Baby Monitor Question

[kschick96]

How long did you/do you plan to use a baby monitor?

Ours died last month when LO was 15 months old. I went ahead and bought another one, because DH has to have a fan on full blast during the night to sleep and I would never hear LO with out a monitor beuase of how much noise the fan makes. Also, until he is in a big boy bed and can get up and come to our room if needs us-I am just not comfortable not using a monitor.

DH and his mom (was here visiting when it died) thought I was nuts to get a new baby monitor at LO's age, but I don't care what they think-I'm the one having to listen for him at night and the one getting up with him.

How about you? Thoughts?

[blossomed]

Forget what they say...

Thanks for a really small house I did not need one. But I think knowing how your child is sleeping is important. It really keys you into knowing if they are sick, or teething, or restless. And it helps you to sleep better if you know you can hear them. It's not just for SIDS.

I mean gee what do they expect your little guy to do, text you if he is having an issue?

[JulieDB]

We had one but never really used it. I maybe kept it until she was a year old then got rid of it.

My daughter didn't sleep much at all when she was a baby. So by the time I would finally get her to sleep, I was going to bed. We slept in the same room. She never napped. She was pretty much always with me.

[foggierbard9]

We had one in our son's room until he was 2 1/2 and then DD was put in there so we continued it. Our son is almost 4 and we don't have one in his room at our new house but we do have one in our DD's room, she is 16 mos. Our bedrooms are all close, but with doors closed we can't hear our daughter in the next room. We will continue to have one in her room for awhile as she is still waking in the middle of the night once in awhile.

[amylynne01]

I still use one. My girls (3.5 and 2) share a room, and with the doors closed and ACs on, there's no way I'm hearing anything outside of my room. DD2 still wakes at night 2-3 times a week, and if I didn't hear her on the monitor, she'd wake up DD1, and then we'd all be up in the middle of the night.

If you find it helpful, then use it. Who cares what anyone thinks.

[cintinative]

My boys are 4 and almost 6, they share a room, and we still use one. With the doors closed, A/C on, and us downstairs watching TV, we cannot hear them at all. If we lived in a ranch, I don't think we would need one but we have a two story. Also we do use it at night. My kids tend to have nightmares/night terrors and it helps us to respond more quickly when we hear them at first when they start crying. Anyway, I don't feel the least bit guilty about having one still. We did have other ones when my ds#1 was born but they died, so we got these around when ds#2 was born. They are still going strong.

ETA: Our policy has always been that our kids stay in their beds unless they have to use the restroom. We don't want them coming in our bedroom in the middle of the night. This would be another reason to keep a monitor.

[curvygreek]

If you find it helpful, then use it. Who cares what anyone thinks.

AMEN! My son just turned 3 on 9/11. I used a video monitor with him since day one and I LOVED IT. I could see every movement that went along with every whimper and it really helped to "train" me to know when to respond and when he was just sleep-whimpering.

The On/Off button on the monitor screen died back in the spring, the day my husband was off to work in another state for the week (this is a weekly thing, he's gone 4 days a week) and I told him I absolutely did not feel comfortable not being able to see my son.

He ran out to Target and found a video monitor on clearance for about $100, which...unfortunately, was more than we *should* and *could afford...but my peace of mind was worth the $100 spent, absolutely. We were just so broke. (We still are. We're just the average-joe American family, struggling to get by.) Anyway, LOL, my point is...that was a huge "surprise" expense to us. But...I....Needed...It.

Long story short--I agree with the above quote--if you find it helpful, use it. It was just a few nights ago that I heard my son cry out and then say, "I want to play with that!" I didn't jump out of bed because...I could clearly see he was dreaming and sound asleep. LOL

(Video monitors are sometimes more entertaining than cable, BTW. LOL)