Video Baby Monitor: Do You Really Need It?

A video baby monitor is one of the newest inventions designed to help parents keep and eye on and take care of their babies when they cannot be in the same room. Audio baby monitors were invented several decades ago and although they have become more sensitive and reliable, they did not develop very much until the recent invention of the video monitor.

An audio baby monitor allows to hear if the baby cries or makes other noise. A video monitor does the same thing but with the additional benefit that you can see your baby on the screen.

You can also get movement sensor monitors. This is a different type of equipment that is placed in the baby's bed and alerts you with a light or sound when the baby moves.

The Advantages Of Video Over Other Types

There are two main advantages of choosing a video baby monitor over other types.

1. You can see your baby.

It sounds obvious I know, but there is a big advantage to actually being able to see the baby on the screen. With an audio monitor, new parents especially are constantly running in to check on the baby even when the monitor is completely quiet. They think it might have stopped working, or maybe the baby is in trouble but not making any noise. So they waste a lot of time going to check on a peaceful sleeping baby, and they make even wake up baby when they do it.

The same thing can happen with movement sensors. These will alert you whenever the baby moves, but babies can move in their sleep, so again you may be constantly checking on a restless but sleeping baby.

2. You can listen to other sounds.

If you have an audio monitor, you may worry about missing the sound of the baby waking while you are watching TV, listening to music or even talking on the phone. With a video baby monitor that is not an issue. You can even listen to music over headphones to avoid waking the baby, but still be sure that you will know what is happening all the time that you can see the monitor's video screen.

The Disadvantages Of Video

The main disadvantage of video monitors is that they are less mobile than many audio devices. Many rely on a camera which would be permanently focused on your baby's bed. However, you can of course have a video monitor to use at home and a mobile audio or movement sensor monitor to take when you go visit friends or family.

You can of course set up webcam monitoring that would be mobile. You would need two laptops, one with a webcam to  video the baby, and the other showing the display. Both computers would need to be connected to the internet wherever you were, and if you wanted to use the computer for work or email it would not give such a good picture of the baby at the same time, so this might not be ideal in all cases. A dedicated video baby monitor is a much better option for most parents.