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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to just stop using a baby monitor?

26 replies

mu5icmum · 09/08/2012 22:19

Okay so never posted on AIBU before and this is probably the wrong place for this but I'm strangely excited about posting on such a "lively" board :)

So my baby monitor parent unit has gone berserk on me, constantly buzzing and resetting, so definitely not going to be able to use it tonight. Admittedly it has been dropped a few times so the guarantee might not be valid and I don't want to buy another one. Does everyone use a monitor at least up to a yearor so?

DS is close by during the night and my bedroom door is wide open so will be able to hear him if he needs me. He is bf but has been sleeping through without night feeds for a short while.

I feel okay about not using one but I guess I'm wondering if that would be incredibly bad parenting of a 7mo. Any thoughts?

OP posts:
PomBearWithAnOFRS · 09/08/2012 22:24

The only time I had a baby monitor was with my pfb when we lived in bedsits. It worked in any room since it was ll one house, so if any of the other residents "babysat" ie listened for him crying while I ran to the shop or did some washing or whatever, I plugged it in their room. Other than that I never needed one. All five of my children could easily cry loud enough to be heard from anywhere in the house. Just don't put your earphones in and play loud rock music...

ILiveInAPineapple · 09/08/2012 22:27

I still can't give mine up, and my DS is 4! I like to see what he is doing in his room because he was my PFB I bought a video one and also I like knowing he is still asleep without opening his door, which is guaranteed to wake him, before I jump in the shower in the morning.

YANBU to stop using it though, I am just oddly dependent on mine and I think I will only stop using it if I ever manage to get pregnant with another dc!

ILiveInAPineapple · 09/08/2012 22:28

Actually, even if I am not able to have any more dc I will have to draw the line somewhere, don't imagine a 15 yr old will be pleased with a mummy-cam in his bedroom! Grin

TuesdayNightClub · 09/08/2012 22:30

I recently babysat my baby niece and her parents have stopped using their monitor - they also had buzzing problems. They live in a flat and can hear her fairly well. I like a monitor and to be honest did end up checking on her quite a lot but if you are more chilled than me I'm sure it will be fine!

GranToAirMissiles · 09/08/2012 22:32

Sorry hijacking this thread, but wonder if anyone can recommend a good video monitor?

pookamoo · 09/08/2012 22:34

We sometimes do and sometimes don't.

I took it to my mum's the other week, as their house is large and you can't hear the DCs from the living room. It had been plugged in at our house before that. I haven't put it back on since we came home, our house is a normal size 3 bed.

pookamoo · 09/08/2012 22:34

Sorry, DD1 is 3.8 and DD2 is 11 months.

usualsuspect · 09/08/2012 22:35

I never used a baby monitor.

Original poster
mu5icmum · 09/08/2012 22:36

Haha pineapple! It could make for more interesting listening though Grin

Well DS is my pfb however I can hear him anywhere in the house, but I guess I'm now worrying about times when DH is watching him alone as his awareness selective hearing is shocking at times, and also when he stays at my Dparents. I might worry that they are not as switched on as me...

I might have to ring the warranty line in the morning...

OP posts:
ILiveInAPineapple · 09/08/2012 22:37

Gran this is the one I have. I highly recommend it!

www.summerinfant.com/Products/Monitoring/Video-Monitors/BabyTouch-Digital-Video-Monitor.aspx

FeakAndWeeble · 09/08/2012 22:37

Get rid. Bloody things.

We use ours when we're downstairs and DS is up, in the evenings and for naps, but not overnight. If they're close enough that you'll hear them, what's the point? I slept better as soon as we stopped.

PomBearWithAnOFRS · 09/08/2012 22:37

OP, just out of interest... if someone had replied to you, and said "OMG how COULD you do that, you bad bad BAD mother, that baby needs a monitor and you are evil not to have one" would you actually have given a shit? or been upset? or bought a new monitor?

mama01 · 09/08/2012 22:37

Never used one. Lived in a flat, could hear him when We were in lounge as long as door was open and even if it was shut we'd hear him after a while. Our bedroom door was opposite his and he was in there from 6 weeks old.

You just tune yourself in to hearing them cry. No need for it to be amplified IMO Smile

Original poster
mu5icmum · 09/08/2012 22:38

Also, I never used a video monitor GranTo.

OP posts:
usualsuspect · 09/08/2012 22:38

Why would you be a bad parent not to use one Confused

JennyPiccolo · 09/08/2012 22:40

Never used one. Dd is 21 mo now.

Original poster
mu5icmum · 09/08/2012 22:45

Good point PomBear. Probably not... Perhaps Im just looking for lots of agreement as most people do on this board to make me feel better Wink or point out the very important reason I've managed to forget about why we use them even when some of us then just hear the crying in surround sound from monitor and direction of baby's room ...

OP posts:
MrsFlippingHeck · 09/08/2012 22:51

Pineapple I've got the summer video monitor too and love it (only flaw it doesn't been when out of range or battery dead)

IamnotaStepfordHousewife · 09/08/2012 22:51

We use a summer video monitor as well and love it. I worry and it reassures me. Dc 9 months and no plans to stop using it.

Violetroses · 09/08/2012 22:52

Nope, don't use one for my 7 month old and never have. But he is our third....

Really, if he woke and was upset, you'd definitely hear him.

When ours conked out when DS2 was a baby, we all started sleeping MUCH better!

fortifiedwithtea · 09/08/2012 22:56

When DD1 was born, friends give us their monitor. Their comment was you only use a baby monitor for pfb. Their DS2 was 9months at the time.

How true. Firstly the crackly things don't pick what you really want to know ie are they still breathing. Secondly, one evening we heard a terrific row over the monitor from neighbour also with a pfb.

We didn't use a monitor at all for DD2.

IMO bin it now YANBU.

Original poster
mu5icmum · 09/08/2012 23:04

Usualsuspect I was trying to be light-hearted asking if it was incredibly bad parenting. Just wanted to explore opinions on monitors.

OP posts:
usualsuspect · 09/08/2012 23:05

S'ok Grin

BlackOutTheSun · 09/08/2012 23:07

Get rid, I used a monitor for about an hour with my pfb. I hate the bloody things

Original poster
mu5icmum · 09/08/2012 23:35

HUMPH!!!!The bloody thing has started working again after a good charge. Well back to being a slave to the fuzz I go...

OP posts: