I had just been searching the internet for new and interesting baby monitors when I came across a funky new design from the people at BT. BT is a trusted brand and one that I can personally recommend as I own a BT monitor. Now I am going to have to admit to a bit of baby monitor envy as I don’t think my husband is going to let me replace our old monitor to get this one. Currently the BT Pacifier has 38 five star ratings on Amazon as is proving to be very popular, but if you want to know more here’s what BT say about their amazing new monitor.

“BT’s award-winning baby monitor range just got even better

The New Baby Monitor Pacifier comes with a projected lightshow, MP3 connection, HD-sound and a wider range of lullabies – giving you even more peace of mind with your baby. Voted the ‘Best Baby Monitor Brand’ by Prima Baby & Parenting Magazine and also the best-selling digital baby monitor brand since January 2010 (Source: NPD, Aug 2011), BT has recently has refreshed its award-winning baby monitor range with the Baby Monitor 200 and 250. Now, we are pleased to announce the new arrival – the Baby Monitor Pacifier (aka ‘The Pacifier’), which will improve the way mums and dads use their baby monitors.
So what’s so good about the Pacifier?

HD Sound and Parental Talk-back

Like the BT Baby Monitor 200 and 250, the brand new Baby Monitor Pacifier has crystal clear HD sound, and a talk-back feature. The parental talk-back allows you to calm your baby when you’re not in the room, while the Hi-definition Sound (Hi-dS) ensures no more crackling sounds or interference.

Projected Light Show and Lullabies

The Pacifier comes with a “starry night” projected light show combined with a wide-range of lullabies (from Mozart to “twinkle, twinkle”), all of which have been proven to calm and relax babies.

Auxiliary iPod / MP3 Music Input

The Pacifier also has an iPod / MP3 connection so that you can play the baby its favourite song – or just listen to your own music while you’re changing nappies!

Huge Range

It has a huge range of 50m indoors and 300m outdoors, so you can be sure to always be in contact as you move around your home.

Rechargeable Batteries

The parent unit contains rechargeable batteries, giving you the freedom to move around and normally within your home while still keeping contact with your baby.

Nightlight and Torch

Once baby is asleep, you won’t want to wake him or her up. The featured nightlight and torch functions allow you to find your way around baby’s room without having to turn on the main light

Check the Temperature, Set Reminders

The BT Baby Monitor Pacifier comes with a screen on the parent unit that allows you to check the temperature in the room, change the lullabies and set reminders, wherever you are. The Pacifier also includes a temperature-changing nightlight that shows you at a glance how warm or cold baby’s room is.

Alerts and Reminders

The monitor allows you to set a reminder for bed time, feeding or even your favourite TV programme. All of our monitors come with various modes of alerting you to sounds in the baby’s room – full sound monitoring, beeping, flashing lights, or vibrating – ideal for when you’re busy doing other things and need to put the monitor in your pocket.

Travel Bag

The BT Baby Monitor Pacifier comes with a handy travel bag, allowing you to easily bring the monitor with you when you’re out and about visiting relatives.”

Personally I think the design and colours really help this monitor stand out, but it’s the projected light show that really makes the BT Pacifier a cut above monitors in a similar price bracket.

Please click here to learn more about the BT Baby Monitor Pacifier or to purchase from Amazon UK.

Photo copyright BT

Practical Parenting and Pregnancy (PPP) is one of those parenting magazines I buy on a regular basis. Like Mother and Baby they have an annual awards ceremony and award gold, silver and bronze to their favourite, mum tested, baby monitors. PPP divide their awards into baby monitors and digital video monitors taking into account the move towards video monitors in the modern world.

Baby Monitors

Gold – Angelcare AC401

The sales figures for this monitor really do speak for themselves, this is the number one selling movement monitor in the UK and the number two bestselling baby monitor. The AC401 combines the best of the AC420 and the AC300 giving parents the optimum in monitoring.
The monitor’s range is 250 metres, hopefully enough for the average home, and an alarm will sound if it goes out of range. Like all good monitors it has a temperature display on the parent unit so you will be able to keep your baby’s room at a safe temperature. Mains operated the base unit also has batteries so it will continue to work in the event of a power cut. As an added feature the base unit halo also acts as a nightlight, which is both soothing to baby and enables you to see in their room. The simple sensor pad can be used with any normal mattress in a range of thicknesses as the sensitivity can be adjusted accordingly. Designed to pick up the smallest changes the monitor’s alarm will sound if no movement is detected for 20 seconds, giving you peace of mind as your baby sleeps.

Silver – Motorola MBP16

Many of you may have thought that Motorola only made mobile phones but this technology company have branched out to produce several monitors in a range of prices. The MBP16 is digital monitor with a 300 metre range, being digital means that you should have less problems with interference than with an analogue monitor. Motorola highlights the “crystal clear” sound quality of this monitor and the “high sensitivity microphone”. The MBP16 has sound activated lights on the parent unit to let you know when your baby is making noise, even if you’re in a loud room and can’t quite hear, coupled with a temperature display. This monitor can also be used with up to 2 parent units allowing movement between rooms without taking the units with you. Important added extras include five lullabies to help soothe your baby to sleep, which if you’ve ever had a child that won’t sleep will feel like a God send.

Bronze – Tomy TD300

I love the domed design of all the Tomy baby monitors, they stand out from the crowd and look funky in any baby’s nursery. The TD 300 is in the middle of the Tomy range and comes at a reasonable price for most pockets. The base unit acts as a night light so you don’t have to disturb baby by switching on the main light and there is also a good temperature sensor to monitor the ambient temperature in the nursery. PPP describe it as a “feature packed, high tech gadget”.

Video Monitors

Gold – TDV450

The Tomy Digital Video Plus Monitor features a 3.5″ colour video display and infra-red night vision function so you can see baby even when it’s dark. This digital monitor has a 300m range for flexible monitoring and a low battery and out of range alarm for extra reassurance. The two way talkback feature of this baby safety device enables parents to reassure baby from afar. You can use the zoom feature for a close-up view of baby or the snapshot feature to take up to 100 pictures. The parent unit of the Digital Video Plus Monitor can be used as a slide show so parents can watch pictures of their baby. A sound level light display means you can stay alert to your baby’s needs even with the volume off. Like the other Tomy monitors this has the domed design with night light.

Silver – Motorola MBP36

The Motorola MBP36 Digital Video Baby Monitor enables you to monitor and see your baby anywhere in the home. It features a 3.5″ Colour LCD screen, infrared night vision and a high sensitivity microphone. The parent unit comes with a handy belt clip to make monitoring easy when moving around the home and its two-way communication function also means you can soothe your baby using the parent unit. It has a range of up to 200m, but should you stray too far, it has out-of-range warning. The Motorola MBP36 digital baby monitor also features 5 lullabies, room temperature monitor, pan, tilt and zoom function, rechargeable battery and ECO Mode.

Bronze – Summer Infant Baby Touch Digital Video Monitor

The BabyTouch Colour Video Monitor is the Worlds first ever touch screen controlled baby monitor, making it the most innovative video monitor available on the market today. Features such as pan, scan and zoom are easily controlled though the large, intuitive and stunning 9cm colour LCD screen. The stylish magnetic recharging base for the handheld unit and battery pack for the camera make this monitor highly portable. The BabyTouch is the only Baby Monitor on the market to have the ability of 4 PAN AND TILT Cameras running along side it. Features of the BabyTouch: Extra large 9cm (3.5″) Colour Display with black and white night vision – Easy to use touch screen display and menu controls – Pan and Tilt Camera – Digital Zoom from parent unit – Allows scanning of up to 4 different rooms automatically.

Often referred to as the ‘Oscars’ of the nursery industry, the Mother and Baby awards, now in their 19th year have just been announced. Voted for by real mums and dads the awards are a reflection of which baby products are used and loved by parents across the country. So with a short drum roll here are the winners of this year’s baby monitor category:

Gold goes to BT 250

This bright and stylish monitor is just one of several excellent monitors made by BT. The monitors 300 metre range is enhanced by DECT technology giving you crystal clear reception all the time. the BT 250 is packed with a range of features including: a temperature indicator and alert which sounds if baby’s room is too hot, a feed timer and alert on the parent unit, 8 polyphonic lullabies, a talk back function and the base unit glows different colours to let you know the temperature of the room. Reasonably priced and with a travel bag included, this is an excellent baby monitor.

Silver goes to Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature DECT Digital monitor with movement sensor

The only award winner that comes with a movement sensor, the Tommee Tippee monitor comes from one of the most popular nursery brands on the market. The monitor has a 300 metre range and like the BT 250 uses digital technology for a clearer signal as you move around the house with the portable parent unit. The LCD display gives information on room temperature and also contains a night light which is controllable from the parent unit. The sensor pad gives added reassurance to parents, as it is placed under baby’s mattress to detect minute movements at night and can the sensitivity can be adjusted. Available at under £100 this is a good monitor and movement sensor.

Bronze goes to Philips AVENT DECT (SCD505)

Philips AVENT is a trusted baby brand who make a wide range of baby products including several baby monitors. The SCD505 has a 330 metre range giving secure reception around the house. The parent unit is small enough to carry around and has a belt clip to secure to your clothing. Sound level lights indicate when your baby is making a noise even if the volume is switched off. To help you soothe a restless baby; there is a talk back function allowing you to talk to baby from another room and 5 different lullabies can be selected for playing. An added extra to this monitor is that it has a night light giving baby a soothing distraction if they wake.

If you are in the early stages of pregnancy or just haven’t heard the term before a fetal doppler is a machine that allows you, a midwife, or any other medical professional to hear your baby’s heart beat. A baby’s heart generally starts beating at around week 5/6 of your pregnancy and this is the earliest you might be offered an ultrasound scan (please note it is not routine to have a scan until 12 weeks).

In days gone by, and sometimes now if your midwife’s doppler doesn’t work, the only way to hear a baby’s heartbeat was to use something that looked a bit like a small ear trumpet pushed up against the mother’s abdomen. Fetal dopplers were developed in the late 1950s, they use the Doppler effect to produce a simulation of a baby’s heart rate that is audible. Originally developed for use by health care professionals, it is now possible to buy fetal dopplers for home use and they are becoming quite popular.

It can be absolutely wonderful to hear your baby’s heart rate for the first time and some people want to hear the sound over and over again. Buying a fetal doppler gives you the opportunity to do this and, given the length of time between midwife appointments in the first two trimesters of pregnancy, it can also give you peace of mind. Dopplers designed for home use such as the Angel Sounds Baby Fetal Doppler or the Babysounds Fetal Doppler can be used from around the 12th week of pregnancy and, if used correctly, can pick up your baby’s heartbeat. Some sensitive models can even pick up hiccups and kicks.

As with any device designed for the medical profession and then made available to the public, fetal dopplers should be used with caution. It is important that you do not use them in replacement of going to your regular midwife checks and scans. While the monitors do give peace of mind to some, others may find they only increase anxiety as you may hear changes in your baby’s heart rate that you do not understand or you may not be able to pick up a heart rate at all. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there is anything wrong with your baby, it may just be that you are not using the machine properly, you’ve picked up your heart rate instead, or your baby is in the wrong position. Those of us who have had midwife appointments can tell you that even midwives sometimes can’t always find a heartbeat easily.

Fetal dopplers should always be used in the spirit of fun as a way of enhancing the enjoyment of pregnancy for you and your partner. When looking for a fetal doppler bear in mind that some are designed for medical professionals and some for home use. You would be better off buying one for home use if you are not medically trained. Current products on the market include:

AngelSounds Baby Fetal Doppler Heart Monitor, this comes in several colours and allows you to record the sounds on CD so you can listen to your baby’s heart rate again and again, or give the CD to grand parents.

Babysounds Fetal Doppler, a funky pink monitor with headphones and an LCD display.

Summer Infant Clear Sounds Digital Prenatal Heart Monitor, sound indicator lights up to help you find the heartbeat faster.

Graco UK Prenatal Heart Listener, comes with two sets of headphones allowing mum and dad to hear baby at the same time.

We all the want the best for our baby and some of us can spend thousands of pounds on them before they even make an appearance. No one wants to skimp on quality, but given the current economic climate many of us want to spend less when it comes to equipping our little one’s nursery. So here’s 4 baby monitors currently on the market and available for under £40.

1. Fisher Price Sounds and Lights

I defy anyone not to have had a piece of Fisher Price equipment as a child. Fisher Price are a trusted brand who have been making baby products since 1930 so they should know a thing or two about making simple and usable products. The Sounds and Lights monitor is a very basic monitor with a base unit for baby’s room and a parent unit with belt clip making it nice and portable. The monitor has a range of 400 feet (plenty for most houses) and 2 channels to minimise interference. Unlike many monitors it doesn’t have a temperature gauge so you would have to buy one separately, however the base unit does have a soothing night light built in, allowing you to see in baby’s room at night. Learn more…

2. Motorola MBP10

Many of you may have thought that Motorola only made mobile phones but this technology company have branched out to produce several monitors in a range of prices. The MBP10 is digital monitor with a 300 metre range, being digital means that you should have less problems with interference than with an analogue monitor. Motorola highlights the “crystal clear” sound quality of this monitor and the “high sensitivity microphone”. Like the Fisher Price monitor the MBP10 has sound activated lights on the parent unit to let you know when your baby is making noise, even if you’re in a loud room and can’t quite hear. This monitor can also be used with up to 2 parent units allowing movement between rooms without taking the units with you. Learn more…

3. Tomy TA100

Tomy, a classic name in children’s toys are also makers of a series of award winning baby monitors. The TA 100 is at the low end of the Tomy range, it’s funky upside down bowl shape contains a monitor with 300 metre range and a very comforting night light. The sound level display will light up even when the volume is turned down and we like the fact you can change the sound mode to sound activation for when your little one is a bit older and you don’t feel the need to hear every sound they make. A low battery and out of range alarm are also fitted to make sure you are always able to hear your baby if you need to. Learn more…

4. Summer Infant Slim and Clear Digital Audio

If you’re a fan of modern design and funky blue lights, then the Summer Infant Slim and Clear Digital Audio is the monitor for you. Like the other monitors we have looked at this is a basic and functional monitor. The digital technology within the monitor automatically scans to find the clearest channel, hopefully minimising interference and keeping you in contact with your baby. It has a 200 metre range, which, although less than some, is plenty for most of us. It comes with a 10 hour rechargeable battery which can come in very handy and has an out of range/low battery alarm. The nightlight on the base unit is a lovely blue colour which can be quite soothing in a nursery. Learn more…

These are just 4 of the many baby monitors on the market at the moment. They aren’t necessarily very high tech nor do they come with lots of exciting extras, but they have been made to allow you to hear your baby when you aren’t in the same room and they will not cost the earth.

If you haven’t heard of the baby brand Angelcare then you really must check them out. Founded in 1997, Angelcare are unlike many other baby brands in that their main focus is on creating award winning baby monitors. To date they have sold over 2 million baby monitors in the UK and around the world. Angelcare has become a widely trusted brand, regularly found on best buy lists in parenting magazines and topping bestseller lists for baby monitors in stores and on the internet.

AC300 Movement Monitor

This monitor is specifically designed to monitor your baby’s movement and breathing. The simple sensor pad can be used with any normal mattress in a range of thicknesses as the sensitivity can be adjusted accordingly. Designed to pick up the smallest changes the monitor’s alarm will sound if no movement is detected for 20 seconds, giving you peace of mind as your baby sleeps. The monitor also has a ‘tic’ function so you can tell it is working when your baby sleeps. Fully portable, the AC300 can also be taken on weekends away and holidays. (Please note the AC300 is a movement only monitor and will not register sound.) Learn more…

AC401 Movement and Sound Monitor

The sales figures for this monitor really do speak for themselves, this is the number one selling movement monitor in the UK and the number two bestselling baby monitor. The AC401 combines the best of the AC420 and the AC300 giving parents the optimum in monitoring. The parent unit is portable and if you buy the AC401 Movement and Sound Monitor Deluxe you gain a second parent unit enabling multi-room usage. This monitor has won a range of awards from trusted magazines such as Pregnancy and Birth, Mother and Baby, and Practical Parenting and Pregnancy. Learn more…

AC1100 Video, Movement and Sound Monitor

This monitor is currently the top of the Angelcare range. If you want to be able to hear your baby it has continuous or voice activated monitoring with an adjustable volume. Worried about your baby stopping breathing? The AC1100 has a highly sensitive under-the-mattress SensorPad which will sound an alarm if no movement is detected for 20 seconds. Want to be able to see your baby? The AC1100 comes with a full colour video monitor and the parent unit has an LCD full digital touch screen. The camera has full night vision allowing you to see your baby in a dark room. Also award winning, the AC1100 is a good top of the range baby monitor. Learn more…

AC420 Sound Monitor

This is the lowest priced Angelcare monitor and is an excellent uncomplicated baby monitor. It comes with a rechargeable parent unit with the all important belt clip. The monitor’s range is 250 metres, hopefully enough for the average home, and an alarm will sound if it goes out of range. Like all good monitors it has a temperature display on the parent unit so you will be able to keep your baby’s room at a safe temperature. Mains operated the base unit also has batteries so it will continue to work in the event of a power cut. As an added feature the base unit halo also acts as a nightlight, which is both soothing to baby and enables you to see in their room.

1. What is the range of the monitor?

It’s no good buying a dirt cheap monitor with a 10 metre range, if you live in a 4 storey mansion. Okay not everyone has a huge house, but what if you go out in the garden on a summer evening? Always err on the side of caution, too much is better than too little. The Motorola MBP10 is a simple and inexpensive monitor with a 300 metre range.

2. Sound or sound and vision?

10 years ago you could only buy sound monitors and for many people this is still enough. I personally don’t feel the need to watch my child sleeping but I can understand why, especially if a child is very ill, some parents do. There are a range of video monitors on the market now which have a range of features as well as video. These range from the Tomy SRV400 to the Angelcare AC1100. You could even try the Baby Cam Nanny Cam Covert Pinhole Camera which hides the video camera in a cute teddy bear.

3. Is it portable?

First of all no-one really wants a huge baby monitor which takes up a huge amount of space in a baby’s room. More and more of us are happy to take our young children away for the weekend or to stay at grandparents. So it makes sense to have a monitor you can take with you. You also should check whether the parent unit for your monitor is portable or mains charged. Many monitors come with a belt clip so you can move around your home and garden, a good example is the new BT 200 or BT 250 baby monitors which replace the popular BT 150 range.

4. Do you need a movement sensor?

Until I went to antenatal classes for my first baby, a movement sensor had never occurred to me. Suddenly I was surrounded by women desperate to know which was the best and absolutely convinced that something would happen to their baby if they didn’t have one. A movement sensor will detect the way your baby moves when they are breathing, so if they stop breathing an alarm will go off. Sensors give you peace of mind but they are not foolproof and many people report false alarms. All that said they can be a valuable addition to your baby monitor kit. The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Digital Sensor Monitor is a popular monitor of this type and can be bought for under £100.

5. What extras do I want?

Are you happy with the basic sound monitor with a temperature gauge (most monitors have the temperature gauge as standard these days) or do you want a little bit more? We have already mentioned video and sensor pads but you can also get monitors which play soothing lullabies or womb sounds, some come with night lights and others have a two way speaking function so you can talk to your baby. The Summer Infant Baby Touch Digital Video Monitor is one of the all singing monitors with just about everything as is the Tomy TD350; we particularly liked its night light with a choice of colours.

The BT 150 Digital Baby Monitor has becomes a very popular choice in the last 12 months. When you look at the feature list and competitive pricing it is easy to see why it has become the best-selling baby monitor on Amazon UK. We’ve been using the BT 150 Baby Monitor for just under a month now so have written a few of our experiences below.

Review

The first thing we noticed with the BT 150 is how sturdy it is. The plastic is well moulded and the buttons produce a satisfying click when pressed. Once charged (which took just a couple of hours for the initial charge) we were delighted to see the LCD display and coloured lights at the top (a visual volume guide) were incredibly easy to read even from a distance.

The volume and quality of the audio is very satisfactory (on both the parts of the unit). The main unit that is placed close to the baby has a soft night light that can be controlled remotely by the handset. The controls are quick to learn and easy to perform.

In addition to the standard baby monitor features the BT 150 also plays lullabies. Again, these can be started and stopped from another room in the house using the handset. The volume can also be controlled. One of our favourite features was the ability to record your own lullaby or just the sound of your voice that you can then trigger to play to help soothe your baby. An excellent feature!

The handset also has a torch which is a little gimmicky but could provide useful if you don’t want to turn all the lights on to check up on your little one.

All in all we were delighted with our purchase and would highly recommend the BT 150 monitor.

We purchased ours from Amazon UK: BT 150 Digital Baby Monitor

Product Features

• BT 150 Monitor has digital DECT technology with Hi-Def sound
• Mains or battery powered, with two AA rechargeable batteries supplied for portable parent unit
• Parent talk-back and voice recording on baby unit, plus mute and vibrating alert on parent unit
• Nightlight with adjustable brightness, multiple polyphonic lullabies, room temperature monitor
• Suitable from birth upwards, range up to 300 metres outdoors and 50 metres indoors

Technical Details

Features 2 x interchangeable power adapters

Sound level indicator LED array
Auxiliary input for external audio sources
Torch on parent unit
Backlit black and white dot matrix LCD screen
Timer/alerts on parent unit
Illuminated key zone on baby unit
Fully adjustable volume and sensitivity
Travel bag
Belt clip
Out-of-range warning
Battery low indicator
Rubber key zones on both units

All baby monitors these days seem to come with a range of basic and added features. It’s totally up to you what extra features you want your monitor to have but here is a list of things to consider/look out for:

Basic Features

Analogue or digital – analogue monitors are generally cheaper but digital monitors have a greater range.

Audio or video – do you just want to hear your baby or is it important to see what they are doing?

Operating range over 100m – depending on how big your house is the range is going to be important. It is no good buying a monitor that cuts out because you are too far from your child.

Battery or mains operated – it’s a bit harder to move mains operated monitors but you won’t have to worry about the batteries running out at the wrong moment. However, a battery operated monitor can be taken just about any where.

Additional Features

2-way talk – allowing your child to hear your voice through the unit in the nursery.

Room temperature display – it’s very important for young children to be sleeping in a room which is the right temperature so this saves you buying a separate room thermometer.

Baby night light – although very young babies should sleep in as dark a room as possible, toddlers often find some source of light in a room soothing and comforting.

Sound level indicator – all children make noises in their sleep but the louder the noise the more
likely they are to be either awake or distressed.

Lullabies – some monitors will come programmed with a range of lullabies which can be remotely switched turned on. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of soothing music to help a child sleep.

Breathing/Movement sensor – these give added peace of mind as an alarm will go off if your child stops breathing or moving.

This is a specialised pre-natal monitor which allows you to hear the heartbeat of your unborn baby from around 12 weeks. Most fetal heart rate monitors look similar to the ones used by midwives at your regular check ups. They are not an essential piece of maternity/nursery equipment but some parents feel that by allowing you to listen to your baby in between midwife check ups (which can seem very far apart in early pregnancy) you have added peace of mind. These monitors should always be used with caution and as per instructions, remember just because you cannot hear your baby’s heart beat does not necessarily mean that anything is wrong.

Popular fetal heart rate monitors include the Angelsounds Fetal Heart Detector.

Prices start from around £30.