Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I never had a monitor before, b/c we were in a tiny apt. Now with a 2-story house, do I need one?

The play yard will be downstairs for when we are down there, and I will have a bassinet in our bedroom. I figure if we are downstairs, baby will nap in play yard.

I when I saw the video monitor price tag....wow!

What say you?

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I don't have a video one and honestly don't feel like I need one. I live in a 2-story house too and the audio-only monitor works for me!

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

Well I dont live in a 2 level house.

I live in a 2bedroom apt. railroad style. I dont have a video moniter though never saw the need for it since our rooms run right into eachother.

I would suggest it though if you are on 2 levels. I found that my DD (after 3 months old) didnt like to nap anywhere except her crib really. So if your DC is gonna be the same way, its gonna be annoyign having to go up there every 5 mins. to check.

Do you have a registry, can someone get it for you that way?

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I really love our video monitor, but I am a bit over protective, so I like being able to see them. At first, they slept in our room and napped in the pack n play downstairs, so I didn't use it much (sometimes, if they were napping and I had other things to do around the house, I would turm it on).
But now (they are 5 mo old), we use it every night (they are still in our room, but go to bed a few hours before us) and when they nap in the afternoon. Technically, I could have a regular monitor and be fine. But, with twins, it is helpful for me to be able to get in there when one is just stirring, because if one cries, the other wakes up too.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I couldn't live without it. I like to check on DS when he is in his crib, it gives me peace of mind. I sleep with the video monitor propped on a pillow behind me and do periodically wake up in the middle of the night to randomly check on him. I need to know he's ok. We live in a 2-story house also but i'd have it even if i lived in an apt.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I say yes 100%

There is a world of difference IMO between when your LO is making noises, crying, etc.. and not having to run upstairs or downstairs to see if they are ok and all you have to do is look on the monitor.

I don't know what I would do without mine.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

we live in a ranch and I couldn't imagine life without it! if it broke, I'd be at BRU before nightfall for a replacement.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

It's a must have for me. DS would cry out a lot in his sleep. If I didn't have a video monitor to see that his eyes were still closed, I would have woken him many times when I thought he was awake! I also like that I can visually check on him at any time without possibly disturbing him.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I see many of you highly recc them. Perhaps I will get one then. I value your opinions on these things.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I dont see the need for it at all.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I have one, but as soon as DS started sitting up, he just wanted to take down the camera, and was distracted by the camera light. We only used ours for like a month, our sound monitor for even less, and we haven't used anything for the past year (DS is 18 months).

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I absolutely love it, because there are so many times where he might be making noise, and I can just look at him to see if he's gonna go back to sleep or if I need to go into him, etc. However, that being said, I was gonna say what you said- people have lived without monitor for years! If you are used to only having the sound monitor, I think you'll be fine with that, it is definitely sufficient. Once you experience the video monitor though, I think it's hard to back to just sound. If you do decide to get it, I would suggest waiting until the baby is born, when you'll get gift cards, etc. from people, and you'll probably need to return a few gifts for store credit and then I would put all that towards it, bc they are ridiculously expensive!! I'm assuming you still have the sound one that you could use in the meantime? We registered for ours and I don't think we would have purchased it ourselves if someone didn't buy it.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I never had one and never missed not having one. The audio monitor has worked just fine for us. I think the video monitors are just so overpriced for what they offer, I couldn't justify the cost.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I got ours at Walmart.com. it is the Summer Day/night video monitor. Paid $117 for it...DS is a very noisy sleeper. Before I got the video monitor, I would go into his room thinking he was awake, and he wasn't. I woke him up checking on him! You don't need anything with a ton of bells and whistles....

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

i don't know..i'ver never had one and i have 2 kids-the oldest is almost 4. i think i would have been obsessed with it,,,so for me, i'm glad i didn't have one. the audio one works good for us and my house is pretty small so that might be why i never got one either.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

Message edited 1/15/2011 2:42:10 PM.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

We live in a 2 bedroom apartment. We had one, liked it but didn't really "need" it. Ours broke and we've been using the audio monitor now.

I am getting along just fine without it but I will say that I miss it the most when we started CIO and I wanted to check and see how he was doing.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

we have a 1 bed apt and we use it daily.

We keep an eye on her while she sleeps. If she is fussing, we can look to see if she actually gets up without going in the room possibly interrupting her sleep.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I love it and think it is so worth it. Could I live without it? Technically yes, but it's been such a great thing to have. I would rather forgo something else and use the money for the video monitor instead of saving money by getting an audio monitor.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

If I didn't have a video one, then I wouldn't know what I was missing. So, I would say you don't need one. I have a regular one and it works fine.

However, I do have a video monitor (summer handheld) and I couldn't imagine not having it:

- The biggest benefit I think , is that it allows you to see if the baby is actually sleeping, instead of just laying there awake, quietly. Sometimes I would swear DD was asleep, but she wasn't. This helped me better schedule the day since I knew, more accurately how long she napped. (sometimes she would wake up and lay there quietly for half an hour. I would have thought she was asleep)

- When I started to give her a blanket in the crib, I didn't have to peek in a hundred times, trying to avoid the creek in the hallway so it didn't disturb her

- Also, I would hear her start to stir and sometimes she would get up, but then I would be able to see that she layed back down , which might lead to her falling back asleep. I think if I didn't have the video, I would think she was awake, I heard her , I would just go in and get her

Those were the biggest benefits to me.

Message edited 1/15/2011 3:19:43 PM.

Re: Do I REALLY need video monitor for baby?

I didn't have one with DD...but plan on getting one for this one. If all plans go well, we will be finishing our basement (which will be a playroom for 5 year old. The baby's room will be on the 2nd floor (two stories up from the basement).

Also I am due in May...and I know my 5 year old will want to spend most of her time outside...and I can't see making her stay in cause the baby is sleeping, so I feel it will come in handy