We needed a new baby monitor! Words almost cannot describe the sense of relief for us, when we switched to the static-free Philips Digital Baby Monitor.
Since our kids' bedrooms are on a different floor than our master
bedroom, we needed to have some sort of monitor set up, to hear if they
called in the middle of the night. While our Sharper Image video baby monitor had infrared night vision, so we could see which child was stirring, the static was constant and annoying.
On particularly bad nights, I'd sleep with a pillow over my head (which
obviously negates the effectiveness of the monitor in the first place).
The Philip's baby monitor doesn't come with a video option at this writing, but the absence of static and the clear quality of the sound are unassailable. Even better, the Philip's monitor comes with a two-way communications system,
like a super-terrific walkie-talkie.
Now, we didn't bother to tell our
children about this added feature, since we didn't want them making a
game out of it. One night, our 5 year-old
was having an especially hard time settling down for the night. All
parents know about this type of bedtime process: I'm thirsty, there's a
scary shadow, I had a bad dream, I have to pee, I'm thirsty again.
After escorting her to the bathroom the second time, we'd had it. If
you get up one more time, her father said, I'm going to get very angry
with you.
She has a typical 5-year old's idolization of her father, bordering on the religious. The potential of paternal anger is often fearsome enough a threat to improve her behavior immediately. Our daughter grew quiet,
but a few minutes later we heard the unmistakable sound of her feet
hitting the floor. T
his time, instead of going to her room, my husband
pressed the "talk" button on our Philips monitor receiver. "Jessica, get back in bed right now," he intoned. The monitor is so clear, I swear we could hear her eyes widen. We heard her climb back into bed without a peep, and that was the last we heard from her until the morning.