The best baby monitors for your home nursery Buying Guide

There is nothing more disorienting or surreal than bringing home your first baby. It’s a heady combination of critical responsibility and an uneasy panic of not having any idea what you’re doing. There’s a picture of me with my son asleep on my chest on the first night he came home and my expression reads what do we do now? Having a monitor that I could check frequently while the twins slept helped me relax in those early days, and it’s still part of our nighttime routine.

Initially we used a combination of Owlet’s smart socks and an audio-only monitor, which kept me from sneaking into their room throughout the night to check on them. But there are a lot of options for baby monitors these days. So I’ve spent the last several weeks testing a variety of smart video-enabled models and strapping wearables onto the twins to see what the hardware is capable of, and what features the software offers.

What to look for in a baby monitor

When I needed a baby monitor, I basically snagged the first halfway decent audio-only device that had good reviews on Amazon. I didn’t stop to think about what I actually needed from the device, where I wanted to put it, or what features made sense for my needs. So I didn’t wind up all that satisfied with the purchase, even though the device works fine.

That said, there are still plenty of audio-only monitors being sold. The feature set is usually pretty small, so narrowing down a decision is a little easier in this case. The variations are basically range, battery versus AC power, lights, and controls. Video and smart monitors each have a lot more to offer, with more features and options for you to choose from.

It’s worth taking a few moments to make sure you know where you’re putting the camera, if you want to wall mount, crib mount or use on a base, and where the nearest power source is. Also consider how you want to use it: Do you want to use your smartphone or have a dedicated display? Pair with a wearable device? Share with another caregiver? Ensure a secure video feed? What are the most important features to you? A high-def video feed? Background audio? Motion alerts?

Most of the devices I tested offered a solid combination of features, but none of them offered everything. For example, the Owlet and Nanit cameras offer background audio which will play over a lock screen or open apps so if your kiddo starts to fuss you’ll still hear them. That’s pretty useful since you’re going to want to keep tabs on what’s happening in the nursery even if you’re doing other things on your phone. And while most of these devices also provide sound and motion alerts, it’s also important to have an ability to customize the notifications, or even shut off the camera entirely, since you don’t need your phone pinging you about noise when you’re in the nursery trying to soothe a child. Features like two-way audio could be useful for parents who want to verbally reassure a child or sing a lullaby from a distance, but maybe aren’t the highest priority for those who are co-sleeping.