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Which baby monitor is best ?
A reliable baby monitor should be one of the first devices that parents should purchase soon after their newly born baby is home. There is a large number of baby monitor models on the market, so which baby monitor is the best? And how should parents go about acquiring the best baby monitor for their needs? In this article, I will try to address this question. I will explain what parents should consider when shopping for a baby monitor.
The most important feature of a baby monitor is the signal quality. This is a good qualifier for the best baby monitor out there. The fundamental requirement for such devices is to allow parents to clearly hear their little one over a voice channel when they are away from their crib. Signal quality of monitors varies largely from one baby monitor to another. They range from analogue devices to digital to DECT technology (more on the DECT technology below). Parents should opt for a devise that has digital quality at a minimum.
Another important feature that parents should consider to decide which baby monitor is the best is the reception range. Range is a measure of how far a person can move away from the base and still has an accurate signal at the cordless unit. Some baby monitors on the market claim to have a signal range greater than 1000 ft. The BT baby monitor is one that scores high in this regard. Expectedly, signal range and sound quality go hand in hand. The further a person moves away from the base, the lower the quality of the signal. Interference also plays a big role in signal quality. Some baby monitors use the advanced DECT technology that dramatically reduces interference, or eliminates it altogether, while capturing every sound the baby makes with clear clarity. DECT technology is highly desirable in baby monitors.
Cost is also an important factor to consider while shopping for the best baby monitor. I will not attempt to list any prices in this article as model prices change rapidly in this fiercely competitive market. Any prices I may mention here will be out of date soon after this article is published. A good shopping exercise for parents is to take the time to list the essential criteria for their baby monitor and then go out to shop for the device that satisfies all criteria but still has a good price for their budget. Good places to compare prices are Amazon and eBay.
The fourth feature of baby monitors is ease of use. When I first started shopping for a monitor and I had to decide which baby monitor is best for my first child, I came across models that were complicated enough to require reading the user manual numerous times to understand how to operate the device. Other models were much easier to operate. It is important to understand that the more features the monitor would have, the more complicated it would be to operate. From my experience, if the cordless unit has well labelled buttons, that goes a long way in reducing the learning curve of usage. Because of the competitiveness of this market, manufacturers these days pack baby monitors with numerous features including lullaby trigger, two-way communication, room temperature display, night light, torch, vibration alert, music player, timer, etc… Obviously, not all of these features are required to raise a child, but they can be convenient at times.
Baby monitors come with many more features these days, but the above four decision points should provide a good starting point for parents to shop for the ideal baby monitor for their loved one.