useful but flawed

Well, we just bought this device for our new baby. The alarm part does work fine. But, there are a few serious flaws. The most important one, as many others have pointed out both with this model and the previous model, is that there is no other way to silence the transmitter alarm other than powering it off. I simply cannot believe the engineers (hopefully they are also parents) don't think this is a very useful feature while they added so many others. I'd think it would be nice to at least have the option to to turn off the sensor alarm once the receiver side alarm is turned off so that the baby and the parents won't be startled in the middle of the night longer than necessary. The tempearture reading is also way off. The display temperature is almost 5 degree lower compared to a good quality, dedicated thermometer. Several other features listed in the manual are either incorrect or broken. This is a cute, but overpriced device that leaves much to be desired. Only if they would listen to many customer desires, this could be a much more statisfying monitor than it is now.

[Thursday, November 06, 2008]

Great even if the alarm never sounds

Originally I registered for a sound monitor. I figured that would be a sufficient way to keep track of the baby while he was asleep and let me know when he was awake. About a month into motherhood (our son is now 5 months old), our concerns and fears about SIDS grew, and with research we found this monitoring system. We had already been doing everything else to try to keep our son safe -- sleep sacks, "back to sleep", keeping soft objects and bedding out of his crib, and a breathable bumper.

For us it was simple to install -- it fit under his mattress in the bassinet and after placing a piece of plywood between the springs of his convertible crib and the crib mattress, it fits in the crib as well. We did not have to make any adjustments to the sensitivity of the movement sensor. I am amazed that the sensor picks up even the slightest movement when our baby is in a deep sleep and his only movement is his breathing.

The displayed information on the actual receiver is very helpful and includes information that it never occurred to me I would want to have, like room temperature, and indicator that lets you know the movement sensor is picking up signals. The sound from the receiver is clear and the volume is easy to set. I can even hear dogs that are barking outside through the transmitter. Depending on how close the receiver is to the transmitter, there can be some feedback.

Other features I like: the night light on the transmitter. It glows a gentle green that illuminates the immediate area enough to see a little. I also like that the receivers are rechargeable and the unit comes with two chargers -- one for each receiver.

When reading parenting guides, many of them talk about SIDS but say that getting a SIDS monitoring system is expensive and they don't recommend it. I beg to differ. Although $130 is not cheap, it was only twice the cost of the original monitor that I registered for. The peace of mind that we purchased with this is so much more valuable. When I wake in the middle of the night, I look over to the receiver and I can see the little pendulum swinging -- knowing that the sensor is detecting my baby's movement. I don't feel the need to go running into the room to see if he is still breathing. I still do spend a lot of time simply watching him sleep, but then many new parents do.

This review is incomplete because thankfully we have not had our alarm go off (except when we have forgotten to turn it off before lifting the baby out of the crib). I can say that the alarm is quite loud and should be enough to startle a baby or bring a parent running.

I hope that I never really have to use all of the functions of this baby monitor and movement sensor, but I am so glad that we have it just in case.

[Friday, October 24, 2008]

Peace of mind

This monitor is wonderful! My husband and I bought this after reading the great reviews about it and we haven't been disappointed. The alarm has gone off a few times, usually because our son moves to the corner of his crib and sleeps with his bottom in the air and I think the monitor has trouble detecting his breathing with him laying like that and so far away. It does take a couple of times with the alarm going off to train yourself to turn off the monitor before picking up baby. All in all, very satisfied. Have already recommended this to several friends.

[Wednesday, October 15, 2008]

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