Brad Powell: You are breastfeeding in the bedroom, how do you make sure that the 3 year old is playing safely in his room? Baby Monitor.
Clay Nichols: You can breastfeed? I thought that was deadly going.
Brad Powell: I am daddy Brad.
Clay Nichols: And I am daddy Clay and this is the DadLab.
Brad Powell: The first question that comes to mind when you are talking about baby monitors, do you need one?
Clay Nichols: It's true that really when you are talking about infants and baby monitors, you are really mostly talking about peace of mind for mom and dad which is not insignificant, but there are some people for whom a baby monitor is an absolute must. It is, we have got a really big honk in mansion, it's huge between the nursery and your bedroom, you definitely want a monitor. If you have got twins or a preemie, a premature baby, you definitely want to invest in a really good monitor. You might even consider what are these units. It has got a movement sensor pad in it. This is a baby sounds Angelcare Deluxe unit. This is a good one, if you have got preemies.
Brad Powell: It's interesting that you mentioned multiple kids.
Clay Nichols: Yes.
Brad Powell: Also, as they get older you can use them. Think about this, Toddler Monitor.
Clay Nichols: Yeah, very good toddlers. You are in one room, toddler is in the other, bake with the baby? Yeah, definitely.
Brad Powell: Keep it in mind. Teen Monitor, Grandpa Monitor. Yeah! big brother.
Clay Nichols: Wait, but that's patriarch parenting. Well, the technology of baby monitors has really changed our mental block with our oldest, when we stretched that first teen with the end of the string into the nursery and that was a problem, but things have changed. There is a lots of choices out there now.
Brad Powell: Yeah, so many, it scares me a little bit.
Clay Nichols: Yeah, that's because they have got a plug and anything that has got a plug is pretty scarier.
Brad Powell: Yeah.
Clay Nichols: Tech boy! Well, one of the first choice you have got to make, audio or video. Now they get a lot of these along by this unit, this is actually a video baby monitor. If you want to just have a visual, you really want to make sure that the baby is sleeping safely on her back. Maybe you are talking on phone, you are trying to listen to something else, and you want to be able to just a quick audio or get a quick visual. Dad's like the visual.
You take this monitor unit, you can put it on the wall, adjust the angle; or you can put it down on a table top and focus it on the baby. This is a pretty cool little gizmo.
Brad Powell: Obviously, there is a big jump in price between video and audio.
Clay Nichols: Definitely. You are going to step to may be a couple of hunch for a video unit like this. If you go with just a basic audio unit, this is a sounds and lights unit from Fisher-Price, this is only about 30 bucks. So you are making a big decision to step up in price to go video.
Brad Powell: Yeah, hearing is fine for me but range, range is very important because I won't be able to go to the mall in the baby's nappy.
Clay Nichols: Yeah, you are not going to be doing that. You are not doing that, you are not going out to rag a bag and snagging a big 40. You are not doing anything, you are staying at the house, but you do need a know, when you are thinking about range, like how far is it from the nursery to the main gate?
Brad Powell: Step if off.
Clay Nichols: You might want to step it off. Yeah, walk that distance off because you will pay a premium to get an extended range monitor and usually the range is going to go from may be 600 feet up to as far as 2000 feet.
Brad Powell: 3 feet per step. You are going to want to do that?
Clay Nichols: Yes. I am definitely going to want to measure that off but you are going to pay for it. So make sure you need to have that range.
Brad Powell: Yes, that is there. I heard that you can use these baby monitors to listen in to your neighbor's phone conversations, sweet feature
Clay Nichols: That's not a feature, that's actually a problem, Daddy Brad see. Now Danny Troy is going to go into this, he is the gear guy. But basically, baby monitors, Wi-Fi devices, cordless phones, even RC toys are all using similar radio frequencies. So you really do have the potential there to pick up some ongoing signals that don't have security features.
Brad Powell: It's true whatever you put in there, that will be on monitor. Other people possibly can listen it in on their cordless phones, or police scanners, or maybe with another monitor.
Clay Nichols: It's true. Now some models or manufactures address this issue. Like this unit like here, it's a private connection monitor from Fisher-Price. Basically, they pair the base with the receivers, and that means you have got a secure connection there, no body is going to be listening in. That takes care of your security issue but you are always going to have a problem with interference; which is also a huge thing with monitors because basically, anything in your house that's an electronic device can potentially interfere with the monitor. Whether it's a microwave oven, electronic devices, wireless routers, it could be --
Brad Powell: Hobos, Xylophones.
Clay Nichols: How in a hell is a xylophone have to do with a wireless router?
Brad Powell: Sound. Baby monitors, you might as well play in the xylophone or the hobo. Here is a little tip these monitors have multiple channels, you can, kind of, go back and forth
Clay Nichols: This one is A, B.
Brad Powell: Well, that's all for us this week in the lab. If you have got thought about buying a monitor's special features that you really like, go to dadlabs.com join the community and let us know about them.
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