Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Choosing a Infant Monitor

By Margery Haman

A infant monitor is an essential purchase for expectant parents, as it will impart you the serenity of being able to check on your sleeping infant wherever you are in your home. Regrettably, these monitors are the kind of device which you are unlikely to have any experience of until the time comes when you need one, and it can be difficult to know which type to buy.

There are 3 classic kinds of monitor: audio, video, and movement or breathing.

The audio monitor is the most popular kind, and at its most basic consists of a transmitter that you place in your baby's nursery, and a pass catcher that lets you 'listen in', alerting you if your infant begins to scream or otherwise shows signs of waking. The very cheapest models will have a fixed receiver that needs to be plugged into a wall socket for power, but most designs today have a rechargable mobile receiver which you can carry from room to room, or even outside so long as you stay in range.

The range of your monitor system will depend on a number of constituents, including the construction of your house - thicker walls will reduce the range - and any sources of disturbance such as neighbouring monitor systems, computer wireless nets, and even microwave ovens with special models.

Disturbance is less of a problem nowdays, as most models will now let you select from a range of channels to operate on, so if you do encounter disturbance problems, you can switch to a new channel to hopefully clear things up. Several units simply possess two or four transmits which you have to manually choose, while the more modern models now have hundreds of transmits which will be selected automatically to minimise interference in the current circumstances.

The more modern monitors, like so much else these days, use digital technology. What this means in practice is a broader signal, and an increased range of operation.

Those are the basic principles of audio monitors, but there are other features available depending on the model. A modern one is an intercom or talkback system where you can talk to your baby with the help of the monitor, assisting you to soothe her back to sleep without the disruption of going into the baby's room. Other models may have nightlights or cradlesongs which you can set to play either automatically or by hand, again without entering the room, while another common feature is temperature alerts where you can see how warm the nursery is, and be alerted if it falls outside a stable range.

The last point to keep in mind when taking a monitor system is price. The range is ample, from only a few dollars up to a few hundred. For something as essential as a monitor though, it's worth getting the best model you can afford, as after all, if the system does not perform well and you can't trust it, then it is efficaciously a waste of time.

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