We have owned no less than 4 video monitors over the past 2 years including the Summer Infant Deluxe Day & Night Video Monitor (which has since been discontinued), the Lorex LW2003 Live Snap, the First Years Home and Away Portable Monitor, and the Motorola Digital Video Baby Monitor. I really liked the Summer Infant monitor, which we used through the first year of Charlie’s life. But then the monitor died on us so I bought the Lorex because it was on sale. It was a very so-so monitor, and not nearly as good as the Summer Infant. Then I bought the First Years monitor based on a review on a parenting site, and it was the worst monitor ever — poor resolution, bright lights that came off the camera, and the monitor constantly beeped that it was out of range even when we were just in the next room. But now we have the Motorola monitor (which wasn’t available when I first had Charlie), and though it’s the most I’ve ever paid for a video monitor, it’s by far the best.
The two most important features in a video monitor for me is clear picture quality so I can see Olive breathing, and tilt and pan features so I can see the entire crib. The Motorola Video Monitor has those options and more!
– clear 3.5 inch color LCD Screen (same size as the iphone screen, smaller size is also available)
– tilt and pan (this works great and I can see the entire crib)
– room temperature monitor (I LOVE this feature because I’ve always been obsessed whether Charlie or Olive’s room is too hot or too cold.)
– 5 LED lights on the monitor that light up in accordance with the sound level in the baby’s room (I find this function helpful when I have the monitor sound turned off when I’m working)
– 5 lullabies (I haven’t tried this option yet, but Olive does seem to like lullabies)
– 2 way mic (good for singing to babies or talking to toddlers)
– optional additional camera (we’ll probably get one for Charlie’s room)
A video monitor was one of my mom must haves. In the early months, I used to watch Charlie like he was a movie to make sure that he was still breathing. Then when we sleep trained, we could see that he was ok. And a video monitor allowed us to see if the noises he was making were just settling down noises or if he was really awake, so that we didn’t go in his room and unnecessarily wake him up.
Could we have lived without a video monitor? Absolutely. It’s one of those purchases that many parents feel they can live without. As Charlie got older and I was unhappy with the quality of the Lorex and First Years monitor, we even stopped using a monitor altogether. But we can’t hear Olive that well from her room, so I finally bit the bullet and bought our fourth, and hopefully last video monitor. So far I love it! As for the monitors we’re no longer using, video monitors are in demand items that are very easy to resell.
Do you use a video monitor?
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
Great review. Oh my goodness it’s expensive, but I like that you can mute it and see lights if the noise level gets higher. You made a good point with that and working from home with the baby at home with you.
olive / 61 posts
i have the same video monitor and LOVE it! the summer infant one died, so i needed a new one. its the best monitor in the whole wide world. however, have you noticed if your temperature monitor is off? i have another temperature reader in the room, and the video monitor is always 4 – 5 degrees higher than the temperature monitor, and I don’t know which one is correct!
the only thing this thing is missing is a clock. Every morning when I hear her waking up, i check the monitor, then i have to fumble for my phone in the dark in order to find out the time to see if i should go get her or leave her there to go back to sleep.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@AQL1211: yah i agree a clock would be nice since i don’t have my glasses on in bed. i’ll double check with my thermometer in the room and see if there’s a difference.
apricot / 254 posts
I have this monitor as well! I love it. I agree a clock would be nice…or some way to time how long LO has been napping (sometimes I forget when I put her down). I love the pan/tilt. If she moves out of camera range I can easily find her again. It’s great
pomegranate / 3053 posts
That’s so funny that you’re posting about this monitor b/c it’s the same exact one that we’ll be getting right before #2 comes b/c it’s also expandable which is nice. One of my friends has the other model and I saw it and really impressed with the quality as well. We currently have a discontinued Levana one which we’ve been happy with b/c it’s super clear. Can’t say much about the color but it’s not bad but it’s also not the most important thing for me either. The sound sensitivity isn’t all that great for newborns but perfect for toddlers. I’m going to compare the two to see which is more clear. I think the Levana will win but I think the overall Motorola features will far surpass what the Levana one I have offers. Can’t wait to get it!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
A video monitor is something I am going to want to get. I have a feeling that my mom and mil will think it is unnecessary.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@AQL1211: i just checked the the temp on my monitor and the thermometer i have in the room are the same. maybe either your monitor or your thermometer is off?
apricot / 498 posts
We have this one too and I haven’t found any faults with it. A clock would be nice though!
honeydew / 7968 posts
i just changed my registry to this one! hehe. i had the summer infant one on the list, but this is better rated and i didn’t really research monitors (just added the one i saw at buybuybaby)…. i just hope it doesn’t break down like some of the complaints on amazon.
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
Nice. Sometimes I wish I’d gotten a video monitor, but I think it would have just fed my paranoia (same reason I resisted the Angelcare models). So I’ll be sticking with our audio-only one for now!
kiwi / 623 posts
We registered for this one and got it at our baby shower this past weekend! Can’t wait to use it
cherry / 228 posts
absolutely! we use the summer infant and love it. i really think it’s one of the baby items that i can’t live without! we use it daily and it’s such a necessity for us… i mean how do you know when to actually go in? what if your baby is just making sleeping noises? Also, it allowed me to record down his wake time precisely b/c i am able to see him waking up and be 100% sue
coffee bean / 39 posts
We LOVED our summer infant monitor!! then the camera broke.. it worked during the day but the night vision i guess went out and we couldn’t see a thing when we needed it the most. So we got the Motorola one to replace it. I love the temperature feature on it and watch that like a hawk. I didn’t know you could tilt/pan with it?? I’ll have to try it. I use the microphone with M in the morning when she wakes up and I need a minute to get to her… I’ll say ‘morning M, I’m coming’ and she’ll say OK! haha it’s kind of ridiculous but it saves me a minute or two and a freak-out session. I also used the lullaby to gently wake her up in the morning if she sleeps in.
cherry / 207 posts
We purchased a video monitor 4 months ago – after our regular Graco monitor wore out and we LOVE having a video monitor! It’s amusing to watch our 28 month old rolling around in her sleep and yet always end up in her original spot by morning! We are using Summer Infant Bestview Handheld monitor and love it, so much so that we bought another for the twins
kiwi / 718 posts
we aren’t using anything yet, but we were handed-down a plain vanilla monitor – just the basic you can hear them & that’s it one, so that’s probably what we will use
cherry / 170 posts
I’m so humored by the concept of the video monitor because we barely needed an audio one when our son, and now our newborn, was an infant. But once he was a toddler and in a big-boy bed I would KILL to have a video monitor so I could see if he had actually fallen asleep on his bed yet without having to open the door.
honeydew / 7968 posts
i’m testing this out now since we purchased it from BBB. i don’t think the quality of the picture is that great. the summer infant one i tested at BBB had such a better quality. hmmm.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@tequiero21: i thought the quality was great at first, but now that i’ve used it a little bit, i think the summer infant might have better video quality. still overall i think the features on the motorola are better (i use the thermometer feature allllll the time since i’m obsessed with whether charlie and olive are too hot or cold). this is my fourth video monitor! summer infant is great (i’ve had 2 of them), but they break down after a year or so.
honeydew / 7968 posts
@Mrs. Bee: good to know! thanks! i was debating whether i should return the motorola. but i do like the other features and the reviews on amazon were great for the motorola.
pea / 8 posts
I notice the sidebar for this post advertises the loftek baby monitor, which is what my husband got me for mother’s day. It’s only $70 and can be accessed via my iphone or my laptop, even when I’m not at home. A lot cheaper and you don’t have to have an extra monitor to carry around, but can just use your phone instead.