Many of today’s parents feel that video baby monitors are an expensive, unnecessary luxury that they can live without. Truth be told, if you live in a small apartment or one-floor home, you can probably hear your baby down the hall without a monitor. So do you need a video monitor? Do you need most baby products? No. However, a family that has a 3,000 square foot home with 2+ floors will benefit greatly from placing monitors strategically throughout the house.
Whether you are checking in on your sleeping baby, or panning around the room to locate your mischievous preschooler as you get ready upstairs, the Motorola MBP36XL-2 offers a number of advantages that will grow and adapt with your family’s needs.
Convenient Reassurance
The most obvious advantage of the Motorola MBP36XL-2 (or any video monitor for that matter) is that it enables you to see your babies without physically getting up to check on them. For that reason alone, we think everyone needs a video baby monitor.
This full color, 2.4 GHz FHSS (for Local Viewing) digital camera system allows you to see, hear, and talk with your child using the two-way communication feature. You can relax knowing that your little ones are always safe and sound, even if you are not in the same room with them, which we believe is a luxury worth paying for. And because this specific monitor automatically encrypts audio data it transfers, you won’t ever have to worry about your neighbors accidentally tapping into your channel and snooping from afar.
Once you get over the early months of learning that not every cue, cry, or movement is cause for concern, you can simply click the top left button of the monitor to get a quick look at your little angel. Granted, you can certainly check on your baby in person as often as you’d like (and we have certainly racked up some mileage from the living room to the nursery doing just that), but this monitor will save you a lot of legwork.
It’ll also avoid the risk of startling your little one awake from the creek in the floor that seems to pop no matter how well you try to avoid it, especially during daytime naps when many of us hesitate to step inside the nursery for fear of waking baby sooner than expected.
By simply checking the monitor periodically, parents can ensure that their child is sleeping comfortably, while also identifying any potential safety hazards, such as loose swaddles or trapped limbs that might have otherwise gone unnoticed if baby is sleeping quietly.
All that said, there are a few specific features that the Motorola MBP36XL-2 offers that are worth highlighting.
Color LCD Screen with Infrared Night Vision
The large ergonomic parent unit with a 5-inch diagonal full color screen captures detail and boasts amazing quality by day. By night, you’ll appreciate the infrared night vision that allows you to peek in on your child, without disturbing them even the slightest bit. The parent unit also has a handy kickstand on the back for easy viewing at all times.
Pan, Tilt, and Zoom
The parent receiver has four directional buttons that quickly allow you to pan or tilt the camera around a room. It also has more options within the top right corner (button looks like a menu) that allow you to zoom in closer, which is especially useful if you’re checking in on a sleeping baby. These movements are whisper quiet, and are sure to not disturb your resting babies.
Room Temperature Monitor
You can keep an eye on the temperature of your child’s room at all times, so you never have to wonder if it’s too hot or too cold. As you can tell by the temperature in our bedrooms, it was entirely too hot and we made a call into our HVAC guy shortly after taking these photos.
5 LED Alerts for Sound-Activated Lights
If you’re a visual person, the LED sound-activated lights provide a visual cue of the sound activity in the room, from a rustle or whimper, all the way up to a full-blown cry. For example, if you’re in the process of “sleep-training” your child, you can confidently judge whether or not your child is actually in need of your attention while ensuring their safety at all times. We find that the alerts are pretty sensitive as it picks up the sound machine and fan in the room at a level 2.
Camera Switch
Up to a 1,000 ft range with out-of-range alert, the MBP36XL-2 is sold with two cameras, but is expandable up to four cameras (each additional camera sold separately). The parent receiver automatically switches every 10 seconds when it is placed on the scan mode, but can be adjusted to switch at variable times. This feature makes it ideal for the growing family, or perfect to place an extra camera in a playroom for easy surveillance when you have to step away momentarily.
You can also video both cameras at the same time using split-screen mode.
Fast and Easy Set-Up
You can pretty much pull this item out of the box and get it up and running within minutes. The portable, battery-powered cameras can be moved around the house to watch your little one wherever they are, or wall mounted using the included star grip for convenience. Meanwhile, the parent receiver can be used plugged in, or wireless in view mode, or battery saving audio-only mode.
Older Child Monitoring
We’ve found that monitoring your older child is useful for a variety of reasons. Therefore, rather than taking your child off the monitor when they’re past the point of “needing” to be monitoring, we prefer to increase the number of monitors in our home.
1. Bedroom Monitoring
When your child graduates to big-kid status, and all the perks of being a big kid (like having their own room), there’s always the chance that they will also try everything imaginable to avoid sleeping in their room at night. For example, your child may take the opportunity to quietly catch up on some quality playtime in their room, or find countless reasons not to go to bed (“I need to go potty,” “I need a snack,” “There’s a monster in the closet,” etc.) Or, you may have a child that enjoys sneaking out of bed undetected and creeping all the way downstairs before getting caught and carried back up to bed. The Motorola MBP36XL-2 can help you keep an eye and ear out for all of your child’s creativity when it comes to bedtime.
2. Around the House
We’ve installed one of our monitors downstairs in the living room, which also captures any activity in the kitchen and playroom where we spend 90% of our day. If the kids are playing nicely together, we’ve been known to slip upstairs to throw some makeup on or put away a load of laundry without bringing the entire ensemble. With the monitor on, Mom can get what she needs to get done, talk to the kids if they have a question, or call them out if they’re getting into something they shouldn’t be (like getting ice cream before dinner).
And because these monitors can be used wirelessly, you can always move them around the house as you need them to view your kids throughout the day.
Do you love the Motorola MBP36XL-2?
Is one of the babies you’ll be monitoring a newborn? Check out these 10 Items That Make Life with a Newborn Easier!
