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Childbirth

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Original poster

Any thoughts on Baby monitors with movement sensors

43 replies

shamshu · 24/01/2007 09:57

Hi - We're expecting baby at end of Feb - have got most things now - but we're still looking at baby monitors. Not sure whether we should go with the normal digital sound monitor or go for one with additional movement sensors - We're first time parents so movement monitor could give us peace of mind but I've heard that sometimes baby can roll off of the sensor and give false alarms etc? Any views / advice would be appreciated?

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Hello! We've noticed this thread is quite old and some of the product recommendations are a little out of date. We've spent weeks speaking to parents and testing out baby monitors.

Read our reviews to see which product was crowned best baby monitor. We've also got some helpful advice on audio, video and sensor pad monitors in our baby monitors buyer's guide which might be useful.

Hope that helps! MNHQ

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myweegirl · 25/01/2007 13:05

i got just a sound one which also told the temperature - in winter it's great, but in summer as soon as the temperature goes over 22 degrees the parent unit beeps - and you can't turn the beep off. so it becomes very frustrating listening to beep, beep every 4 seconds!

nappyaddict · 25/01/2007 13:17

got the bt one too. paid £50 brand new for it off ebay. i don't think the night light is any good though. everything else is great.

Lysettes · 25/01/2007 15:07

we got the bt one as well. agree the night light isn't great, but it's got a really sensitive sensor (picks up loud traffic on the road outside!) and does really set our mind at rest

chocolatequeen · 25/01/2007 15:10

We had one with DS1, but haven´t really used it so much with DS2. It was great, had one false alarm, but generally it did exactly what it said on the tin. We got ours in the first place for my parents when they babysat DS1 for the first time overnight (they actually paid for it!) to put their mind at rest. All our babysitters have said how reassuring it is, and we felt much happier going out when they were very small babies knowing the monitor was on.

Horses for courses really, but if you´d get a sound monitor anyway then you may as well get one with a sensor aswell if you feel it will help your peace of mind?

tiredandgrumpy · 25/01/2007 17:18

We used the Angelcare one religiously with ds, largely because we kicked him out of our room after 4 days! We had a lot of false alarms as he got older and at that point I stopped using it. I think the alarm serves 2 benefits - not just the warning to you, but the loud beeping would possibly be enough to make them stir in their sleep and therefore potentially move out of trouble.

I didn't use it at all for dd - the inteference was so awful that I would never have slept. I think this has to be a huge downside to the Angelcare and wonder how much better the digital monitors are. Still, rather more relaxed second time round anyway.

I think for peace of mind the movement sensor is a good idea to put nervous 1st time parents at ease. Otherwise, monitors are pretty worthless. What's more, with a monitor, aren't you that much more likely to rush in at the first whimper, rather than encouraging your baby to learn to settle themselves (and no, I have never been one for making them cry it out, but have simply learned that occasionally they do go back to sleep on their own).

becaroo · 25/01/2007 17:24

We've had 3 (long story....) and the BT one is the best (and cheapest!)

2Happy · 25/01/2007 19:38

We've just got our third monitor today . It's a BT digital, and although it's only been on 10 minutes, already it is far far better than the other two ever were (Tomy walkabout, and I forget the other, think it was phillips. Analogue both of them)

staceym11 · 25/01/2007 20:09

with my dd she went into her own room at 8 days, she was downstairs in my parents house me and my dp (at the time) were upstairs, we had a normal sound monitor (tomy walkabout i think) and it was brill if we were upstairs overnight, never really used it otherwise. never thought about getting a sensor one as i thought it would panic me more than anything! a couple of times she was sick in the night and the digi monitors are that good you can hear them fine!

with ds we now live in a 2 bedroom flat, ds is still in our bedroom atm but will move into dds room when hes sleeping through, i wont be using a monitor as i can hear from one end of the flat to the other with no problem so i dont see the need.

It is purely personal preferance, if you have a tendancy to panic a sensor might be useful as you will be alerted at inro incidents so you will know if something major happens you'll be alerted! i myself seem to be quite laid back (dd even slept on her front, i know i know bad, but she had a cold for about 4 weeks when she was newborn and if she laid on her back she basically drowned!) and a normal sensor was fine for what i used it for!

homemama · 25/01/2007 21:10

We used the Babysense one with both DS and DD. It's different from the others in that is isn't monitor in the sense of hearing baby from another room, it's just a breathing monitor with a very loud alarm.

We've found it to be excellent and we've never had a false alarm in the 2.5yrs of usage. Every time we change her sheet I switch it on to check it's still working and hasn't been accidently disconnected and sure enough within 15seconds the alarm goes off. When it's on the little green light flashes so you can peak in the room to check that you haven't forgotten to switch it on.

There's one pad for when they are very little and can't move too much and a second pad to add when they start rolling/crawling. They're about A3 size so the two cover the cotbed well. It works on any hard bottom including slats so any cot or crib really just not a moses basket.

I heard about false alarms too but this brand was recommended to me as one of the best that didn't have such problems and I've since recommended it to friends who haven't reported false alarms either.

I know we didn't need it for medical reasons but I absolutely did for peace of mind. I wouldn't have slept without it!
BTW, as a listening monitor, we use the philips digital 2way one which is also good.

Oh and we bought the breathing monitor from the jojomamabebe catalogue. I think it was about £75. Good luck with the baby

luceymay · 25/01/2007 22:23

Used a Maws sensor one and sound quality was really poor. Angelcare took over and was probably the best purchase we ever made. Used for 2 children and only ever had one false alarm and used until my daughter was over 2. (No reason to buy another plain sound one.) Replaced only when I dropped it and it smashed with a BT digitial which has superior sound quality but no sensor mat. Personally I feel it may make some people over anxious but I went to sleep without a care in the world because of it. Whereas without it I would have been up checking consantly. Obviously they don't prevent anything happening but at least they alert you if the worst happens.

Lou x

BexieID · 26/01/2007 11:12

Mine is the Maws one. Only cost me £10 from a nice lady who was moving back to the states. Not used it with Tom in another room anyway, so couldn't comment on sound quality.

Rosa5 · 26/01/2007 14:04

I have the angelcare and find it great . No false alarms ..unless I forget to plug it in properly. Granparents have 500yr old cottage with thick walls and curious cats so important that babies door closed and it works well . Will continue to use without sensor pad when older as found that Phillips did not pick up .

Emzickle · 26/01/2007 14:24

well, with my first baby we bought a normal sound sensor, but after three weeks of me not sleeping and every night when i kissed her good night thinking that that would be the last time i would cuddle her, I bought one,

it cost 50 in argos, tommee tipee and i love it, the alarm has only ever gone off once, and when i got up and checked on her, she had gone very pale, her lips edging on blue and wasnt breathing, i picked her up and screamed for Dp, she then woke up with a big gasp for air, according to dr, she was prob sleeping very deeply, but he was glad that i had been made aware by the alarm.

Buy one, who cares, if your baby is safe and you'll sleep better.

MerryMarigold · 26/01/2007 15:23

he was generally in the same room as me so i rarely used it. just get a cheap, basic one

Flamesparrow · 26/01/2007 15:38

I have had a movement sensor for both (same one)... it would go off 7 days after an illness - DD would always be ok when I got there but I have never known if she would have been or if the sound of the alarm stirred her to breathe.

It gave me sooo much peace of mind.

isabellasmum · 26/01/2007 17:24

Hello, I'm a newbie.

We bought a tomy digital one called walkabout platinum. It doesn't have movement sensor as HV told us that these aren't recommended???

DD is 3mths and we use it when she goes to bed at 7pm until we go up. It tells us the temp in her room, and is really clear - we can hear buses going past outside!

No interference and best bit is a feeding timer which we use to time her if she cries so we leave it 5 mins before we go in to see if she'll settle herself which she did by 3rd night.

Parent unit is portable and you can even switch a nightlight on from this in DD's room for when you go in.

Our house is really old and quite big so this has been a godsend for the money - was on offer in John Lewis for £75.

ellasmum1 · 27/01/2007 20:23

We have had angelcare one and have found it great .Never had a false alarm with sensor mat but would forget every day to switch it off so half way down the stairs with her every morning it would go off!! We still use it now and she is four next month but I have a few doors shut between her room and me when watching telly and i like to watch it quite loud. We keep parent unit permanently downstairs.It means she isn't screaming hysterically by the time we hear her if she has a bad dream or wets bed etc. Never had a prob with interference in our homes but using at my sister's house it makes an annoying buzzing for some reason. I suppose you can't know till you have tryed it in your own home!

Original poster

shamshu · 01/02/2007 15:43

I think we'll definately go for one with movement monitor - we can always turn the monitor off if needed. Thx all for the advice. Can't believe it's only 3.5 weeks now before bubs is due!! We still have so much to get but monitor is definately something I needed advice on and will buy in advance.

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