With the help of a baby monitor, you can hear and see your bub – or even transmit soothing sounds to them – from virtually anywhere. These devices are handy if you have a large home where your child’s room may be out of earshot.

Pretty well all baby monitors use audio and video monitoring these days. While some have stuck with a dedicated monitoring unit (such as a tablet), others use smartphone apps, which can reduce the overall price.

We can help you decide which option is right for your home.

Do you need a baby monitor from birth?
While it’s recommended that your baby sleeps in your room for the first six months (at least), it’s still a good idea to get a baby monitor from birth. That way, anyone else in the house will be alerted quickly if there’s an emergency, even when one parent is always watching the child.

Otherwise, we strongly recommend using a baby monitor from the moment you start leaving your baby alone for any period of time.

How do baby monitors work?
Baby monitors fall into two broad categories:

Audio: Essentially a walkie-talkie between you and your baby’s room. Though common for decades, these have almost been entirely replaced by audio/video systems.
Video: Sends a live video feed from a camera, to a tablet-like viewing device (aka a carer’s unit) or smartphone app. If it’s app-based, then you buy the monitor and download the official app to your own smartphone or tablet.
If your baby starts crying, makes a different sound, consistently moves during restless sleep, or stops moving for a significant period, the viewing tablet or app will send an alert. Then you can tap into a live feed or review recorded footage to see if there’s a problem.

Do all baby monitors use Wi-Fi?
No, in fact there are many baby monitors that use radio, a proprietary signal, or mobile networks such as 3G, 4G or 5G. However, a Wi-Fi unit is usually the best option if you have good internet coverage in your home, particularly from something like a mesh network.

Home Wi-Fi networks operate on at least two bands: 2.4 and 5GHz. This is why you’ll often see two Wi-Fi options at home when you’re connecting a device such as your smartphone.

Wi-Fi-enabled baby monitors can connect to both, but some can only operate on the 2.4GHz band. If you’re having networking issues on the camera or viewing unit, open the settings and make sure they’re connected to the 2.4Hz option, not 5GHz.

Sound range, interference and sensitivity
The baby monitor should maintain quality sound and picture, even when you’re at the other end of the house. The monitor should also be able to pick up and reproduce soft sounds. Build quality is a big part of this, but you also need to consider interference from other devices.

While most monitors use Wi-Fi or proprietary signals these days, some still use common radio frequencies. These may experience interference from nearby devices (including those of your neighbours) such as cordless phones, microwaves, or other baby monitors.

However, some monitors let you choose from several frequencies to minimise this. Others use DECT (digital enhanced cordless communication), which is an even better option that encounters less interference. It’s probably best to buy a monitor that doesn’t use common radio frequencies, but if you do buy this type, look for one that supports DECT.

What’s the best camera resolution: HD, 2K or 4K?
Most baby monitors can stream and record in high-definition (HD), but some support higher resolutions including 2K and 4K UHD.

The marketing for these models will often claim that the increased detail gives you a clearer picture of how your baby feels while it’s sleeping, but there’s more to it than resolution alone.

Installing software that supports 2K or 4K is one of three parts of the puzzle. The camera also needs a good-quality lens and a decent processor to properly capture and output video to ensure the added detail and clarity remains. Otherwise, footage won’t look much better than HD, especially at night.

A low-end processor can also cause other issues, including blocky or smeared video, over- or under-exposed light, and blotchy colours.

Most baby monitors are cheaper than cameras or smartphones, which can be a good indication of the quality of the lens and processor. So, while they can technically record in 2K or 4K, it might not look very good.

This isn’t the only issue with higher resolution video:

Video streaming limitations: Baby monitor video receivers usually use HD screens, so you can only view 2K or 4K content when it’s saved to a different device. In other words, you’re paying for something that you won’t use most of the time. This might not be an issue if you’re streaming from the baby’s room to a smartphone or tablet app.
Storage: Higher resolution video takes up more space on your hard drive, SD cards or cloud storage accounts. Extra space costs money, which can add up over time.

Baby monitors vs smartphone apps
As far as performance, picture and sound quality go, we’ve come across good and bad apps and carer’s units across the board. Additional functions and features are also fairly comparable. And both types connect to a dedicated camera in the child’s room.

Pros and cons of using smartphone app with your baby monitor
Monitors that use an app are typically cheaper as you don’t need to cover the cost of a proprietary carer’s unit. The app may cost a little extra on top of the monitor, but this is rarely more than ten dollars.

You’re also likely to have your phone nearby at all times and it can switch to mobile data if the Wi-Fi drops out.

But older phones may not support the latest versions of the carer’s app, so double check compatibility before you buy.

Baby monitoring apps can also drain your phone’s battery, in addition to all the other apps you may run throughout the day, as well as calls, messaging and so on. Keep this in mind because you don’t want your phone to shut down when you’re relying on it as a baby monitor.

Props and cons of using a carer’s unit with your baby monitor
Carer’s units are designed to work with the included camera out of the box so you don’t need to worry about compatibility or owning the latest model.

They typically use physical controls (which you may prefer over a touch screen) and come with mounts or kickstands for easy access while in use.

But they’re usually larger than phones and most pockets, so you need to find a place to put them that’s in earshot. It’s easy to forget the carer’s unit if you duck upstairs or head outside for a while.

Using a smartphone as a baby monitor
Installing a baby monitor app on two smartphones (or tablets) is a viable, and potentially cheap, option if you have an old phone kicking around the house. But there are a few considerations:

The phone must have a good-quality camera and microphone.
It has to be plugged into a power point so it can monitor your baby 24/7.
You have to find and install a stand or mount to position the phone towards the sleeping area.
Almost all phones position the charging port at the bottom, which can make mounting tricky. Wireless charging can get around this but it’s usually limited to premium smartphones and tablets.

Also, picture quality in dark lighting conditions can be very poor unless you turn on the phone’s light, which could disturb baby’s sleep.

Using a security camera as a baby monitor
The difference between a security camera and baby monitor quite often comes down to branding and aesthetics. In fact, we usually add one or two security cameras to our baby monitor tests just to see how they stack up.

The main difference is that almost all modern security cameras connect to an app on your smartphone or tablet via Wi-Fi or mobile data. They don’t come with their own viewing device.

If you already have security cameras around the house then you may want to consider this route; however, you won’t get some of the purpose-specific features that come with a dedicated baby monitor, such as two-way audio communication or playing a soothing tune.

Most brands let you monitor multiple cameras from within the same app, so you can simply integrate the baby’s room into your existing security system. Some “smart” cameras can even hook up to your smart TV for a larger and more-detailed viewing experience.