Baby Monitor - do you still use one?

CAMSMOM1 wrote: Ok, I was freaking cause I left our baby monitor at our friends house. So I haven't had it for 2 nights! I'm such a deep sleeper. The only way I can hear him cry is with our monitor. His friend just dropped it off, and I feel a lot better having it.

My sister still uses hers, and her son is 4 years old! I was wondering if you still use a baby monitor, or what age did you stop using it? I'm always afraid I'm not going to hear him if he gets sick in the middle of the night. Maybe it's a security blanket for me, but I don't see myself giving it up anytime soon!

C&K*s Mommie replied: we stopped using it at 7/8 mos with Christian, and with Kellie we never used one at all. I found that I reacted to every little movment of the dots on the monitor, and because I am such a light sleeper anyhow~ it was almost useless. I also could not keep my eyes off of it, when Christian was a baby. It was really more stress as a new mom, then I would care to go through again. But that was just me.

Celestrina replied: We still use one so we can tell when Ben wakes up from his nap The receiver is kept downstairs, not in our bedroom. We have to close the door or he will not fall asleep. When he wakes up he will babble or sing to himself softly so we would not know he was awake otherwise.

Maddy'sMom replied: It just depends on the layout of your house, if you can hear your little one or not...our house is two floors, and her room is all the way at the end of the hall, and you can't hear a single thing down here. We use it for naps and at nightime we still use one in our room, because it is a good distance from hers, and we have both doors closed.

At 16 mos, she still does wake up, and needs something, so we will use it awhile longer I'm sure, prob until she's in her own bed.

TeagansMom609 replied: I stopped using mine a long, long time ago. So long ago, I cant even remember the last time I used it or where I stored it away. LOL. I have to dig it out though for this new baby! Thanks for reminding me!

I would have used one longer if we had a large house where I couldnt hear much because of the layout.

fashionmumofboys replied: I used my Monitor for only a couple of months for both of the boys.

My DH is a light sleeper so I really didn't need one for the nighttime.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: I only use mine if I am out of the house. Our house is pretty spead out (3 stories w/ the basement) nut i can still hear them if i am inside.

MamaJAM replied: We stopped using one a while ago with the boys....BUT - their bedroom is on the other side of the heating vent from our bedroom so we hear easily through there.

In the past - we've used monitors much longer. With our oldest DD - she had the monitor in her room until she turned 4.5 (we only took it out of her room because DD#2 moved into her own bedroom at that point and we wanted it with the 6 month old). We kept them in the bedrooms longer when we were on a separate floor of the house than the kids at night.
We still keep a monitor around the house now....when someone is sick it's great to have one in case they need us at night.

My3LilMonkeys replied: We still use it because the girl's room is all the way at one end of the house and we are all the way at the other. Plus DH is a heavy sleeper so after I go to work it gets turned to near-max volume so he can hear them when they wake up.

Like Nicole, I am a light sleeper - every little movement of the dots has me up and listening. And in our house the heater, washer & dryer are all close enough that if they are on the dots go off - not to mention the cats running around all night! So I put duct tape over them and only go by the sounds now.

1moremakes4 replied: We used one until my daughter was just over 1 1/2. Then we moved to an apartment and our rooms were right next to each other and we could hear her through the wall so we didn't set it up. With our new baby, her crib is set up in our room for now.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: I still have Logan's in my room, but I am considering taking it out. He rarely fusses in the middle of the night now and I have a second receiver downstairs so I can hear during nap time. Funny how much we worry, and most of our parents didn't even have anything like a baby monitor.

Freckled Momma replied: I rarely used the baby monitor...Now, if we had been able to afford the video type...I would probably still be using it

MichaelsMommy replied: We stopped using ours a while ago.. Michael is pretty loud now
and I can usually hear him right awa - if not me then DH does
for sure. Lately though (and I don't know if I'm over tired or what)
I am not hearing him. Dh wakes me or says something like Mikes
up - and I never heard a sound. I don't like that really.. I was
thinking to set the monitor up again until I get back on track
The thing about the monitor that bugs me is I can hear every
little move he makes and that tends to keep me on edge
and have a hard time getting to sleep.