Recommend a "basic" baby monitor?

[UlrikeDG]

The one I have, I bought at TRU in Germany, so it's not compatible with US electricity. ;)

I read the other thread, and I don't need a motion detector or video or anything like that, just a reliable monitor that will let me hear if the baby wakes up. Cheaper is better. My kids are sick right now, and if I'm in the livingroom, I can't hear them calling me from the bedroom! I definitely won't be able to hear little baby noises when the little one arrives. (We don't even have a huge house--1500 sq ft--and it's a ranch.)

[lovinwaves]

I don't have any rec's for a NEW one, but I have had two Fisher-Price ones that were AWESOME!

The first one I had was a hand me down from my Aunt who used it with her now 12 year old :eek: Yeah, it was that old. It worked wonderfully, and "did the job".

The second one(only bought for grandparents house) I bought off of my local Craigslist. Again it was a Fisher-Price, and this time a few years newer than the 12 year old one. Worked great! We have a 1100 sq. ft home and I could even take it out to do yardwork as well.

[Namegirl]

We've had great luck with our Fisher Price Sound n Lights monitor. I think it was about $25.

[joolsplus3]

Another vote for the FP sound and lights... that may have been the spendier one, but I bet the cheaper one has the same guts and should work just as well...I don't even remember how much mine cost, but it has two monitors, which is kind of nice...(in theory...i suppose one day I'll put them to use by making a one-way intercom to my ds' room and the attic so I can quit screaming for him, lol) (ps, hint... make sure you buy a different frequency than your phone or wireless internet).

[mominabigtruck]

I just bought a fisher price one at baby dept, I think its called clear connection:confused: It has 20 channels so I don't have interference and it works great and we live in a mobile home park. I think I paid $30 on clearance for it.

[southpawboston]

we have a "the first years" 900Mhz unit. i don't know the model. it's basic, has sound and lights, and the rechargeable infant base either sits in its own charging dock or can clamp onto a crib rail. strangely, the parent unit is not rechargable, it just takes AA batteries. the sound quality has been awesome. never any static. i think it's only two channels. we used it for DD1 and still use it now for DD2. three years of use and it's still going strong.

on a side note, are you sure the unit you bought in germany is not compatible with US electricity? most all small electronics work on something around 4-12V DC current, and chances are just the power adapter is designed to plug into european 220V. look at the power brick and see what the output is, it should be listed. you can get a universal power brick from radio shack that has like 5 voltage output options as well as 5 adapters to fit most portable electronics. almost all portable electronics work on one of only about 5 different standard power adapters. portable devices are usually global, electrically :)

then again, if you're like me, you have a drawer full of about 25 assorted power adapters because when a portable electronic device breaks you never throw away the power brick... and you always have spares... then again, few people are like me ;)

[mominabigtruck]

then again, if you're like me, you have a drawer full of about 25 assorted power adapters because when a portable electronic gadget breaks you never throw away the power brick... and you always have spares... then again, few people are like me ;)

That is so me:D My dad's an electrical engineer so he makes me keep everything "just in case" Thank god too, he just had to build a new plug in for ds' dvd player out of three extra plug ins I had.

[southpawboston]

That is so me:D My dad's an electrical engineer so he makes me keep everything "just in case" Thank god too, he just had to build a new plug in for ds' dvd player out of three extra plug ins I had.

there ya go!! yep, they're definitely handy to keep around. :thumbsup:

[katiebug]

We have the Sony babyCall 900 megaHz. It has a rechargable receiver, but my favorite feature is that it has a set of 5 LEDs that light up in response to the intensity of the sounds being picked up, so if you need to turn the volume down (you're taking an important call or something, or you're hearing impaired could be a possibility) you can tell when DC starts/stops crying by sight as well as sound.

[LuvBug03]

Ive got one of those cheap baby monitors that you can use during pregnancy to listen to the heartbeat too. I cant remember the name! It worked decent as a heart monitor when I was farther along... but it works awesome as a monitor! The pickup is amazing! I can hear DS breathing across the room if Im not doing noisy stuff. I really love it. It also has the lights that light up with intensity of sound.


Ill look for the name incase you want to check it out.

[UlrikeDG]

Hmmm. I'm not even sure which box my German monitor is in. I'll have to see if I can find it.

[LuvBug03]

ok I finally found it. Turns out its a FP prenatal to nursery monitor. Here is what it looks like http://cgi.ebay.com/Fisher-Price-Prenatal-to-Nursery-Monitor_W0QQitemZ330176137471QQihZ014QQcategoryZ20 435QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Ive seen it still, but I dont think its in production anymore. I think I only paid $13 for it at birlington coat factory(baby depot), they retailed for like $30 though I think?

[mimieliza]

We have the Sony Baby Call. Love it. It's about five years old, been through three kids (it was a hand-me-down to us) and is still going strong.

[sirrahn]

we have a "the first years" 900Mhz unit. i don't know the model. it's basic, has sound and lights, and the rechargeable infant base either sits in its own charging dock or can clamp onto a crib rail. strangely, the parent unit is not rechargable, it just takes AA batteries. the sound quality has been awesome. never any static. i think it's only two channels. we used it for DD1 and still use it now for DD2. three years of use and it's still going strong.

We have that one too (bought it when now 4.5 yr old DD was a baby) although I never quite got the whole "clip onto the crib" thing. It picks up fine from the dresser or where ever you sit it nearby.

The very nice thing about it though is that you can easily move the kid unit to where they are. I can put it in the back yard if I need to go inside for a few minutes. If baby naps in different places, you don't have to worry about moving the plug or finding batteries. My kids are all big enough to get up in the night if needed now, but I still use it all the time even just to hear what the kids are up to during the day. Our house isn't huge, but has a split floor plan and I can't hear them in the playroom if I'm in the front of the house.

[southpawboston]

yep. we still use it just to hear what's going on in their room. if someone wakes up crying, we want to know so that we can listen closely and judge whether we should go in or not. i don't get the whole "clip to crib" thing, either. as you said, it picks up fine just anywhere in the room. i just wish the parent unit was rechargeable as well.

[Morganthe]

That is so me:D My dad's an electrical engineer so he makes me keep everything "just in case"

LOL -- same here. I kept all our 220v cords, plugs, power strips, and certain electrical items when we left Germany. I truly hadn't thought we'd return there, but somehow, I didn't have the incentive to sell it off like I did a lot of other stuff. :shrug-shoulders: I just packed them all in a couple of small boxes and stored them in a closet.

So other than purchasing couple of transformers & a telephone (dh sold ours for a measily $10 without consulting me! :(,)
we're all ready to go. We even have a portable floor A/C unit. :thumbsup:

[southpawboston]

at work, i'm constantly saving the power adapters and also the removeable power cords to heavy lab equipment when it gets old/retired. my colleagues used to think i'm nuts. then one day we needed a power adapter for a multi-channel pipettor, otherwise an expensive experiment would have been down the drain. now they think i'm genius... high praise from a room full of PhDs... :D