choice.

We stopped when our twins were almost 2. They were done with their cribs, so we took everything out except mattresses. After that, we didn't have a place to put the monitor anymore.

I believe with the 1st one it was 2.5 when she moved to a big girl bed and could get out on her own.

My youngest is 3 and I still have the base in his bedroom plugged in it makes a great night light :) but I haven't used the other end in quite a while.

we still have one in our almost 5 yr old room but don't really use it.
its just in case we're suspiscious he's up coloring on him self or something. LOL

I actually never took it out. Instead I started to turn it off when she was about 3-3.5 years old. But, on nights that she was sick, I was able to turn it on in case she needed us.

I never used one at nighttime--our house is not that big and so I can hear everything inside without it. I do use it during afternoon naps when I'm working out in the garage or outside.

I did like the tips of listening in on playtime and when friends are over...

When our kids were 5yrs and 3yrs. we moved out of state to a new home. That is when we stopped using the baby monitor. We figured new house, new routine, it was hard to get used to but we had no issues.