Brand Partner ContentFor new parents, welcoming a little one into the world ushers in an era of joy and excitement, but also exhaustion and anxiety. Parents are desperate to know if they are doing everything to keep their children safe day and night. The night is the more exhausting part, of course. Lack of sleep leads to constant grogginess, the need for ten cups of coffee just to stay awake, or falling asleep without realizing, and inevitably affects parents’ ability to function.
For sleep-deprived parents all over the world, having a movement monitor can mean all the difference between nights spent climbing out of bed and wandering across the hall every few minutes “just to check” that your baby is ok, or getting a rare, decent night’s sleep.
Thankfully, there’s a wide range of baby monitors that keep track of the baby’s movements to assuage parental anxiety and manage both childrens’ and parents’ sleep better. To help new parents, we’ve scoured the web to bring you a list of top motion monitors that are easy to set up and good at keeping the little one safe.
1. Babysense 7
For over thirty years, Babysense has and continues to lead the industry through its revolutionary movement monitors, with maximum accuracy. The Babysense 7 is the #1 rated movement monitor in over 1 million homes and is entirely contactless. The clever design hides connecting wires and eliminates the need for wearables and the risk of entanglement. Instead of wearable sensors that can annoy or fall off your baby, which many other models rely on, Babysense 7 comes with two sensor pads that easily fit under the baby’s mattress. The sensors are designed to detect the slightest movements through the mattress and monitor for a certain number of micro-movements within a certain time frame. The non-contact 2 sensor pad design ensures full bed coverage and constantly monitors your baby’s movements, alerting you if your baby really needs you and ensuring a low risk of false alarms. The monitor operates on regular household batteries – no exposed cords, no connection to mains and they only need to be replaced every six months -so parents don’t need to worry about charging the monitor every night. At only $129.99, it’s the best bang for your buck in terms of movement monitors.
2. Miku Pro
The Miku Pro mounts on the wall and connects to parents’ devices to show how your baby is breathing and alert you of any irregularities. Parents can choose what notifications they will receive on their devices and look over their children in real-time. An app synced with the monitor creates a sleep tracking report for you to understand your little ones’ sleep patterns over time. Miku Pro’s battery lasts 12 hours and is listed for $399.
Nanit offers a variety of monitor products, including breathing wear which works in conjunction with their camera. From pajamas to sheets and breathing bands, Nanit has all the wearables you need to help you track your baby’s movements. The wearable works with the Nanit Pro Camera, a camera with two-way audio that notifies you about temperature and humidity. Through the monitor, you can also access Alexa, sleep tracking, personalized sleep coaching, and breathing motion monitoring. The wearables work exclusively with the Nanit Pro Camera, which is priced at $299.99.
The Sense-U easily clips onto your baby’s diaper to track their vitals. If your baby’s breathing is weak, the monitor will send a notification straight to your phone. The monitor will also tell you if your baby is sleeping in a dangerous position, or if the temperature in their room is too hot or cold. The Sense-U Baby Monitor 2 is listed at $299.99.
The Owlet ® Dream Sock is great for tracking babies’ heart rate, oxygen level, and movements. It also alerts the parents when the baby wakes up and comes with an app that helps you understand your child’s sleep habits with a digital sleep coach to help build a bedtime schedule. Their sleep assist function detects if your child wakes up in the middle of the night and plays them a soothing lullaby. The Owlet ® Dream Sock can be wirelessly charged, with 16-hour battery life when charged for 90 minutes and 8 hours when charged for 20 minutes, and is listed at $299.99.
The Levana Oma Sense is a monitor that easily clips onto your baby’s clothes and analyzes breathing movement data every 80 milliseconds. Although this monitor does not come into contact with your baby’s skin, it could still be hard to place on a crying baby. If no movement is detected for at least 15 seconds, the monitor will vibrate to make sure the baby is okay. If there’s still no breathing after 20 seconds, an alarm goes off, alerting caregivers of the problem. The Levana Oma Sense is priced at $150.
What do we recommend?
While many features may seem like “must-have” things, the movement monitor has one single necessary function. The most important thing to look for is not all the fancy bells and whistles, but rather making sure the monitor fulfills its actual purpose and monitors movement accurately.
Putting a wearable onto your child can be a hassle and the Babysense 7 and Miku Pro are good alternatives. The Babysense 7 has two sensor pads that seamlessly fit underneath the baby’s mattress and the Miku Pro attaches to the wall, so parents don’t have to deal with remembering to put a wearable on before bedtime. If we had to pick one, the Babysense 7 is a great solution for busy parents who want a more affordable, trustworthy monitor with longer battery life.
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