I struggled with figuring out a baby monitor situation for little M. Given our small SF living space and the fact that I'm with her almost constantly, investing in a fancy (read: pricey) monitor didn't make sense for me. My family and friends raved about their various baby watching tools with cameras, breath sensors (REALLY???) and tons of other features, and yet I couldn't settle on one. Until I discovered Baby Monitor 3G in the App Store during a So. Cal. road trip.
Staying at someone else's home gave me a natural opportunity to let my little one nap in another room, but I still wanted to keep an eye on things. I'd heard there were a few options in the Apple App Store, and $4 and 5 minutes later, I was set. The setup with BM3G is super simple--add the the app to two different iOS devices (if you sign in with one account you don't need to pay for it twice). One will serve as baby station, the other as parent station. Fire up the app, point the camera on baby station device toward baby and turn on the app on whatever device will serve as the parent station. DONE.
It was so easy to set up I couldn't quite believe it. I left my phone in the baby's room, turn on my iPad in the kitchen, and proceeded to watch my angel nap peacefully--which made things quite relaxed for me as well. Because both devices were on the same wifi network I could watch live video (using my eyes as the breathing sensor-everyone does it!) When running over 3G the video isn't an option, but you can get a photo from the last few seconds almost instantly.
The microphone has varying degrees of sensitivity, so I can set it a bit lower if we're in an area with a lot of road traffic outside or a loud TV nearby. I love that it gives both the visual red sign to denote that M. is awake and allows me to hear her. As she gets older she sometimes stirs for a few seconds or even cries out before falling right back to sleep. With Baby Monitor 3G I can hear what's happening without going in and waking her if she would otherwise keep dreaming.
I LOVE IT.
There's several other snazzy features, like the ability to remotely turn on a light with the camera to see your babe in the dark, and a mic to talk to them (which seems great for older kiddies--for now I just use it to scare my husband when I catch him sneaking a peek at the baby!)
Baby Monitor 3G is available in the Apple App Store for $3.99. Can't beat it.
(Note: details and pricing are current as of press date. For latest info visit http://www.babymonitor3g.com)