If you are a new or prospective mom or dad looking to buy the best night vision baby monitor in the market, you have come to the right place. A good baby monitor with quality night vision can definitely save you multiple trips to the baby’s room at night and of course plenty more sleep! After all, peace of mind is one of the most important factors a parent needs, and a good baby monitor with camera and night vision can ensure exactly that.
Here we will review 5 of the most popular baby monitor with camera and night vision to help you make an informed choice.
What is infrared technology in baby monitor? Is it safe for baby?
Infrared night vision technology in video baby monitor with night vision is based on sensing near infrared light (wavelength between 2500 and 750 nm). The infrared LED is mounted near the camera allowing parents to see the child in the dark.
In order to communicate without wires, all baby monitors use some form of radiation-either RF or microwaves. As a parent, this can be alarming to know; but worry not- all the best baby monitor with night vision camera come with the highest levels of safety and quality that minimize radiation between the baby and parent units. So, your baby is protected from unnecessary exposure.
Why you need a night vision baby monitor
Peace of mind – You can keep an eye on your baby at all times-particularly at night. More sleep for everyone!
See all of baby’s enthralling antics – Particularly useful in households with TV or radio blaring.
Important features of night vision baby monitors
1. Clear infrared video quality. The most basic requirement of a night vision monitor is the ability to see your baby’s movement & to some extent, be able to see their breathing at night. Good video quality is absolutely critical otherwise you are better off without this feature!
2. Portability and ease of use. This sounds like common sense however do not assume that all baby monitors are portable & easy to setup/use. Most trusted brands have monitors that are portable and easy to use.
3. Manual controls to adjust brightness/sounds on the parent unit. You would want to adjust the brightness & sound when you are in your room at night, rather than go to your baby’s room to adjust them & risk waking up your little one.
4. Both automatic & manual switch from day to night vision. Automatic night vision switch is very useful as you may get caught up with your chores and forget to switch on the night vision feature. At the same time, it is also good to get monitors that also have a manual switch so that you can turn on the night vision when the light quality in the baby’s room is poor but not so dark as to effect the automatic night vision switch. This is especially useful in winter as days get dark earlier.
5. Remote control of panning and tilting on the parent unit. This allows you to see the entire span of the room at night without having to get up. Very very helpful for sleep deprived mommys!
1. Infant Optics DXR-8 Video Baby Monitor (Click here to see the price)
What we love about this:
– Features 8 automatic infrared LEDs for night vision
– Great video quality for both day & night vision
– Great range of almost 80 ft. You can talk to the baby through 5 walls!
– Able to pan & tilt remotely from the parent unit
– Has room temperature display
– Long battery life ~ about 7 hours after each charge
– Only monitor in the market with interchangeable optical lens
– Comes with 2x optical zoom lens to see extra detail on your baby
What we don’t like about this:
– No sound activation feature i.e. you have to push a button to see what your baby is doing when the screen is in a power-saving mode.
– When in power-saving mode (video off), the sound feature is always on (may be a problem for light sleepers)
2. VTech VM321 Safe & Sound Video Baby Monitor with night vision (Click here to see the price)
What we love about this:
– 8 infrared LEDs help you clearly see your baby even in very dim light
– Automatically turns on night vision
– Ability to add up to 4 cameras
– Adjustable camera lens to get the best angle
– Convenient 2 way communication
– Has room temperature sensor
– Able to mount baby unit on the wall
What we don’t like about this:
– Cannot remotely pan, tilt or zoom from the parent unit
– Even the lowest light setting is quite brightThis model also comes in a set of 2 cameras for monitoring in multiple rooms. Click here to find out more
3. Samsung SEW-3043W BrightVIEW HD Baby Video Monitoring System (Click here to see the price)
What we love about this:
– Good night vision quality with non-visible infrared LEDs
– Comes with soft, calming night lights
– Indoor range of about 5 walls thick (90 ft)
– 5 inch touch screen parent unit
– Two-way talk with built in microphone and HD audio
– Has voice activated mode (voice on, screen off feature)
What we don’t like about this:
– At ~$230USD, it is one of the more expensive but very good quality ones (click here to buy)
– With more add-on cameras, the audio only (video off) feature doesn’t work
– No on-screen notification when it is scanning.
4. Motorola MBP33S Wireless Video Baby Monitor (Click here to see the price)
What we love about this:
– Excellent night vision due to 5 infrared LEDs
– Two way communication
– Has room temperature display
– Low battery & out-of-range alert
– Expandable up to 4 cameras (sold separately)
What we don’t like about this:
– No sound activated feature (sound is always on)
– Camera panning/tilt is slow to respond.
5. Gynoii GPW-1025 WiFi Wireless Pan-Tilt Video Baby Monitor (click here to see the price)
What we love about this:
– One of the best night vision baby monitors under $100 (click here to buy)
– Automatic infrared night vision feature
– 60 second easy setup to connect with iPad, iPhones or Android devices
– Multiple users viewing at the same time (pairing with unlimited smart devices)
– 2-way talk with intelligent sound and motion alerts
– Always monitoring on your phone with the audio only feature
– Remotely pan and tilt to control the camera directly from your phone
– Customize lullaby from your smartphone
What we don’t like about this:
– Pan & tilting can take a while when operating remotely
– Power cable is quite short when mounting on tables (about 5″)
– Seems to not work as well on Android devices