Do I need a baby monitor?
A baby monitor camera will always come in handy. It doesn’t matter if you live in a two story house or a small apartment or if your baby sleeps in your room or not. Either way, a monitor for your baby can be another pair of eyes and a valuable parenting tool, especially at night. Most of the baby monitors on the market include features like temperature, zoom, two way talk, night vision and lullabies. Premium models come with useful features such as movement with the pan and tilt, breathing alerts, portability, split screen with multiple baby units and the ability to connect your baby unit to an app that works with your phone or tablet and with voice assistants. Please note this will depend on the model. Not all models include the same features.
Parents recommend baby monitors when going outside, to help get chores and other work done and just to relax at night when the day is over. A baby monitor is also a great way to see if your baby is sleeping or just sitting in its crib and not making a sound. With the two way talk feature you can gently tell your little one to lie back down for a bit when more nap time is needed. Worried about dangerous situations? A baby monitor will alert you right away if a body part gets stuck between the crib bars or a favorite toy drops to the ground out of reach and causes a dramatic meltdown.
Wi-Fi or Non Wi-Fi baby monitor?
There are 2 types of baby monitors. Wi-Fi monitors which can be used with an app and a secure Wi-Fi connection and non Wi-Fi monitors that use radio signals to connect. The radio signals used to connect your non Wi-Fi monitor and camera are also known as a wireless connection. The best Wi-Fi baby monitors have the option to be used wirelessly without an internet connection. Just because your monitor has the ability to connect to an app it doesn’t mean that you have to use it. It is however recommended to keep everything updated and running at its peak performance. Plus, there are a ton of extra features that come with the compatible app to your smart baby monitor.
Pros and Cons of a Wi-Fi Baby Monitor:
Range:
A typical wireless baby monitor range is about 1000 feet in open spaces. You might experience more frequent disconnections in tighter spaces or rooms with more electronics that can interfere. It is always recommended to keep your handheld baby monitor and its camera at least 5 feet away from other electronics like white noise machines, fans and tvs.
If you use an app like the ChillaxCare app your camera is connected to your home Wi-Fi. This means that it will remain connected to your Wi-Fi if you do not turn it off. This way, you can use the app with your phone or tablet within Wi-Fi range of your home or outside of the home on data. You can also use free Wi-Fi or hotspots. As long as your phone has a Wi-Fi connection, you can stream the camera located in your home from the app, wherever you might be in the world. This is a wonderful way to keep an eye on your baby when the babysitter is over and you can even use the camera to monitor your pets or as home security when it’s not needed in another room.
Ease of Use:
A wireless baby monitor is usually plug and play. By this I mean you turn it on, check if the units are charged and paired, and from there you are ready to go. For the baby monitor mobile app you will need to pair it to the app. This can sometimes be tricky. Most of the time a baby monitor home camera needs a few specific things to connect. A 2.4ghz network, close range to the router, and a quick follow through the steps should help you set it up but if you need additional support or get an error code just remember that friendly customer support is always available to get you connected and answer any of your questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Alerts:
Most of the wireless baby monitors on the market work the same way. They stream video from the camera to the monitor with its respective audio. There are no alerts or sensors. The monitor will produce a reflection of the sound and video in the room where the camera is located. You will need to view the monitor and listen to the audio to see what is happening in the room with the paired camera. The screen saver option allows you to turn off the video stream for audio only. This is useful during the night.
A Wi-Fi smart baby monitoring system that allows you to set notification alerts on your phone when sound or movement is detected. This will send a prompt to your phone and record the alerts in the app and you can also adjust them to fit your preferences. You can set alerts for things like smart zones and high or cold temperature readings in the app too. The Daily Baby monitor will also let you know if someone wants to access the live feed. It is up to you to accept or reject the viewer's request.
Recordings:
As explained above, a non Wi-Fi baby monitor only streams directly. There are no recordings available. With a smart baby monitor however, you can manually record any saved moments in the app and you can use an SD card up to 32gb in cameras that allow it to save any special moments locally. The ChillaxCare app gives you peace of mind by allowing you to save your precious moments for 24 hours in the Cloud.
Safety:
Last but not least, safety. One of the top concerns when it comes to Wi-Fi baby monitors is security. Will my baby monitor be hacked? Baby monitors have come a long way. Wireless baby monitors use a unique frequency that has no internet access. Interference might happen but the only person who can view the camera is the one who is holding the baby monitor screen and the Chillax smart baby monitors use bank grade security and require a password protected network to protect your little ones from anyone else who is trying to access the stream. The Accept or Reject feature on monitors like the Daily Baby smart baby monitor or the Giraffe Cam Pro monitor and smart camera set give you the power to decide who you want to let into your world with the remote sharing permissions.
One of the most unique features found in the Chillax baby monitors is the privacy protection switch. This proprietary privacy switch is a little orange button found on the smart cameras that allow you to instantly turn the Wi-Fi access on or off with an up or down flick of the wrist. This gives you god-like powers to decide if you want to use Wi-Fi or not and it removes any concerns about safety. Turn the Wi-Fi connection back on as quickly as you turned it off with the Wi-Fi toggle switch. If only turning off parenting stress or falling asleep after a long day was just as easy.
In conclusion, there is no right or wrong baby monitor to choose. There is only the one that works for you. It really depends on your needs. If you are about to buy a baby monitor for the first time or are looking to replace or upgrade an older one take a moment and think about the features that you need and also ask yourself if you want to use a mobile app? The answers will help you make your decision. No matter what you decide, your monitor will be very helpful in monitoring your child (or children) for years to come. Enjoy!
