Choosing the right baby monitor – rely on other parents

This week’s baby bargainista is from Tamera Kremer. Tamera became a new mom of twin girls in January and in this post, she’ll share her quest for a baby monitor. She also blogs Eco City Mama.

When I found out I was pregnant with twins one of my main concerns was how I would be keeping track of them when I left a room! When I started looking into monitors I was truly overwhelmed… a plethora of choices out there, with video monitors seeming to be everywhere & the new hip thing for parents. With the abundance of choices, I had no clue what the right choice for my family-to-be was. It didn’t help matters that the majority of my friends with kids all had different monitors and no one seemed 100% satisfied.

The one thing I did know was that I was determined to not have the girls be “crib babies” and spend all their early days confined to one spot, in which case a video monitor didn’t seem to be the right answer (let alone trying to find the right angle to capture both girls on camera while they slept). I’d also heard from other parents that static was a big concern with their monitors – the last thing I needed was static waking both girls up in the middle of the night! Portability was also a concern as I wanted to be able to keep track of how the twins were doing wherever I was in the house, or if I ventured outside with my dog during the spring and summer.

Enter online reviews & feedback from other parents on the web.

I spent a lot of time on different websites trying to find what appeared to be unbiased reviews and ended up on Babies ’R Us where the highest rated monitor (13 reviews that appeared to be from real people) was a simple single unit, but with great features from Safety 1st. The reviews were glowing and the price point was reasonable. Static didn’t appear to be a factor, and with rechargeable batteries and 1000-foot range I was willing to give it a shot, even though, with shipping & taxes it pushed close to $100.

Several months in to using it and it’s been truly amazing and has lived up to all the reviews I read. I can leave a room and know the unit will pick up their lightest squeaks clearly, and when the crying inevitably starts the sound quality makes it feel like I’m in the room with them. I honestly cannot recommend this unit highly enough for a new parent – no bells and whistles, just clear sound & peace of mind!