Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Video Baby Monitor

When we were expecting C and I was obsessively perusing baby gear, I wanted to get the best stuff. But not overdo it.

Because we never go overboard at our house.

So when it came time to choose a baby monitor, we picked one that was reasonable but nice. No frills, just noise. And lights.

Oh, the little red lights that bounce up and down with his fussing and sometimes screaming. And the inability of the lights to pick up those subtle little coos that indicate that C was awake but happy.

Another disappointment I had with the red light/sound only monitor was that you couldn't turn the sound all the way down and just use the lights. Because sometimes a kid has to cry a little bit. And you want to know about it, but not lose your mind. And still be able to watch TV; because if you don't keep watching TV, you'll lose your mind and end up rocking your kid until he leaves for college.

We finally found our solution. And I love it. It's amazing. It's awesome. It's the MobiCam AV.

I did my homework when we decided to invest in a video monitor. And there are lots of them to choose from. Most of them were more expensive, had fewer features and were less portable than the MobiCam AV.

The MobiCam AV is the newest technology out there. It actually hit the shelves just before I purchased it, and I even corresponded with the Mobi company before buying it because there was so little information out on the system since it was so new.

So I shopped around, found the lowest price (it varies widely), and ordered it. When I got it, I immediately fell in love.

Some features I really like are:

• The monitor handset is also a battery charger. So load that baby with rechargeable batteries and just plug it in to refresh your batteries.
• The camera can be hung on the wall or stand on a level surface.
• Night vision. That works. Need I say more?
• If you purchase a second camera (sold separately), you can set your monitor handset to constantly scan between the two cameras or manually switch back and forth.
• The camera has a "power save" mode and will go to "sleep" until it picks up noise or movement, then resume broadcasting. Or you can choose to broadcast constantly like I do, because I don't trust my sneaky little boy with anything in sleep mode.
• You can plug the monitor handset into your TV and just switch over to the input channel to see your little one.
• You can also plug it into your video camera and record what you're seeing on the handset. I've always wanted to show Husband what C does sometimes when he's supposed to be napping, and now I can!
• And perhaps the best thing is that you can do video only. The sound actually turns all the way down for those times the boy just needs to get over himself. But you can still see what he's doing! How many times have you wanted to know what they're doing in there?

One of the things I was attracted to is the separate Internet Kit you can buy. With the Internet Kit, you can watch your little darling from anywhere you have Internet access. We haven't purchased it yet, but are considering it.

I also love that I can let C play in his room on his own and I can keep an eye on him without constantly having to poke my head in the room. It helps him learn solitary play and independence and I can make sure he's not doing anything crazy.

Oh, and we have a wireless network at our house and we have no noticeable interference, as reported with some other video monitors. And it doesn't interfere with the sound only monitor.

We still use our sound/lights only monitors. With only one video handset, I don't want to carry it all over the house all the time. So I have the sound monitors strategically placed so I can at least hear C in each room of the house. And when I need to see him, I can just go to the video handset.

Did I mention that I love this thing?

The only downside I have found is that the monitor handset, if left on at night, seems really bright in a dark room. You can adjust the brightness if you need to, but I usually just face it away from me on my nightstand. If he wakes up I can easily flip it around and see what's going on.

This is not a paid endorsement. But if Mobi wants to contribute to my household in the form of an extra camera, I wouldn't say no.

The Video Baby Monitor, specifically the MobiCam AV works for me. I wish we'd had it from the beginning.

Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for more Works-For-Me-Wednesday.