Simenc says, "I am not going to give a recommendation on a particular brand or baby monitor, because all monitors can be useful. However, they should not be relied upon exclusively to monitor your child. It should be a supplement to enable you a heads-up of your child stirring." He continues by emphasizing that monitors should not replace "the actual supervision of your child".
Baby monitors can pick up sounds and transmit them to a receiver that will alert you when a sleeping child wakes up from a nap or during the night. This can be a benefit because it allows you to silently keep tabs on a little one without disturbing him or her. Some children have difficulty falling asleep if a parent or caregiver keeps popping in the room to check on them and interrupting the falling asleep process. Some children like to softly coo or sing themselves to sleep and a monitor will let the responsible adult know once sleep has been achieved. These sound monitors may alert a sleeping person that a child has awakened during the night by letting them hear a cough, cry, or restlessness of the child. Sometimes the child merely needs to roll over and will nod right back off to sleep but other times he or she may need something from an adult. By using the monitor to listen to the child, the adult can assess the situation before dashing into the room and taking a chance of waking the child up unnecessarily or prematurely.
Monitors with sound and video images are also available in today's marketplace and can give a parent or caregiver a bird's eye view of a child's activities. It is best that children be well supervised at all times, but there are times when you can't see their every move for various reasons. If someone is in the kitchen cooking he or she will most likely not want a small child playing on the floor beside a hot oven or stove. This may be a time that a monitor could be used while a child is playing in the next room and not readily visible to the adult who is cooking. Video monitors may also be useful to record what happens when a babysitter is left in charge so the parent can review the care his or her child has received during the parental absence.
Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are other forms of monitoring your child's safety. They should always be well maintained and placed out of the reach of children. Make sure you change the batteries in these devices as needed and that you check regularly to see that the devices are functioning properly.
