Babysense Monitor Review | Baby Essentials

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I’m so thankful to be parenting in an era where we have access to so much research, information and technology. Babies by nature don’t need lots of things. But many of the “extras” sure are nice to have. Like baby monitors. We actually talked about only buying an audio monitor for Liam. But then we caved and I bought one with video. And I’ll never go back. These things are amazing. The one we had with Liam is a few years old and has needed some replacement parts, so we were on the look out for something new. I recently teamed up with Babysense to try out not only their video monitor but also their infant movement monitor. And there are so many things to like about them! If you’re in the market for a new baby monitor, definitely keep reading:

Babysense Video Baby Monitor

My absolute favorite thing about the Babysense video baby monitor is how small and compact it is. Our previous monitor was quite a bit bulkier by comparison. We travel often and take our baby monitor with us whenever we travel overnight. It was always difficult to find the space for the last monitor. But the Babysense monitor is so much smaller, making it easier to pack. The original box it comes in is fairly compact as well. We’ve traveled twice now with the Babysense monitor. It was simple enough to repack it in its original box and then toss it into the suitcase.

But aside from its size, there are a ton of features on this thing:

It has a 2.4-inch high definition color LCD screen. So the screen’s not as big as some others, but it’s definitely large enough to view what you need to. I could go either way on a color screen, but I do like that it’s high definition. I feel like the picture is much clearer when you use the 2x zoom feature compared to other video monitors. You can have the screen on all the time if you want. But you can also opt to turn it off manually without shutting off the entire unit. Or you can select the ECO sound activated mode, which turns off the parent unit until the camera detects sounds in the room. And it saves battery life too.

The secure and private connection makes it both hack and interference free. The camera has a long range up to 900 feet. We have a two-story house with a finished basement. So far, we haven’t had any issues with the connection anywhere in the house. Another favorite feature of ours is the two-way talk-back ability. We use this all the time. I find it especially helpful when I’m doing something with Caleb and need something from Jamie. If I know he’s near the monitor, I’ll say something and then he can talk back to me through the camera. I also love the auto infrared night vision feature. As soon as the room is a certain darkness level, the camera automatically switches to this. And I was surprised at how clear the night vision is.

At first, I was a little disappointed that this camera didn’t have a digital pan/tilt feature. Then I read the manual. Turns out, it does! See? It really does pay to read all the paperwork.

Other features include:

• The ability to add additional cameras
• Adjustable brightness and volume
• Room temperature monitoring
• Sound activated LED indicator (so you can see that your baby’s making noise, even if you have the volume turned down)
• Pre-programmed lullabies you can play through the camera
• Alarm/Timer setting
• Low battery and out-of-range warnings
• Built-in support stand

Caleb is only 2.5 months old, so obviously we haven’t been using the camera for that long. But we really like it so far and have used it quite a bit.

Babysense 5s Infant Movement Monitor

A movement monitor was something else we thought we didn’t really need. We never purchased one with Liam. He slept in our room with us for months and we never felt like it was something we needed to invest in. But like I keep saying, every baby is so different.

I haven’t shared this on social media or the blog at all yet, but when Caleb was just a few weeks old, we ended up taking him into the emergency room. Jamie and I had spent several days talking about how concerned we thought we should be over some breathing episodes he had. A couple times a day he’d have loud, fast and labored-sounding breathing. He never stopped breathing or turned blue – he wasn’t even upset – but it just sounded bad. And then one day he had an episode when his clothes were off and we noticed some pretty extreme chest retractions. So Jamie took him into the ER to get checked out. Long story short, he’s okay. It was probably from still having some fluid in his lungs (his labor and delivery was really short) and most of his breathing issues have subsided, thank goodness.

But breathing issues are scary. I mean, it’s stressful enough having a newborn in general – checking to see if you can see them breathing when you feel like you haven’t heard them stir in a while. Even more nerve wracking when your baby has some known breathing issues.

That’s why I’m really loving our Babysense 5s Infant Movement Monitor. It’s constantly monitoring Caleb’s micro-movements as he sleeps so I don’t have to stand next to the crib the entire time he’s napping. Because its sensing micro-movements, it doesn’t matter if your baby is really wiggly or not.

The infant movement monitor comes with two sensor pads. If you have a young baby, you only need to use one of the pads. You place it underneath the mattress where you’ll eventually put your baby to sleep. If you have an older baby that is crawling, you can use both sensor pads under the mattress.

The sensor pads then connect to the control unit using a hook that slides between the crib and the mattress. This way, you can easily hide any excess cord and there’s nothing for baby to pull on.

If your baby is moving and breathing just fine, you’ll see a little blue light flash periodically on the control unit. But if the sensor pads don’t pick up any movement for 20 seconds, or if it detects a slowed number of movements per minute, the system flashes a red light and sounds and alarm. The alarm is pretty loud on its own, but especially audible if you’re using it with a video or audio monitor as well.

The system also doesn’t reset itself. So once the alarm goes off, it has to be physically stopped by someone turning the monitor off. Even if the baby starts moving again. I really like this feature, because sleep apnea is one of the concerns we had when Caleb was having his breathing episodes. If something like that was really happening, I’d like to know that there’s a possible issue we should address with his pediatrician.

As parents, we can’t possibly keep our eyes on our babies 24/7. We try. But it’s just not reasonable. Because at some point, we need to be able to sleep and take care of ourselves too. And if we have other littles in the house, well, they need looked after too. So that’s why companies like Babysense are there to help us fill in the gap. To be our eyes and ears when we can’t be there.

And because the whole thing is battery-operated, you can have your crib anywhere in the nursery you want. Or even travel with the monitor.

The company also has a Petite Clip Baby Movement monitor that looks like a great product too. Especially for parents who want an extra level of monitoring for their baby.

Both the Babysense video and infant movement monitors can be purchased online through Amazon. The company’s website has a ton of great information about each product, including answers to frequently asked customer questions. They’re also on Instagram and Facebook.

Disclosure: I received these products as part of a partnership with Babysense, LLC. All words and opinions are completely my own.