Why is she needed?
The birth of a child certainly leaves its mark on the way of life of the family. Not only the number of everyday worries is increasing, but also the responsibility for the little man, who requires special care and attention. But how to combine babysitting and other household chores?
After all, a young mother needs to cook food not only for herself and her child, but also for dad, who will come home from work hungry in the evening, wash and iron children's things, do wet cleaning in the apartment, and it would not hurt to put yourself in order.
It is in such situations that a baby monitor will become an indispensable assistant, which will allow you to remotely and imperceptibly monitor the condition of the child. You can safely take a shower, and maybe even go to the nearest grocery store, if the range of the device allows. But more on that later. The relevance of remote control over a child in a family living in a private house, vacationing in a country house, etc. is especially growing. Mom gets relative freedom of action and can take care of the house and garden while the baby is sleeping. And when the child grows up, the baby monitor can be used to monitor the child playing in the playground.
How does a baby monitor work?
The device consists of 2 main parts: a transmitter (baby unit - installed near the baby and reacts to sound or movement) and a receiver (parent unit - placed near the parent or attached to his belt and picks up signals from the child).
When a child's crying or coughing is heard in the children's room, the receiving part informs the parents about this either by sound (the mother hears everything that happens in the room), or by light indicators (the lights on the receiver light up), or by vibration. Each option has its drawbacks: you may not hear the sound, for example, when the vacuum cleaner is running, and you need to constantly look at the light paws. There are also devices with built-in motion sensors, in which case you will know that the baby has woken up, even if he lies silently in his crib. It is better, of course, if the device combines several notification options, but this affects its price, so decide in advance which functions are important to you.
Baby monitors, for example, are single-sided and double-sided . In the first case, the parent only hears the child, in the second case, he can talk to him, calm him down. If the child is crying and the mother is in the yard, her gentle voice can distract the child a little until the mother comes to the rescue.
Baby monitors work by means of analog or digital communication . Of course, digital models are more modern and "advanced" devices, they have a number of important advantages over analog brothers: no noise interference and high security of transmitted information. The dec radio access standard (DECT) is now very common, providing transmission coding. Why is it so important? Yes, because otherwise, the frequency at which your nanny transmits information will be able to catch not only your receiver, but also the receiver of your neighbors. How many times such situations have become the object of ridicule in various sitcoms!
For analog models, it is important to have several (two will be enough) communication channels . This is necessary for those situations when interference occurs in the receiver's operating area, or it picks up your radio telephone. In this case, you need to set another channel on both (!) Blocks. The main thing is to ensure that the channels match on both blocks. Digital models are devoid of such shortcomings: the channels in them switch automatically. You can be sure that you hear your child crying, and not the neighbor's. Other disadvantages of analog baby monitors are manual channel tuning, high susceptibility to noise interference, and poor communication quality. The latter is unacceptable for two-way communication.
An equally important parameter of child monitoring systems is signal range . This indicator varies from 30 meters to several hundred meters. In the coolest models in open areas, the range of a baby monitor can reach a kilometer, but indoors among walls and ceilings, this figure decreases by 3-4 times. Usually the declared radius of 250-300 meters is enough. Models that catch the cry of a child from a distance of 500 meters are considered excellent, but they also pick up signals not only from the child, but also from the surrounding household appliances, causing a false alarm for mothers.
What else to look for when buying:
Some models of baby monitors have an external antenna, some have a built-in one. When buying, pay attention that the antenna is soft and not sharp, because sometimes the transmitter is placed directly in the crib.
Pay attention to what baby monitors “eat”: from the mains or from batteries. Mobility is important for the parent unit, so it should be powered exclusively by batteries or accumulators (they can be charged by placing them in the docking station). for some parents who put the transmitter in the baby stroller during their stay in the country that the baby unit can work not only from the mains, but also from batteries, i.e. where there is no electricity.
It is very important to have indicators that signal the loss of communication with the transmitter and low battery level. The communication loss signal will inform you if you forgot to turn on the unit in the child's room or left the reception area. A low battery indicator will let you know when the batteries need to be recharged.
In addition, pay attention to additional features . Some of them are very useful, such as thermometer, hygrometer, breath control system, night light, alarm clock, lullaby playback, feedback, display, etc. These features, of course, will affect the price of the device, so if you want to save money, limit yourself to the basic functionality. Also read reviews about baby monitors on forums and websites. Information from young mothers will help you decide.
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If finances allow, the baby monitor can be replaced with a video baby monitor, which will allow not only to hear what is happening in the child's room, but also to see his sleepy face on the parent unit. Many mothers feel so much calmer this way. But video monitors are much more expensive.
The article was prepared for the BiWomen.Ru website.
