Is a Smart Baby Monitor Really That Useful for You?

When you search for a new baby monitor, you will found a category that is smarter than the other. They are called the smart baby monitor, and it’s because they use different kinds of sensors and tracker to perform in-depth monitoring of your baby. But are they really useful? Bare with me while I try to find out!

A smart baby monitor can be a great help to busy parents. With its sensors and trackers, it gives you the ability to watch your baby and make sure he’s safe and comfortable. You can check on your kid without going into his room and risking to wake him up. It even more useful if you pair your baby monitor to a smart home system.

If you’re seeking for the best baby monitor and hoping to find real reviews from real parents. You should check out this list I created of the top baby monitors.

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What is a smart baby monitor?

A smart baby monitor work like a standard baby monitor by letting you hear and see your baby. But, it can monitor more than the sound and movement.

The power of smart baby monitor is within the information provides by the sensors and trackers. A smart baby monitor is using different kinds of sensors to track sleep patterns, temperature, heart rate, and breathing.

To better understand what a smart baby monitor is and how it works, we must take a look at the sensors and trackers used by the monitor.

What kind of sensors and trackers is used by a smart baby monitor?

If my newborn baby has a health issue, I definitely want to monitor his breathing, body temperature and movements. Anything to make sure my precious is safe and comfortable.

This is where a smart baby monitor become handy. They have sensors that can do in-depth monitoring of your baby.

The sensors and trackers will be located in a mat or a pad underneath your sleeping baby, or they could be placed into a wearable clip or wristband.

The sensor will monitor your baby while he’s asleep and alerts you if there’s any vital sign variation. It can range from the breathing movement to heart rate.

The most high-end monitor will even check to room temperature.

A smart baby monitor will assist you and can be a great help by letting you know when something might be wrong.

Even if there is no proven research that a smart baby monitor can prevent the SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), those kinds of monitors are an excellent help for in-depth monitoring.

Most monitors will be pair with an app on your smartphone so you can review all the data gathered by the sensors and trackers. Trust me, this type of pieces of information will be a useful resource. Plus, it’s way more handy to collect that information automatically than having a handwritten logbook.

1. Breathing sensors

The breathing patterns of a newborn baby is often a concern for the new parents.

I know parents who are unable to have a good night of sleep because they are continuously worried if their baby is breathing correctly and they feel the need to check-in many times per night.

A smart baby monitor will help to ease the anxiety of such parents.

The sensor will collect information and use an intelligent algorithm to detect each state of a regular sleeping pattern and alert immediately if something is wrong. The breathing sensor is a useful solution to identify apnea syndromes.

Keep in mind, that a breathing monitor is not a medical device, but it sure gives a good point of reference.

At what age to stop using baby breathing monitor?

From what I found there’s no specific age to stop using a breathing monitor. Some parents have stopped at 3 months are some are still using it with a 5-year-old kid. But, it seems like most parents have stopped around 22 months. I read many forum posts about this subject and 22 months sounds like the normal.

For more in-depth information, check out my article on when is the best time to stop using a baby monitor.

2. Oxygen and heart rate tracking

To measure the oxygen and heart rate, the tracker is placed on the arm or leg of the baby. It’s a comfortable wristband equipped to test the oxygen level of the blood flow pulse. It checks how well the oxygen is transmitted through the body.

3. Body temperature tracking

To my great surprise, I’ve learned that a baby cannot regulate his body temperatures. This condition makes babies especially susceptible to temperature change. Wich could lead to overheating or hypothermia.

This sensor will also be useful to know if your baby is comfortable. It will quickly alert parents if their baby is doing a fever.

The monitor will display the room temperature on your smartphone and will alert you if the temperature is out of the normal (69° to 72° Fahrenheit) range.

4. Room temperature

The body temperature of a baby will easily change based on the room temperature. To help your baby preserve its energy, you must control the humidity level and temperature of the nursery.

This is when the smart baby monitor become handy to create a comfortable sleep environment for your baby. The monitor will display the room temperature, and also the humidity level.

Are baby monitor temperatures accurate?

They are too many factors that can modify the accuracy of a temperature monitor. The number display on your monitor could be a couple degree higher than the reality.

I personally don’t know why, but from all the comment I founded on parents forums, almost every parent has the same issue. The monitor always has 1 to 4 degrees higher than the real temperature.

Depending on where you mount the sensor, it could be the sun reflecting on the monitor who could be rising the temperature.

Even if it’s not entirely accurate, it still a good indicator if something is really wrong with the room temperature. If for any reasons the heater or the AC is acting weird you definitely want to know. A room too hot or too cold can be hazardous to your baby since baby cannot regulate their body temperature.

5. Sleep patterns tracker

The sensors will track your baby’s sleeping patterns and gives you useful insights to understand how your baby sleep.

It will track when your baby falls asleep, and his sleep cycles through the night.

With all this data, the monitor app will create sleep trends graphs that you can consults every morning or when you sense that your baby had a bad night of sleep.

As a parent of 2, I can assure you that the quality of sleep will significantly influence the overall condition of your kid.

This is where you can use the sleep records to understand better why your baby is more joyful or grumpy.

It’s also a great too to sleep train your baby. You will be able to see the progress or understand what needs to be changed.

6. Movement tracker and activity alerts

In my opinion, the movement tracker on a smart baby monitor is what makes a baby monitor smart. The traditional baby monitor can only detect sound or movement. Smart baby monitor knows the difference between a normal activity or something worthy of alerting the parents. We all know that children are moving in their sleep and it’s completely normal.

A smart baby monitor will use artificial intelligence to detect an out of the ordinary movement. The monitor can differentiate normal coughing from choking and even epilepsy.

The parents can also set a virtual border inside the camera view, and if the baby happens to cross that border, the monitor will notify the parents. For example, you could set a virtual fence around the crib, and if your kid tries to go out of his bed or if his leg gets stuck between the slats, you will get an alert.

The motion sensor can also detect if a child hasn’t moved in the last certain period of time.

Even if this feature is not proven to reduce SIDS, many parents appreciate the peace of mind it provides.

I would recommend using the alarm features with precaution because the false alarm could lead to more sleep deprivation for you. Adjust the sensitivity of the sensor has your baby get older and more active during his sleep.

What to do with all data collected by the smart monitor?

I know some parents who keep a logbook and write down a lot of information to consult later. The data could be anything from what the baby had to eat to when he poops and how he sleeps. It is a meticulous task, and I’m pretty sure they would appreciate any help.

Sure, there will always be some type of information that needs to be login manually, but a smart baby monitor can take off a big piece of that task.

With all this data you will be able to make adjustments to your routine. You can also tell if your baby is sleeping more or less. The monitor will also gather many vital pieces of information on your baby health.

This database will be a great help to figure out why your baby is acting differently or if everything is normal.

A friend of mine, who happens to be a nurse, is login manually all those useful information. She knows the importance if this kind of information to understand the evolution of her kids better. I told her about my research on the smart baby monitor, and the data collection was one of her favorite features of those monitors. She’s already using a video baby monitor for her twins, but she’s considering to make the switch.

I can remember many occasion where I wish I had this type of data. Especially when I was at the doctor, and barely remembering the crucial details that could help the doctor to do a better diagnostic for my baby. This situation would have been entirely different if I was using a smart baby monitor. I could just open the app on my iPhone, and tell the doctor all the details from the past nights.

Is a smart baby monitor safe?

The safety and the accuracy of smart baby monitors have been questioned by many health organization. It’s the case with the Journal of the American Medical Association, where two doctors and one medical researcher have raised there concern about these smart baby monitors who could actually put children at risk. Parents could be putting their children at risk by only relying on the smart baby monitor to evaluate the health of there baby.

No matter how smart the baby monitor is, he can’t replace a real doctor. I think this is pretty obvious.

The same group of doctors has asked the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the smart baby monitors. The FDA is already evaluating mobile apps which use sensors, which is basically the same thing as a baby monitor. The problem is there’s’ no clinical trials available to the consumer, so it’s impossible to know without any doubt that they can prevent SIDS actually.

Can baby monitors prevent SIDS?

From what I found during my research, no scientific study proves that the use of a smart baby monitor can reduce the risk of SIDS.

The smart baby monitor cannot be considered a medical device.

Organisations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Institute of Health have underlined the missing scientific data that will prove the effectiveness of a smart baby monitor to prevent SIDS.

Did you know that all sleep-related deaths, including SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), is responsible for the death of around 3,500 babies every year only in the US? This is why parents are worried about SIDS and are looking for a solution.

In my opinion, the device itself cannot save lives, but it can help parents to react quicker in an emergency situation. If the monitor detects something unusual, an alert is sent immediately to the parents. In this case, it would be right to say that smart baby monitor CAN help saving lives. Because these kind of baby monitor are relatively new, it’s only a matter of time before a manufacturer publishes the results of such research.

Is their other dangers to be worried about?

Another danger associated with all baby monitor is the strangulation hazard. Since smart baby monitor has sensors placed around the crib. Some of those sensors could be wired, and a baby could play with a loose wire and wrap it around its neck. I would recommend you make sure all cable are 100% secure.

To learn how to mount your monitor safely, check out my article on the essential items you need to mount your baby monitor.

Integrate your baby monitor into a smart home ecosystem

In my opinion, the best smart baby monitor will support Alexa and Google home. By integrating your baby monitor in such a system, you can control the camera and other function with the sound of your voice.

Imagine, your sitting in your living room, and you can control the baby monitor into your baby’s room by activating command with your voice. You could ask Alexa to start a lullaby, check the temperature or take a picture and send it to the grandparents.

Now that a cool baby monitor.

Connect to your monitor anywhere anytime

Working parents love to be able to connect to their baby monitor via the internet. This is also an excellent feature for mom or dad who’s traveling. Whenever you feel like taking a peek at your little bundle of love, you just connect to the app. You can connect from anywhere at any time and see what’s going on at home with the babysitter.

Share those special moments with the family

Most baby monitors workings with a smartphone app will offer you the ability to share any photos or videos via social media, text message or email. This is an excellent feature for babysitter and caretaker who want to share the activities at home with the parents. It’s also a great way to keep a significant other or the grand-parents up-to-date with your new family member.

You can also invite other people to have access to the live feed. I would recommend not to share the password via email or text message and keep the team members very limited. You don’t want the access to your house to fall in the hand of a stranger.

Save picture and video clip for the posterity

Some smart baby monitors can save pictures and short video clips when a movement is detected. This features will be useful to see the important moment from the previous nights.

Since a baby monitor is not a home surveillance system, don’t expect a full length time-lapse of the entire nights.

Those specific moment snapshots and video clips will be more than enough for you to track your baby sleeping activities and keep some good moment for the family album.

Respect of your privacy

Your privacy is important, especially when it comes to your children. I always wonder why parents don’t take a minute to change the default password of their new baby monitor. Anything connected to the internet or your local WIFI network can be a risk to your privacy.

Always choose a long, and hard-to-guess password for your baby monitor.

What I love about one of the smart baby monitors I look at is the “Privacy Mode” who can be activated in the setting control panel. With this features enabled, even if your smart baby monitor is connected to the internet, no image or video will be uploaded to the cloud.

Extra features of a smart baby monitor

The smart baby monitors have many features in common with the standard baby monitor.

In my experience, the most important features are the one who prevents you from going uselessly inside your baby’s room. I don’t want to risk waking up my baby entirely by opening the creaking door of the room.

Let’s go over the most interesting one.

1. Audio and video

The baby monitor will give the ability to hear and see what is going in your baby’s room. A camera with a built-in microphone will transmit the video and audio to the parents unit.

2. App and video monitor

The traditional baby monitor has a child unit and a parent unit. The child unit is placed inside the nursery will the parents carry the receiver. The parents unit, look like a small video monitor with controls buttons to adjust the sound, the camera angle, etc.

But, In the most case with a smart baby monitor, you will have to use your smartphone as a receiver. If you still want to have a dedicated monitor, you can always pair it with an old smartphone or with a tablet.

Because you don’t want to be staring at the screen all night, the baby monitor use the VOX technology (voice activated). The monitor can sense the difference between ambient noise and a crying child. If your baby is crying in the other room, you receive an alert on your smartphone, and you can use the camera to evaluate the situation.

To preserve the battery of your phone, you don’t need to let the app open and running all night. Your screen can be off, the audio mode will be working in the background, and the app will turn on only if it detects an unusual sound or movement.

3. Night vision

A smart baby monitor is equipped with a night vision feature. So, when it dark in your baby room, you don’t need to open the light to see what going on inside. Most video baby monitor is equipped with an infrared LED lens, giving you the ability to see during the night.

4. Two-way audio

Sometimes your baby only needs to hear the sound of your voice to fall asleep. With the two-way audio feature, you can speak to your kid through the baby monitor.

5. Lullabies

You can play lullabies in your baby’s room with the help of the baby monitor. With the help of the monitor app, you can do it from your smartphone without going inside the nursery and risking to wake your baby completely. The lullabies are preprogrammed, and you can download more if you wish. Also, you can control it from your smartphone. No need to go inside the bedroom to restart or stop the music.

6. Nightlight

Also, the smart baby monitor makes a pretty cool nightlight for your baby’s room. It’s not an essential feature, but I personally really like the multi-tasking aspect of the monitor. Plus you can turn it on or off via the app on your smartphone.

Smart baby monitors, is it really worth it?

In my experience, a standard baby monitor will do the job. It’s precisely what I’ve been using with my kids, and I don’t plan on changing it. It’s a case of why fixing it if it ain’t broken.

With that been said, if I had a new baby, I would totally consider getting a smart baby monitor. I’m the type of parent who can get really anxious, and I think the features of such baby monitor would give me the peace of mind I need. To just be able to look at the data and see that my baby is growing healthy would totally calm my anxiety.

Also, if you already have a smart home system or if you are planning on using Alexa or Google home inside your house, a smart baby monitor is definitely a smart addition.

All new parents are extremely busy. A smart baby monitor can be the extra help they need.