Baby Monitor - What Works?

I bought the Angel Care in '04 which came with two handsets and one base. It is sensitive so if the baby scoots off of the pad the alarm may ring out. If there is no breathing activity for 20 sec. the alarm will sound. I like it but we had many false alarms. We kept moving the pad around but it worked for us. You can plug in or use batteries too. You can make it so you hear the sounds of the baby breathing only or baby breathing and the clicks when the baby breaths or I think it can be silent...

I have trained myself to not need a baby monitor. I have the "mommy ability" to wake up or jump at any noise. My daughter is now 5 and I babysat a 6week old baby overnight this past weekend and it's still in me, the minute that baby made the slightest noise I was totally on top of it. You could try that. I am really good at it and can recongnize every noise in my house when other's don't even hear things.

I know the more cordless phones and walkie talkies, babymontiors and other devices you have in your house your gonna have problems. The always seem to interfere with eachother.

Hi C.,
I bought my monitor, the Sony Baby Call Nursery Monitor, at Toys R Us about four years ago, and have used them with both my kids. We lived in conecting town homes and we never had static or interference with other monitors or phones, I actually returned others for those reasons. I could go to my mailbox about four doors down and still have good reception. It even has a voice activated function, or you can listen to your little one breathe :) I am unsure if there is a way to have multiple bases and one reciever, but with a little more research you maybe able to find out. They are still about $50 and the store, ebay may have them cheaper.

I just bought the 900MHZ Home Link Monitor by Safety 1st from Babies r Us. It seems to be working very well. Here's the link...http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=243302...

I have a Safety 1st Home Connection monitor. I have an in-home daycare and needed multiple bases for nap time. It comes with 3 bases and 2 receivers. It's clear sounding and i haven't ever had any problems with it. I bought it at Babies "r" Us.

I was just reading in Parents magazine April 2007 edition. They have an ad for Fisher Price monitor. It's called ready2wear monitor. You can carry the listening side on your where ever you go-it straps on and can be put in the base at night to charge and still works while being recharged. It comes with 2 recievers-I haven't seen any monitors out there that come with more than 2 in a package. I personally have not used this one but check it out on www.fisher-price.com and search for ready2wear monitor. Good luck with the search. I hope you find something that works!

We tried the Sony Babycall, but unlike the other moms who have replied, we had a lot of trouble with interference with that one and our (admittedly fairly old) cell phones. We couldn't go near the monitor when we were on either of our cell phones without getting awful, ear-piercing feedback. We switched to a digital monitor, the Graco iMonitor, and have had much better luck--no interference with our regular phones, cell phones, or wireless internet. We haven't tested the range much, but it works fine in our house, including between the basement and the second floor, where the baby is. The monitor comes either as a package with one transmitter and one receiver, or one transmitter and two receivers (alas, the opposite of the upgrade you'd want).

Oh, and in case you want to try one out: The Sony Babycall comes in a package that you have to cut open in order to get the monitor out, so it'd be tough to return if it doesn't work for you. But the Graco iMonitor (at least the one with the single transmitter and receiver) can be taken out of its packaging without cutting anything, and so would be easy to repackage and return if you tried it and nixed it.

One this I have run into is that other wireless devices really mess up all monitors (so that could be how they are getting bad reviews). I mean things like Cordless phones and wireless internet. If you have your baby monitor on the same frequency as those things, it picks up a lot of interference. One thing I did that helped a little was made sure to buy a monitor that was not on the same frequency as the other things. (My phone and internet is 2.4ghz, so I got a 900mghz monitor.) It helped a little. The video one still gets squiggly lines on the picture. Now they have 5.8ghz monitors- if your phone/internet is 2.4, that might be the way to go.

I'd suggest one of the video monitors. I have the fisher price 2.4 mg sound monitor and never use it... my son lets me know when he needs me, no monitor needed! The video monitors are nice because you can shut off the sound and see what's going on in the crib. It's helpful to see if your child is actually sleeping or just playing. Good for knowing how much sleep your child really is getting without always having to peek in the room, especially if it's on a different floor.

We also have the Sony Baby Call monitor and it works great. We have a cordless phone, 2 cell phones, a bunch of computers on a wireless connection and other miscellaneous electronic equipment and have not had a real problem with this monitor. The only thing I noticed is some static if my husband's cell phone rings when it is only a few feet away from the monitor. It also has a VERY long range. It was great to have on evenings when I wanted to sit outside on the patio or hang out way down the yard when the baby was sleeping.

i have had three different ones and this one is the charm. i have 4 monitors one for the basement, one for the garage one for my room, and one for the kids rooms. i have the three set for only hearing the children no matter where i am.
i bought it at radio shack 900mhz wireless intercom w/audio.
i can also use it later for other things also. but not cheap.