When you first get pregnant, there are so many things on your list of “must-haves” and “nice to haves.” Among that list is often a baby monitor. But, would it surprise you if I said sometimes you need to just turn that thing off? No, I’m not a negligent parent. Read on as we explore how baby monitors can impact your baby’s sleep.
If you planned to be a co-sleeping family, you are probably less likely to have felt you needed a baby monitor. But, for those of us who planned NOT to co-sleep (even if we did because having a baby rarely goes as you planned), a baby monitor is probably one of the first things you think you need, beyond the diapers, onesies, and burp cloths. How will you hear the baby if he wakes up, if you don’t have a baby monitor?
Let me start by saying all families have different styles of parenting and everyone has a different size and shaped house. If you have a 500 square foot apartment, that is obviously going to be WAY different than a family with a 3,000 square foot home with 3 floors. If you have a small apartment, you most likely do NOT need a baby monitor. I don’t know the “right” size home that you “need” a baby monitor, but let’s discuss when they may or may not be useful when it comes to your baby’s sleep, in general.
Baby Monitors to Help Baby Fall Asleep
When it comes to your baby falling asleep, one of the first things you’ll worry about is how to put your baby to sleep. As your baby grows and goes through his 4 month sleep regression or the 8 month sleep regression, he may begin to sleep worse than ever before. You may think about sleep training and this is where the baby monitor can come in handy, depending on the method you choose to help him learn to fall asleep unassisted.
When our eldest (who inspired this site) was a baby, we had a basic baby monitor. We did not have a video monitor. (More on that later!) If your baby is put down to bed awake and is making noises, a monitor can help you…well…monitor! Is that his hungry cry? Is he distressed? Perhaps he is playing in his crib? Or is that his falling asleep moan? Is his leg stuck between the crib slats? This is all easier to do with a monitor than your ear to the door. A monitor is also easier than poking your head in without him seeing you or army crawling across the floor to do reconnaissance.
Once our son became a toddler, we graduated to a video baby monitor. Although we toddler proofed his room, we wanted to keep an eye out. We thought it best to be able to watch him, especially when he stopped napping and moved to a one-hour “rest time” every day. Thankfully, nothing bad ever happened. He was super cute to watch, though!
When we had our second baby, we moved the video baby monitor to the baby’s room. Honestly, I didn’t know how we got by without one of those the first time! 😀 Being able to see what was going on was much less stressful. However, baby monitors aren’t always great.
Baby Monitors and Helping Baby Stay Asleep
Some people feel that baby monitors can be a form of Helicopter Parenting, which may lead to your unhappiness as a parent. “Helicopter Parenting” is where you are overly involved such that you don’t teach your child how to be self-reliant. Others feel that baby monitors abuse a new parent’s vulnerabilities for a profit and are unnecessary.
When it comes to sleep training, the moment where baby monitors hinder your progress is that you can hear every sniffle, moan, and fuss. Having a fuss or cry magnified in a monitor may make your heartbeat twice as fast. It might make you think that someone is either kidnapping your child or he is facing harm. No doubt that if your baby does have a medical condition, it may be imperative to more closely monitor his movements and breathing. But, for the average healthy baby, we don’t need to hear every little noise the baby makes. In fact, that may make you get in your own way of having your baby sleep through the night. Fussing and crying a little between sleep cycles is very normal and expected. Go in too quickly and you may even wake your baby up!
One day when I could not tend to my younger son right away, I learned that a delayed response is sometimes beneficial. I was making my eldest son’s lunch and had to finish up, so he could eat (can you say cranky when hungry?). No more than 4 minutes later, I was walking up the stairs. I kid you not, my hand was on the doorknob, and my son was back to sleep! I am not suggesting all babies will be that “easy” (he was by far not a perfect sleeper, by the way), but having a monitor where you hear everything is not always the best tool in your toolbox when it comes to sleep training if it leads to checking on your child more than might be necessary.
The second case in point is when my eldest was a baby, he was a loud sleeper. Every time he rolled over or made a little noise or coughed, I could hear him. This was unnecessary and woke me up literally for no reason. Because of where our bedrooms are, I could hear him very well without the monitor, if he started crying (I birth screamers, by the way). So I turned off the monitor at night when I slept.
Baby Monitors Can Be Useful
Having said all of that, a baby monitor can be extremely helpful, in some situations. If your baby wakes up, it’s easy to look in the monitor to see what’s going on. Is she fussing, searching for her pacifier, finds it, and rolls back over and goes to sleep? Does your baby have reflux and because you lifted one side of the bed, is she at the bottom of the crib? A video monitor, specifically, helps you stop imagining that something terrible happened in there or helps determine precisely whether you should go in at all. Perhaps that is teaching your baby more self-reliance than if you were forced to check on her each time.
When it came to our boys, we used baby monitors. We have 3 floors and would regularly watch TV or a movie in the basement. Or, we’d sometimes take the older child outside to play while the baby was napping. What kind of quality time would it be to have to run in and check every 5-10 minutes if the baby was awake? Nowadays, they even have baby monitors that can text you when the baby has been crying for so many minutes, even when you’re out on a date with a sitter at home.
I will finish with this: As with many tools in your parenting toolbox, it’s not the tools themselves, but how you use them.
Did you use a baby monitor and how did it help or hurt your baby’s sleep?
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Engy says
I think that baby monitor is a very useful gadget for you and baby. My son got used to sleep alone in his nursery since the early childhood. Of course we were afraid to leave him alone, so we bought a baby monitor. It calls “MonBaby”. Quite useful and affordable thing , as fo me. Just download the app and snap the monitor onto any article of child`s clothing . There is no use to have a diary to fix data about your babies` sleep, you can have it in the app. As for me, It`s very comfortable and modern.
Debbye says
Hi Alison- It sounds like you have quite an inquisitive little girl on your hands! Thank you for sharing and have fun. 🙂
Alison says
We have a video monitor which we have found invaluable up until about last month when my 9 month old discovered that she could pull the cord out and play with it! The monitor suddenly went from being a godsend to the nearest weapon of choice- lol! We have moved it from on the cot to across the room. I have to squint to see her but at least I can keep an eye on her. I had to remove her mobile also as she is now tall enough to grab that too! I think she stares at the monitor lights across the room wondering why her mum has left her in the boring ‘prison cot’ lol! No more fun and games!
Debbye says
Hi James,
You are right! If all babies slept well and at the right times, we would have a population explosion! 🙂
Thank you for writing!