Review: Lindam Clarity Digital Video Monitor

A baby monitor is one of those things few parents could live without – after all, we spend most of our time when our babies are tiny trying to get them to go to sleep, and then most of the time when they are asleep fretting about whether or not they are OK!  Being able to hear their baby – or even better see him or her – gives parents the reassurance and peace of mind they need to relax and get on with things while the little one sleeps.

When the lovely folks at Lindam offered to let me trial the Lindam Clarity Digital Video Monitor, I jumped at the chance.  Even though Bubs is two we still use a baby monitor every night and I sleep much easier myself knowing I will hear him if he cries.  Lately he has been difficult to settle for naps and sometimes for bed in the evenings and because I find it so stressful to leave him crying I felt it would make things easier if I could see him and satisfy myself as to whether he was genuinely upset or just trying it on!

The monitor comes in two parts – a compact parent unit and a larger camera/baby unit that comes with its own stand.  The latter was easy to assemble even without using the instructions and comes with an AC cable for plugging in, although it can also operate off batteries if you aren’t near a power supply.  The parent unit requires no assembly and comes with a rechargeable lithium battery plus an AC cable for charging – you can also leave it plugged in if necessary, and it has a fold-out stand for positioning it on a table or other surface.

The monitor is easy to set up – simply place the camera on a flat surface or mount it on the wall so that you can see your baby’s sleeping area on the parent unit’s large screen.  The unit switches on at the flick of a switch and an unobtrusive red light indicates that it has a power supply.  There is also a dim, red night light that operates with a push button.  The camera automatically switches between full colour and infra red (night vision) mode depending on the light level in your baby’s room.

The parent unit switches on with a roll switch at the side and you can adjust the volume with the same control.  You can switch between three modes at the touch of a button: ‘Automute Off’ shows video continuously and transmits all sound from the nursery; ‘Automute On’ shows video continuously but turns the speaker off when there are periods of silence in the nursery (so you only hear sound when your child makes a noise); and ‘Vox’ mode turns both the screen and the speaker off when there are periods of silence in the nursery, switching both back on when your child makes a noise. The parent unit also allows you to play music remotely from the baby unit – there are three different melodies to choose from and you can start or stop the music or flick between melodies easily.  If you play music in ‘Automute On’ mode, the unit will automatically change to ‘Automute Off”.  The parent unit also has noise level LEDs which show the sound level in the room even when the volume is turned down.  Screen brightness can be adjusted with two buttons on the side of the unit, and the unit shows a green ‘link’ LED when it is within range of the baby unit – the light turns red and the unit will beep a warning if it goes out of range.

I found this monitor extremely easy to use – the controls are simple and I didn’t need to use the instruction manual to figure it out.  I loved being able to see Bubs as he settled down to sleep and we have spent quite a bit of time just watching him on the screen!  I also really liked the fact that the parent unit has rechargeable batteries and no base unit as this meant we could carry it with us around the house.  We left it plugged in overnight however as the manual says the battery life is approximately six hours from a full charge – this could be a criticism of the product if you were somewhere that had no access to mains power.

The lullaby feature was also a huge plus for us – we have used a wind-up music box since birth for Bubs and have already had to replace it once, so being able to switch it on and off without going into his room is brilliant for us, as is the fact that there’s no mechanism to wear out.  I also liked having the three different modes – we have used the monitor mainly in ‘Automute On’ which is excellent as it eliminates any static while still allowing us to have the monitor turned up as loud as we want – with our own monitor we have to turn it down really low to get rid of the static buzzing and it’s difficult to hear Bubs unless he is really crying.  At night I use ‘Vox’ mode as this turns the screen off as well – otherwise it’s quite bright when we are trying to sleep ourselves.

The monitor picks up sound well and both the audio and visual transmission is clear with only minimal static – which I suspect is caused by the myriad electrical devices we use around the house.  The range is good as well; it does sometimes drop out of range briefly but this is easily resolved by adjusting the position slightly.  I’ve tried it all over the house and it works in every room, plus I’ve used it outside albeit reasonably close to the house, which is perfect for catching a few rays while baby naps or eating alfresco after bedtime.

I only have one real gripe with this product – I was disappointed that there was no bracket for attaching the camera to the cot.  Placing it on a piece of furniture made it awkward to get a good view of the cot while for me, wall-mounting is a very rigid solution and impractical for travel.  It also makes it nearly impossible to position the camera close enough to your baby to give the same reassurance as a monitor with a sensor pad, for example.  A simple bracket similar to those used for attaching a cot mobile to the bars would have worked brilliantly.  Friends who have this monitor use a flexible tripod to attach theirs and it works well but I felt something should have been included in the price.  The only other thing I would change would be to have the option to turn the lullaby function on from the baby unit as well as the parent one – I always turn the music on before I leave the room and it’s annoying having to bring the parent unit with me when I put Bubs to bed.

Other than that I think the product is fantastic and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to other mums – in fact I wish we’d had one when Bubs was a newborn as I think I would have saved myself a lot of heartache by being able to watch him when he was having trouble settling to sleep or stirring in the night.  It would definitely have helped me to work out when to rush into the nursery and when to leave him for a moment or two to drop off by himself.  Retailing at around £120 I think the product is a worthwhile investment for anybody with a new baby.  For further information visit www.lindam.com.