VTech DM221 Audio Baby Monitor with up to 1,000 ft of Range, Vibrating Sound-Alert, Talk Back Intercom & Night Light Loop, White/Silver

This product works great for us! We use it to monitor our labrador at night. She lightly barks when she needs to go outside for the restroom. We bought this because we all know dogs eat stuff that can upset their stomach and we had a couple of accidents on the floor and so we decided to purchase this product. Last night at 1:30 AM I heard her on the monitor and immediately ran downstairs to let her out. She ran for her potty spot outside immediately and had an awful bowel experience that thankfully was not on the floor in the house. This product paid for itself right there and I know had we not had the monitor there would’ve been poop all over the floor. We also use it for when we take care of our grand children who are sleeping. This was an excellent purchase for us and worth $39 easily.!

I must say that I have been extremely pleased with this baby monitor. I purchased this when I had a second child and needed to be able to hear the noises coming from both rooms (the children are on the second floor while we are on the first so a monitor is an absolute must). I originally ordered a Sony monitor which was identical to the one we had for our oldest. When I set it up the whole thing didnt work, so I went back to the drawing board to hunt up a new one. Here are my pros and cons for this monitor: Pros: I love that this is digital. My other monitor was not and its quite a bit noisier, not what I want in the middle of the night. The VTech monitor is very quiet so all I hear are the noises the baby makes and a light white noise sound in the background. The range of the monitor is better than our old one, so I can have it right on my night stand instead of just outside my bedroom door like the old one was. Its really quite easy to use, fairly self explanatory. The walkie talkie feature is handy to have, as a couple times I needed to communicate with my husband to bring something up for me in the middle of the night. As the baby gets older I anticipate using this to communicate with him. I loved the price. These ended up being cheaper than the Sony that I originally bought and I like them so much more. Cons: The only thing I can really think of as a con is the fact that sometimes the signal is randomly disrupted and the parent receiver will start beeping. Sometimes it keeps on beeping until I turn it off and turn it back on. Not so bad in the middle of the day, not so fun in the middle of the night. But Im sure this happens with all of the monitors. If you are looking for a monitor that wont break the bank and works quietly and efficiently, this is the one for you.

I think this is a wonderful monitor. There are 2 things I would change if possible, but overall this is the best audio monitor Ive used - and Ive tried 6 different models. 1. This monitor is sound-activated. It only transmits when a sound louder than the ambient background noise is picked up. You can change the sensitivity level, and the highest sensitivity level is very sensitive, but I would still love the option to just have an open channel. Id like to be able to hear my little one breathing (the old monitor this Vtech replaced allowed that). 2. Every time you hit a button, the unit beeps. Even when changing the volume level. I would prefer the option to turn off the key beeps. I like to change the volume or sensitivity in the middle of the night to just check in on the baby, and the beeping of the buttons could wake your parter/spouse if they are a light sleeper. Other than these 2 minor wants, this is a great audio monitor. It is the only one of the 6 models I tried that did not have any interference/buzz/hum/static in our house. Our old monitor started losing its signal constantly and buzzing when we got a new wireless router. We got this Vtech to replace it. We just had a second child, and I was concerned that getting a second Vtech monitor would be a problem - the monitor links automatically and you cant change channels at will. I worried that the two units would cross-link or interfere with each other - no such problems. The two parent units connect to the correct baby units without any issues or interference. We just put name stickers on each of the parent units to tell them apart. And they worked this perfectly right out of the box. I also love the talkback feature. If I am busy with the baby and my toddler wakes up & calls for me, I can use the talkback feature to tell him Ill be there in a minute or to tell him he can come find me in the living room. That is great for slightly older kids.

**Update 1/5/2016** Since my below review we have used this many more times and Im happy to report that this is still a very solid performer. The range is great, baby noise comes through clear, and my previous complaint about the talk button being easy to press hasnt been a big deal. Four stars remain well deserved. **Original Review 4/18/2015** We have a nice Angelcare monitor that we use at home but wanted something simple we could take with us when traveling to our parents and friends houses. The VTech fit the bill budget wise and after one 5 day trip we have been really happy. Other reviews have done a great job saying what this unit does well so I wont waste time here reiterating those opinions as I agree with them. Couple of cons that I wanted to mention just to keep in mind before you buy, but note I would still buy this product again knowing this so I do like the product a lot. - Battery life on the wireless unit is not great. You will have to charge during awake time at least once during the day if not more. - No battery on the unit that is in the nursery. Minor concern for me since we are used to power outages which would render this useless. How many times is that going to happen though? Not a huge deal. - Biggest complaint is the talk button on the side of the parent unit is extremely easy to press when grabbing the unit. If you wear this on your belt or pocket then when you grab it you will almost certainly press the talk button which will send whatever noise is going on around you straight to the unit by your sleeping baby. Not ideal. Again, Im rating this as 4 stars so obviously I am happy with the unit. For the price, I think youd be hard pressed to find a better option and considering our needs it is near perfect. It is really compact and fits in a pair of shoes easily for simple packing.

I dont need to be in the area to here what happening. I use the monitor as a security device in my garage, its about 300 feet away.

We’ve been using these monitors since our child was born four years ago… we only just now needed to buy a replacement bc the parent unit sound would go in and out (regardless of being plugged in or not, or fully charged). Great monitors! Works well and has longevity.

Me gustó pero la mayor razón por lo que lo pedí fue porque creí que podía usarlos sin que estuvieran conectados al cable. El monitor del bebe a fuerza debe estar conectado.

We love this baby monitor! It works great. The sound is clear. The battery life is excellent, and we love the intercom feature. We do think that the warning that (loudly) comes on when turning the parent unit on is annoying, however, we finally found a way around that. This would make a great baby shower gift, too.

I use this to keep an ear out for my grandmother when shes sleeping and the ability to have 2-way communication is a bonus.

Weve had 2 sets the Sony Baby Call (NTM-910) analog monitor (not this monitor) for the life of all of our children (7 years). The analog monitors could be turned up to be crazy loud, where even a low voice comes through to the parent monitor as a very loud voice. We bought this VTech digital monitor for the range, as our analog monitors would loose connection and beep often when we were in our back yard. This monitor holds the link great - weve never seen it lost, but ... the volume pales in comparison to the analog monitors. A crying baby would be picked up, no problem, but a 2 year old that is potty training and calls for us with her normal voice comes through, even at the highest sensitivity and volume, comes through to the parent unit as a tiny 2 year old voice. If we are watching a loud movie, or in a deep sleep, we are not going to hear our daughter call for us, and that is a problem. Im going to try to carve out the plastic around the mic hole to increase sensitivity - I will update this review to let you know how it goes. Until then, its back to the Sony analog monitors, which I recommend if you have a small to medium sized house and dont mind re-positioning the monitor occasionally to get back the link. For what its worth, we also purchased the Philips Avent (SCD510) digital monitor and it has the same volume problem. I gave a 4-star rating because it is a great monitor, aside from not able to increase to mega volume level. Perhaps there is a technical reason that digital monitors cannot increase the volume that loud, I dont know, but these dont work for us. *** Update: As mentioned above, I tried to carve out the plastic around the mic hole to increase sensitivity. No luck. Still not loud enough for us.