What age was your DC when you stopped using monitors at bedtime?

[Griffomais]

Any advice would be appreciated.x

Ours has just broke ( think ds got hold off it and flung it hard onto wooden floors once too often !). We think that we will try without one. Ds does wake at night still but not till we are in bed so if we keep both bedroom doors open we hear him. At naps as long as I don't put the radio on I will hear if he wakes, but I normally need to wake him from his nap anyway, as if he sleeps too long he doesn't get to sleep at night till 9pm.

Sorry, ds is 19months.

I still use them at 2 and nearly 4 - but their bedrooms are the floor above ours and I know I don't hear them if I am properly asleep. I think I'll be using them for a fair while yet tbh.

DD is 7, We still use it when she is upstairs and we are downstairs as if the doors are shut we can not hear her. It also has a nightlight on which she likes. We don't overnight as we can hear her in our bedroom.

Around 6 months with both of them. By that age they could cry loud enough for us to hear them anywhere in the house

I think they were about 5

Mainly because they went to bed whilst we were still downstairs, sometimes with the TV on, so if one was upset, wandering, etc. we'd hear before they woke the other one up.

The older DS used to speak into the monitor sometimes, (stage whispering: 'love you mummy') which freaked me out no end!

DS is 4 and sleeps on a different flor to us, so can't see us stopping anytime soon, especially as he has a quiet throw up trick that is a tad un-nerving.

2 because it broke. Now DD comes and tells me if DS needs anything.

Can't remember with dd. The point at which she was loud enough for us to hear her shout without it. We've never used one with ds as he was always in the room with us until 6 months and by then was loud enough not to need one.

Depends on the function. We take the monitors away with us if on holiday and then use if we need to (e.g. If we're on different floors, or the children's room(s) are a long way from the sitting room - we quite often rent huge houses with other families and the DC are literally in another wing and may not know where the bathroom is, or where they are if they wake up at night).

We don't usually use the monitors at home, but I do find it useful for behaviour monitoring for the 2yo. We have a video monitor and it's quite convenient to be able to hiss "Get. Back. To. Bed. NOW!" when we see him trying to escape again

I had one with DS but found it irritating. I never used it with DD. I consulted a sleep trainer who said bin the baby monitor and learn to listen to your baby and interpret its cries, you will both sleep better. We live in a big house over five levels and it has never been a problem.

I had one with DS but found it irritating. I never used it with DD. I consulted a sleep trainer who said bin the baby monitor and learn to listen to your baby and interpret its cries, you will both sleep better. We live in a big house over five levels and it has never been a problem.

We can't hear the children when in the kitchen which is handy.

We've had four babies and never had a monitor, a friend still uses one in her 9 year old twins room to hear them so I guess whenever you want to stop using one.

I don't think it matters when you or others stop using - you do it when you feel confident you'd hear the child if you need to. By the time DC are one, you probably aren't needing/wanting to do the obsessive listen-to-their-every-breath-to-check-they're-alive thing so you really only need a monitor if you won't hear them or wake up if they're distressed. So depends entirely on your house and how heavily you sleep.

DS is nearly 5 and we're still using ours. Not so much once he's asleep, but more for when we've put him to bed and we're downstairs - we'd never hear him if we're in the kitchen cooking for example. Plus he's quite used to having it and so will have conversations with us over it - he knows he doesn't need to get out of bed if he wants something, he can just ask us over the monitor. Can't see we'll get rid of it any time soon, even if we're really just using it as a walkie-talkie - he likes having it and it doesn't bother me.

Would use angel care sensor mat until they are big enough that they can stand up/climb out of bed and off it

use it for as long as you want, every situation is different?

DD was 2.1 as we used it for DS when he moved into his own room. We can hear her on the rare occasions she cries out in the night.

Will keep it for DS until roughly 2 as well I think.

DS is 4.5 and I still use one. I like to be able to hear him call out if he needs me during the night and also use it to reassure him that he is not alone by being able to talk to him whilst he is dropping off to sleep. It also comes in handy to let me know in advance if he is going to surprise me and DP whilst we are otherwise occupied.

Still use it for age 7 when staying in unfamiliar place. Probably gave it up at home later than necessary ( age 4). House only small but I have some health problems and can miss a call out from dc. That became a feeble excuse. Felt we'd become enslaved by it eventually. Felt weird at first not to use it but glad to leave it behind. Dc doesn't miss it.

We still use ours for our son, 2.3yrs. He's on a different floor and in a cot so I feel it's still needed. We still switch on the lullabies on the monitor too - not sure at what point this should stop, but he demands his 'music' every night.

Still going strong at 5 and 3, but mainly useful for the period between their bedtime and ours as we would not hear crying from either our lounge or kitchen. 5yr old sometimes has the music put on to help get off to sleep (finds it hard to switch off sometimes), and we can talk through it if needed. 3yr old has video which was useful when they moved to a bed as we could keep an eye on wanderings. Not ready to give them up any time soon, far too useful.

We've got two monitors sort of in use for two kids. A 4 yo BT one and a fancy video monitor.

The old one sits in DD1 [4yo] room with the receiver permanently in the kitchen. It won't hold a charge so we don't move it - it's got a tiny nightlight on the top which is handy if she's a bit twitchy about the dark, her room is also at the top of the house so it's handy to switch on the talk button and ask her to do something or keep half an ear on a playdate and make sure it's not getting out of hand as the stairs is steep.

The second one is in use for DD2 [2 yrs], out of pure habit mostly but her room is far enough away that if there's a problem she will be totally hysterical before we hear here which isn't terribly helpful if you want to resettle quickly. The video element is really handy as we can see any attempts to climb out of her cot or if she's acting oddly. She woke recently, cried for a few mins and then sat and swayed really oddly for 10mins. Her eyes were open but she wasn't lying down again and she wasn't crying. Eventually I went to check on her and found she had vomited all over the cot and was in a sort of shocked stupor. We had just been getting to the point of ditching the monitor when that happened so I've kept it as a result. I can see us using it for quite a while once she goes into a regular bed to check that she's not wandering about in the middle of the night.

I don't really remember but it was definitely before she was 2yo and I think around 1yo, we were in a big house at the time but I figured if she needed me that badly I would hear her! She was however a brilliant sleeper and rarely if ever woke up.

I now live in a teeny flat and wouldn't need one at all!!

My sil still uses for her 6 and 8.5 yo ...
They have no problem making themselves heard anytime I babysit. My youngest is only 6 months but think I ditched the monitor for dd when she moved out of the cot.