The Product: Baby Monitor

Unless you live in a tiny apartment, most parents will want a baby monitor so that they can hear their baby from another room in the house.

Recommendation: Angelcare Movement & Sound Monitor

There are plenty of inexpensive baby monitors that will work fine for most people’s needs. The Angelcare Bebe Sounds system is a regular monitor that is tied to a sensor alarm pad which goes under your baby’s crib mattress. The sensor, which is sensitive enough to detect breathing, will set off an alarm if no activity is recorded within 15 seconds and send it through the monitor to the receiver. As a first time parent, I felt as if this was one the best investments we made as it gave us extra peace of mind and we didn’t feel the need to keep jumping up to check our daughter. I was surprised how well the system worked, we only had 1-2 false alarms (or were they) the whole year that we used the Angelcare, but every time one of us forget to disable the alarm before removing the baby from the crib, it would go off within 15 seconds without fail. Unfortunately, once your child can really roll around, they can get themselves far enough away from the sensor pad to trigger frequent false alarms. This is when it’s time to disable the pad and just use the monitor portion. Based on recommendations from others, we purchased the cardboard platform accessory directly from Angelcare which you will need for the sensor pad if your crib has springs under the mattress. I loved this product and plan to use it again with our next baby.

Devil's Advocate:

Many people will probably view this product as overkill. It that’s the case, then it is definitely not the best choice for you. Also, you have to get in the habit of turning off the monitor before you take your baby out of the crib in the middle of the night or else your sleeping partner will be rudely awakened by the alarm.