Nursery/Baby Monitors

My beloved Crisp & Clear monitor from The First Years is finally dying after 4 1/2 years. It must have been dropped too many times because the speaker keeps cutting out if it gets bumped or set down the wrong way. I can see the lights moving to indicate that she's making noise, but can't hear anything. I would get another one in a minute, except they don't make them anymore (and I don't want a used one from ebay).

The on-line reviews of baby monitors are so mixed. I know performance will vary depending on the setting, but I've never had any static with the Crisp & Clear (900 mhz) monitor. We don't live in a heavily populated area, so we don't get much interference.

My main criteria for a new monitor is that the parent unit MUST have the ability to recharge it's batteries when it's plugged in. I also like the "docking station" units that recharge when they're set on their base. Rechargeable, or back-up, batteries in the child unit is a bonus too because our power tends to go out a lot.

And finally, I don't want to spend too much as my kids are 4 1/2 and 2 and I probably won't be needing a monitor for too much longer (or so I can hope!).

Any recomendations?

I have a very old Safety 1st model that meets your criteria, but I am quite sure they no longer make it.

My sister has a Sony model that she loves, but I am not sure how it recharges. I will ask her.

I love this http://www.babysupermall.com/main/products/tfy/tfy03809.html
monitor. We've had one for almost 4.5 yrs and when it went on the fritz last year, The First Years sent us free parts to get it going again (it was something with the base for the child unit and battery). I couldn't believe they didn't charge for parts this far into ownership.

It doesn't recharge the batteries in the parent unit though. I've always just kept some rechargeable AAA's handy, but it seems I'm always recharging batteries for something anyway so it hasn't been a big deal to me. We also don't really use it with batteries all that often.

The thing I love most about it is that I can easily move the child unit to where the kids are. Our yard is privacy fenced and locked, but I still feel better knowing I can sit that out on the patio and easily hear what's going on when the kids are out there playing. I've never actually attached it to anything, but the portability is nice.

sirrahn said:

I love this http://www.babysupermall.com/main/products/tfy/tfy03809.html
monitor. We've had one for almost 4.5 yrs and when it went on the fritz last year, The First Years sent us free parts to get it going again (it was something with the base for the child unit and battery). I couldn't believe they didn't charge for parts this far into ownership.

It doesn't recharge the batteries in the parent unit though. I've always just kept some rechargeable AAA's handy, but it seems I'm always recharging batteries for something anyway so it hasn't been a big deal to me.

The thing I love most about it is that I can easily move the child unit to where the kids are. Our yard is privacy fenced and locked, but I still feel better knowing I can sit that out on the patio and easily hear what's going on when the kids are out there playing. I've never actually attached it to anything, but the portability is nice.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I actually tried that one for a day and ended up returning it to the store because I realized it wasn't rechargeable. That is such an important feature for me. Monitors just eat batteries. We have rechargeables, but I don't want to keep changing them all the time.

I like the portability feature too. Thats why I like the batteries in both units. So that I can move it to wherever the kids are, take it on vacation, or not worry when the power goes out.

But it's interesting that TFYs gave you parts to fix it. I wonder if I should call them about mine. Thanks for the idea.

I just did a search to try to find mine to show you, but I couldn't find the same model. Anyhow, I have Fisher-Price lights and sound dual receivers, but they must have a new model now, because they all look different and have a long antenna. Mine are a little taller than a soda can (including antenna), and have a slight hourglass figure. The antenna is almost 2 inches. They are 10 channel, but I'm not sure on the frequency. They have good range and are rechargable. I like having 2, because when one dies, I swap them out and use the other. Also, these do not have a docking base, just plug in style.

We have a Sony baby call that I love. The parent's unit is rechargeable, but the kid's unit is plug in only.

henrietta

Angelcare Movement Sensor with Sound Monitor

This is the one we have. The reviews are consistently fantastic, and it works GREAT! Both parent units run on either batteries, or the included AC adapters. There is a motion sensor pad that you install under the crib mattress, and an alarm sounds if your baby stops moving. The range is very good, there are two channels to choose from, and the sound sensitivity is excellent. You can really hear the slightest little thing in the room. My only complaint is that there is a bit of background hiss, but for a $99 product, I'm not complaining too much.

The only other unit I really wanted was the DECT 6.0 monitor from Phillips. DECT is what the Europeans have been using for their cordless phones for years now, and it has so much better range and noise reduction over current cordless phones (I have a new DECT 6.0 cordless phone and it's the BEST I have ever used!), but it costs around $200. I just couldn't really justify the cost of the monitor system. I am keeping my eyes open for clearance sales on it though...

TheRealMacGyver said:

I just did a search to try to find mine to show you, but I couldn't find the same model. Anyhow, I have Fisher-Price lights and sound dual receivers, but they must have a new model now, because they all look different and have a long antenna. Mine are a little taller than a soda can (including antenna), and have a slight hourglass figure. The antenna is almost 2 inches. They are 10 channel, but I'm not sure on the frequency. They have good range and are rechargable. I like having 2, because when one dies, I swap them out and use the other. Also, these do not have a docking base, just plug in style.

Click to expand...

Just curious if you have a guess on the workable range? This has been our main gripe about the monitors we've tried -- not enough range. We like to use a monitor to 'keep an ear' on the kids when they're inside napping or otherwise occupied, and we're trying to get a few things done outside in the yard....

We have three Sony BabyCall 27-channel monitors, and have generally been happy with them. The child's unit is plug-in only. The parent's unit can recharge while in use; we keep the AC adaptors in our room and recharge overnight. Otherwise they pretty much stay unplugged all day and last just fine through up to 4 hours of naptime.

Our longest-running unit is nearly three years old and we've had to replace the battery once. Sony doesn't sell replacement batteries, but Radio Shack does.

The monitors work nicely from the kids' rooms upstairs down to the driveway. I'm not sure we've tried further than that.

Several of my friends swear by the Fisher-Price Lights and Sounds monitor, but it just didn't work in our house--we got a ton of static no matter what we did.

We have the Sony Baby Call. For DD (almost 3.5) I don't think they even had the 27 channel so we've been very happy with the 9 channel. The parent's base is not rechargable, but I haven't had much issue with it sucking down batteries. We just got the 27channel Baby Call for #2 and the base is rechargeable. So far so good with no interference. The batteries are supposed to hold a charge for 22 hours (can you tell I just read the manual).

I have both monitors plugged in next to each other, a cordless phone, an alarm clock and I keep the tv remote next to all this mess. A few beeps occassionally from the 9 channel (haven't had the 27 channel long enough to have had any issues), but it hasn't been a problem for my light sleeping DH.

The only time we ever have a problem with the 9 channel is if it's in the upstairs office full of computer equipment and the neighbor's cordless phone rings. Then, while the phone is ringing, the monitor buzzes like mad on each ring. I just changed the channels so we'll see if this happens again. Very funny that it's only one specific neighbor's phone, and it's his garage phone--not the main home phone. We tease him that his wife is using us to monitor his "secret" phone conversations.

As far as range goes...I've taken the 9 channel receiver across the street to the neighbor's house with no problems.