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One of the essential items parents of newborns need is a baby monitor.
We got ours from Toys ‘R Us, at RM179. It wasn’t the cheapest nor the dearest, but we thought it would serve our needs.
Inside the packaging are the baby unit, parent’s unit, & an AC adapter. Both units can house 4 AA batteries, but we opted to use the adapter for the baby unit, since anywhere we went there was always a powerpoint available. On both units is a slide switch to choose / sync the radio signal; presumably to circumvent radio frequency interruptions from other sources.
The baby unit also has an on/off switch for the monitor in the centre of the unit. On its side is another slide switch for a nightlight- the little flashlight bulb inside actually gives out a warm orangey light through the blue plastic housing. I can’t say we have ever used it- it is too dim to be of any real use. The parent’s unit has a wheel-switch which doubles the on/off function as well as volume.
Reception is not the best, depending on what is between the 2 units- distance & how many walls; though these things are not meant for long range use.
Caitlin is nearly 3 years old now, & I must admit this monitor has lasted all this while. There are, however, the occasional no-reception-where-there-should-be; flicking the A-B signals can sometimes fix the problem. Lately too, the parent’s unit is making more hiss-noise when there wasn’t before.
We use rechargeable batteries for the parent’s unit. With everyday use of about 3-4 hours each (plus the occasional weekends) I think we go through one charge a week.
At the recent Children’s Fair expo in PWTC however, I saw some monitors with built-in cameras, much like those found on mobile phones & laptops, with tiny TV screens on the parents’ unit. Both units physically not being much bigger than mobile phones. I saw them side by side on shelves though, so I couldn’t tell how well they’d perform “in the field”. I guess I could have taken the parents unit for a walk just to test it out, but I doubt the salesperson would appreciate that.
Still, you gotta admit the TV idea is kinda cool.
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