On the
run up to Leo’s arrival I made a list of everything that I was going to need in
those first few months and the next few years of his life. I was looking at
everything from cots, pushchairs to baby bottles and baby monitors. With so
much choice on the market I am glad that I gave myself the time to research and
find exactly what I was looking for.
When you
start looking for something in particular like a baby monitor, you will see
that there is so much choice depending on what your budget will allow. But how
do you narrow down your choice? Which one is better the better option and which
one is the right one?
I have
been sent the Tommee Tippee Movement and Sound Monitor to try out with Leo, and
although he is now 22 months old we do still in my eyes need a monitor. We
still have wakes in the night now and then and I find it re-assuring to know that he is safely tucked up in bed,
dreaming sweet dreams.
The
Tommee Tippee Movement and Sound Monitor does exactly what it says on the tin,
it provides crystal clear sound of your child when they decide to awaken your
slumber with the wails and screams for ‘Mumma’ and ‘Dada’. Or even the happy
giggles when they wake up in that absolutely glowing mood, and it even comes
with a movement pad that you can place under your babies cot.
The
movement pad is installed under the cot mattress and is designed to detect your
baby’s movements within the cot. If there is no movement for 20 seconds an
alarm is sounded to alert you to a potential problem, meaning you can get in
there pronto.
I have
found the sound clarity absolutely brilliant with this monitor, I can put Leo
to bed and come back downstairs to hear him chatting away to himself before he
succumbs to his sleep. You can alter the sensitivity depending on what you want
to hear, if you don’t want to hear absolutely everything in the room you can
simply turn down how sensitive the monitor is to sound, or if you are like me
and want to hear everything that is going on you can put it on the maximum
setting.
I have
had absolutely no problems with reception, and throughout the whole house I
have full signal thanks to the 300mm range.
When Leo wakes up from his nap it is lovely to be able to re-assure him before I get up the stairs to him. making use of the two way talk back. My old monitor didn't have this feature and it has done wonders in keeping Leo calm. We have had our up's and down's with Leo's sleep and just being able to settle him without having to physically go into his room has been super.
Admittedly
we have had a few false alarms with the movement pad, it has gone off in the middle
of the night and woken us all up, Leo included as the alarm sounds in the
baby’s room as well as on the parent listening device.
I can't quite fathom why it has gone off sometimes, granted Leo does move around the cot a lot and for the most part has been completely off the mat before it has sounded. On a couple of occasions though he has been right on the mat and it has gone off for seemingly no reason. I do need to have a proper look at the settings to see what is going wrong here.
That said though, I
would much rather have a false alarm than the alternative, and it is safe to
say that when the alarm does go off, it WILL wake you up and get you in there.
Each time it has gone off I have been up and out of bed before I have even
opened my eyes.
Another
time you will hear the alarm is if you neglect to turn the monitor off before
you pick baby up out of the cot, you do soon learn to switch it off before you
take him out, after you have been caught jumping out of your skin once or twice when you have
forgotten to do so.
We have actually taken the mat off Leo's cot now he is 22 months old, but I think it is a great idea and something that definetly provided me with the reassurance I needed in those early months. If and when I do have another baby I will certainly be re-using this.
The nursery unit has a night light which omits a calming glow into the room, it doesn't shed much light but is enough for you too see the monitor and not disturb the sleeping child. The nursery unit gauges the temperature in the room and displays it on the parenting device unit. I have found this feature really helpful in keeping Leo the right temperature. I always worry whether he is too hot or too cold, so it is nice to be able to glance at the unit and know for sure.
I have found this bit of kit really easy to work and fit into our lifestyle, besides the false alarms we experienced I think the monitor is great. Crystal clear sound with 120 channels to choose from just in case you do run into some interference.
The Tommee Tippee Movement and Sound Monitor retails at £99.99 at the point of writing this review and you can purchase it from many online stores such as Boots and Mothercare.
You can find a full list of stockists here.
You can find a full list of stockists here.
Disclaimer: I was sent the Tommee Tippee Movement and Sound Monitor for the purpose of this review, however all views and opinions expressed are completely honest and my own.