Unless you possess magical superpowers the rest of us don’t, you can’t be in two places at once. We know, imagine how much easier life would be as parents would be if we could! Luckily though, we can live a version of this fantasy with a baby monitor.

While there is no substitute for checking on your baby in person, a baby monitor can offer reassurance that your baby is safe for those in-between moments when you’re not in the same room.

We like to think of a baby monitor as an alert and it’s our job to be responsive to this alert. Think of a baby monitor like your kitchen fire alarm. When it goes off, we don’t ignore it, we respond to it. We open the doors and wave a tea towel in the air until the siren stops. While we don’t need a tea towel to disarm a baby monitor, we do suggest you always respond to alerts from your baby monitor to ensure the safety of your bub.

Do I need a baby monitor?

A baby monitor is not a must-have baby gear item, it’s optional. However, parents highly recommend them as they can offer peace of mind.

A baby monitor allows you to keep eyes on your baby and make sure they’re safe when you’re not in the same room. Depending on the specific model, a baby monitor will alert you when your baby is being active through sound, video or light (and sometimes all three in the same device).

Reasons you may use a baby monitor:

• You don’t want to disturb your baby’s sleep but still want to check they’re safe

• You’re sleep training your little one

• Your little one has graduated to a toddler bed and you want to make sure they’re asleep and not playing in the middle of the night? (We know a few toddlers who would make excellent escape artists!)

• You want to check in-in but not disturb your little ones during independent play

  

What to consider when shopping for a baby monitor:

Functions: Choose between audio, video or both. You can also get baby monitors that tell you the temperature of the room, which can be really helpful when dressing bub for bed. 

Display: Baby monitors can come with their own screen, or it can connect to your phone via an app. Some even offer both options. 

If you want a baby monitor that connects to your phone, keep in mind you’ll have to have the app open for the whole time you want to keep an eye on bub. This means you’ll lose sight of your little one if you ever need to use your phone.

Connection: Baby monitors can work through radio, a proprietary signal, mobile network or wifi. Each has pros and cons, so do some research before committing.

Security: Check the privacy settings to prevent potential hacking, especially if the monitor runs on your wifi network. 

Mount: Consider where you’d like to position your monitor in bub’s room.

1: CuboAi Plus Smart Baby Monitor

Score: 9.2/10
Price: From $499
Purchase here

Cubo have gone above and beyond with safety features you don’t find in many baby monitors. 

If you’re looking for some peace of mind, this might be the baby monitor for you. Their Ai Detection includes covered face and rollover detection, true cry detection and cough detection. You can even set up a ‘danger zone’ when your little one is on the move.

But safety isn’t the only reason to consider this monitor. The display is always crystal clear, no matter how dark bub’s room is. It even captures and saves key moments while bub sleeps. Certainly not necessary, but who doesn’t love watching their little one sleep?

This monitor doesn’t come with a display and works on a phone app. Have the notifications turned on if you don’t want the app open the whole time bub sleeps. 

Key takeaways from our surveyed parents:

• Easy to use, especially on their phones

• Picture is very clear

• Parents loved the white noise, talk back and playback features

• If the wifi cuts out the monitor would stop working

2: Vtech BM2700

Score: 8.4/10
Price: $99
Purchase here

Considering how affordable this baby monitor is, you know it’s going to be simple. But it comes with everything you need, like a display that works on battery, two-way communication and temperature controls, just to name a few. 

So if your budget is tight and you’re looking for a simple solution to keep an eye on your little one while they sleep, the Vtech BM2700 could be just what you’re looking for.

Key takeaways from our surveyed parents:

• Affordable

• Has temperature alerts

• Battery doesn’t last very long when unplugged

• It’s very sensitive to noise

3: Uniden BW 3102

Score: 7.3/10
Price: $279.99
Purchase here

The Uniden DW 3102 is a well designed baby monitor that comes with a range of features that give you peace of mind while your little one sleeps. 

It comes with a big colour screen that displays clearly day and night. You also have the option to watch bub through the phone app. 

What might be the stand out feature of this monitor is that it works wirelessly. So if your wifi ever cuts out, you don’t lose sight of your little one sleeping. 

It even has an encryption system protecting you from eavesdropping and hacking for extra peace of mind. 

Key takeaways from our surveyed parents:

• Has a wireless feature when there’s no wifi available

• Clear video quality day and night

• Can be used via the phone app

4: Oricom Babysense7 + Secure745 Baby Monitor

Score: 7.1/10
Price: $628
Purchase here

A lot of new parents can feel nervous when bub is asleep. Thoughts of whether they’re breathing can become all consuming, and before you know it, you catch yourself staring endlessly at the monitor or daringly creeping in their room anyway to watch the rise and fall of their chest. 

If this sounds all too familiar, then the Oricom Babysense 7 could really help ease your mind. 

The Oricom continually monitors bubs breathing, alarming you if their breathing or movement slows. It does this by connecting to a sensor pad placed under the cot mattress. 

It comes with all the other things you need in a baby monitor, like a large colour display that works day and night, temperature display and alerts, two-way communication, and much more. 

So, although this baby monitor is on the pricier side it might be worth its weight in gold if you catch yourself nervous during sleep times.

Key takeaways from our surveyed parents:

• Parents found this baby monitor was well priced for what you get

• Has a large monitor screen

• You can add an additional camera

• Very easy to set up and use

• Runs out of battery easily

• Doesn’t have an app

5: Hello Baby HB6550

Score: 7/10
Price: $109.99
Purchase here

The Hello Baby HB6550 is a very affordable baby monitor that comes with all the basic but necessary features including a display, two-way communication and temperature monitoring. It also offers remote pan, tilt and zoom functions, giving you complete remote access to checking on bub. 

It doesn’t come with an app, so you can only use the display.

It’s also a completely wireless monitor. This means it’s 100% secure. Plus you’ll never have to worry if your wifi cuts out.

You can also connect up to 4 cameras to the Hello Baby monitor, making it a great option if you have multiple kids or want to keep an eye on multiple rooms at once.

Key takeaways from our surveyed parents:

• Has aireless feature when there’s no wifi 

• Simple to use with easy set up

• Very affordable

• Doesn’t have an extensive range so if your rooms are further apart it might not be a good fit

 

This is general information only. If you need personal, health, medical or technical advice when it comes to your growing family, please seek out a professional.