Baby monitors for two children?

[carebear]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to pick some brains about baby monitors as I'm finding the internet a bit of a minefield and I'm not really sure if what I want (or what I think I want) exists.

We are expecting our second child shortly and number 1 will be just under 2. I'm not ready to let go of baby number 1's baby monitor because although he usually sleeps through, we don't always hear him from downstairs if he does wake (when ill or something)and he still has the bars on his cot etc. so wouldn't be able to alert us if he had been sick or was upset. We have had a fairly straightforward BT monitor since he was born which we've always been happy with (temperature, ability to mute, not many other functions) but recently the screen has broken which is more annoying than it first sounds so we're looking to replace this one regardless of what overall decision we make. Could happily make do with a cheap replacement though since I don't think he'll be using it for that much longer. However, I'm also toying with the idea of whether a video monitor could be useful for him to allow him to play in his room on his own sometimes without me having to run upstairs every time there is a suspicious noise (or a suspicious silence which usually means more naughtiness!) as he gets older.

For baby number 2, we are also considering a video monitor for other reasons. Specifically, with the experience of number 1, I think I would feel a lot happier sleep training if I could check on the baby with the use of a video monitor. I dismissed the idea with baby #1 because I thought it would make me neurotic and that I would keep checking unnecessarily but I actually think it would avoid unnecessary trips into his room which we really could have done without when trying to get first baby to sleep (e.g. certain crying, not sure if it's because he's hurt himself or ended up in a funny position or because he is crying because he wants us - nb we never did full on controlled crying but more gradual retreat kind of stuff and leaving to resettle for short periods in the middle of the night before going in).

Probably more detailed than anyone needed but basically I would really appreciate any info or thoughts on any of this. What I think would be useful would be a 'double' video monitor. I think Motorola do one of these but I can't work out how it works in practice - do you have to decide which child you want to check on? In which case, how does it work at night when you want to be alerted if either child wakes up? Or is it easier to just have two monitors? Any good/bad experiences with video monitors (and/or recommendations for brands)? Basically any thoughts on any of this would be great because I'm completely lost!

Many thanks...x

[Bluedark]

Hi there. We had a Summer video monitor for no 1 and bought an additional camera when the 2nd one arrived. So we use one parent monitor for 2 cameras in two different rooms, you can add 4 cameras to it. We are very happy with Summer. As you say we use the camera during daytime to check on the eldest. We can also talk to her through the monitor. In terms of which camera you choose to monitor - it has a scan function. So it scans each camera every 10-20 seconds, so you can actually keep an eye on both rooms. If you want to just watch one room, you choose to view that room. We recommend it, although we did not do a huge amount of comparison when we first bought it three years ago.

[carebear]

Thank you very much bluedark - that sounds like just the sort of thing I'm after. Googling now...

[goldilocks]

we have the motorola - it does the same scan feature which is really useful. Go for a video monitor - they come into their own once you move them into a bed!!!

[Convex]

We use a camera which you can log onto over the internet.

I'd probably rather have a bespoke child monitor, but we already had it so used it for this.

I love having the option of video and would der recommend it.

[carebear]

Thank you very much everyone, especially for explaining how it works to listen to both, that was really confusing me! Will look into Motorola again now I know it can be done.

[tarafitness]

We have the Motorola MBP36 and are very happy with it. You can remotely move the camera, the night vision mode is fabulous and you can pair additional cameras to the parent console.