Baby monitors: How to buy the best baby monitor

Using a baby monitor ensures you'll hear your baby when he or she cries or stirs in their sleep. It's not a nursery essential, but many parents like the peace of mind a baby monitor gives them.

Baby monitors consist of two units: a transmitter that picks up sound from your baby's room (we refer to this as the baby or nursery unit) and a receiver that you keep near you (the parent unit).

Choosing a baby monitor

Major baby monitor brands include Fisher-Price, BT, Tomy, Philips and Graco, but don't rely on a recognisable name alone to determine your choice of baby monitor. 

We asked more than 700 baby monitor owners to tell us what they believed to be the most important considerations when buying a baby monitor. These are the top five:

Some models are more reliable and flexible than others - choose a Which? Best Buy baby monitor to ensure you're getting a device that scored well in our rigorous lab tests. Here are more tips on what to look out for when shopping for a baby monitor.

Mains-powered baby monitors

All baby monitors consist of a baby unit which transmits sound via radio waves to a parent unit. Mains-powered baby monitors are the simplest and cheapest type available. They need a plug socket to work, making them less portable than other options.

Prices start at around £15 for a basic model.

A baby monitor lets you keep an ear - and even eye - on your baby while they sleep

Pros

• Cheaper than other baby monitor models
• Simple to use
• Suitable for parents using a baby monitor at night, or when not moving around the house.

Cons

• Dependent on a plug socket - there's no back-up if there's a power cut
• Less versatile, as you can't move the monitor around.

Battery or dual-powered baby monitors

You can also buy battery-powered baby monitors - dual-powered devices which allow you to swap between mains power and batteries. This type of monitor allows you to carry the parent unit around the house with you, or to plug it in when you're staying in one room.

Prices start at around £25 for a basic model, going up to more than £100 for extra features including night lights and digital sound. Rechargeable baby monitors are usually at the pricier end of the scale.

Pros:

• Useful for parents who will be busying themselves about the house or garden while their baby is asleep
• Dual-power baby monitors offer more flexibility
• Rechargeable models save you worrying about batteries running out.

A video baby monitor lets you watch your baby's every move 'live'

Cons:

• More expensive than mains-powered baby monitors
• Not worth the extra money, if you won't use the portable option regularly
• You'll need a stock of batteries to hand to avoid running out.

Video baby monitors

Watch as well as listen to your baby with a video baby monitor. These monitors come with a small camera that you position to view your baby by day or night. The monitor is linked up to either a TV screen or a mini-screen on the parent unit.

When a video monitor is linked to your TV you can normally set it to automatic mode, which interrupts your TV viewing when your baby starts crying.

Unsurprisingly, you pay a premium for the extra functionality offered by a video baby monitor. Typical prices range from £40 for a basic black-and-white picture to more than £200. We've tested a handful of video monitors, including the Samsung SEW-3030 and the Tomy TDV450.

Video monitors tend to drain batteries faster than standard sound-only monitors, and tend to lose signal more often than baby monitors without this feature.

Baby monitor features to consider

• Range: we test that a baby monitor's range fully covers different property sizes and types, crucial for its effectiveness
• Night light: some units double up as a soft night light, comforting for your baby and useful in the dark
• Room temperature display: tells you the temperature of the room (which should be 16-20ºC)
• Lullaby trigger: a lullaby activates when your baby stirs, though it may prove more irritating than soothing
• Two-way communication: lets you talk to your baby or young child when they stir
• Portable parent unit: some come with a useful belt clip for when you're moving around
• Docking station: when you're not walking about with the parent unit, it can sit in the docking station and charge.

The baby monitor unit transmits sound to the parent unit via radio waves

Baby monitor signal

Test out the sound clarity on a baby monitor throughout your home as soon as you buy it. Most baby monitors have a variety of channels to use - useful if you live in a built-up area which will be more susceptible to interference or static.

Digital signals may crop up on digital radios or on other people's monitors, while analogue-signal baby monitors are the most open to accidental broadcast as this can easily be picked up on normal radios and other people's monitors. 

A digitally-enhanced cordless telecommunications (Dect) baby monitor has a microprocessor designed to ensure the only nursery sounds you can hear are those from your own nursery, not anyone else's. 

You can search for, compare and filter baby monitors by signal type in our comprehensive baby monitors review.

Baby monitor range

The range of a baby monitor indicates how far you can travel with the parent unit and still receive an accurate signal. Many manufacturers make bold claims when stating the range of baby monitors - some boast distances of up to 600m. 

Looking more closely at these claims shows, generally, this is the distance the signal can travel if both units are outside in an open space - which isn't much use if you mainly use your monitor indoors, or when your baby is asleep and you're in the garden.

On a good baby monitor you'll be able to move the parent unit over 80m away from the baby (or nursery) unit without losing signal. On a poor baby monitor, you won't get much further than 20m. 

Property type

The type of property can make a difference, too. Older Victorian houses have thicker walls that can sometimes cause problems with the signal, whereas modern houses have thinner walls so the signal can travel more easily. We test baby monitors in both types of property to find out which models perform best in different types of home.

Baby monitor safety

When placing a baby monitor in your baby's room, always ensure that any electrical cords are kept at least one metre away from a cot, crib or play area, to ensure your baby does not inadvertently become tangled up.

All wires attached to your baby monitor (including table-top, wall-mounted and movement-sensor models) should be taut, and not loose or dangling.

For more information on cord safety, see our baby monitors FAQs page.