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

We originally registered for a video monitor for our nursery and got it, but once the baby came, we realized it was really inconvenient not to have a monitor in our bedroom since he was sleeping in there in his bassinet. We also found ourselves needing a monitor when we went to our families lake house and wanted to sit on the patio after putting him to bed in our bedroom. These monitors are fantastic. The baby monitor has to be plugged in, but the parent monitor does not. It has chargeable batteries. My mom had an older model from vtech and the parent monitor has to be plugged in too. We love that the parent monitor is able to be charged and portable. It creates so much more flexibility. I find myself putting my ear to the monitor to make sure it is still working even though it is linked, but every time Im linked and realize what a great feature it is, they dont make the background noice like a sleep machine loud on the parent monitor, it only reacts when a loud noice happens like the baby moves or cries out which makes trying to hold a conversation so much easier. I would highly recommend these monitors. IT has been key while our 4 month old continues to sleep in our room and any trip they are the first thing we pack into the diaper bag. Hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

Ive had them now for 10 years! My son and I use it as a one-way walkie talkie now lol so I dont have to yell for him to come up for dinner. I know Ill have to get rid of them soon, but man have they come in handy all this time. I just realized I never posted a review and should have.

First time parents: No matter what is written you will likely be like us and never trust a baby monitor those first few hours of sleep at a time, but once you get comfortable with knowing you will be woke up, this monitor will be your best friend. WE all know what these do, so here is the best way to describe our experience (Kiddo is now 18 months old) Pros: 1) The feature that it is silent all the time unless triggered to send sound to the parent unit is a little worrisome at first (notice I put this as a pro), but once you are more comfortable with your babys lungs ability to trigger this, it is awesome, because you dont get all the little grunts and sniffs that they make. Our biggest problem was any sound we heard when we shared a room (never bed!) with our kiddo was we were waking up and holding our breath waiting for the cry. So this feature once you are sleeping in different rooms is awesome so you only get woke if there is any real sound. We keep they mic within about 15 feet of the crib and it ALWAYS gets every sounds. All cries, all babbles, and a loud sneeze maybe, but besides that we sleep peacefully as long as she is. 2) Range: Good not great. We didnt have high hopes, this is not a 5-mile 2-way radio, but we do live in the country and doing lawn chores during a nap keeps us within about 100 feet of the house. But that leads to next pro: 3) Sound- level 5 has great volume. If you can sleep through a baby crying at that level you probably have taken too many sleeping pills or need to get checked for sleep apnea! 4) Light bar that shows sound intensity when volume is muted. Once we got to the let er cry it out bedtimes, we could do other things rather than listen to a baby scream but still keep an eye on her. This is great especially if you have a partner who is trying to sleep while you worry. WORRY AWAY IN SILENCE! 5) It has lasted 18 months as still works as a receiver well, but that is the one biggest con now--- CONS: 1) This may have been our fault from being on a road trip vacation in the summer, but after being in the car for a couple days, when we got to our destination and plugged it back in (this is after having it about 6 months), the display was burnt out for all but a couple bars. We already had the set up all done and with the different tones when you are at max/min volumes we can still set the volume, but we are doing this by ear, not display. 2) Battery life is questionable on the parent unit. It worked great at first and one thing that makes it last longer is the PRO #1 where it doesnt always pick up background static unless there is sound from baby. But we did have a fan on in her room for the nights, and we noticed this white noise did cause the monitor to pick up sound more often, which would make sense that it would use the battery more. We keep the monitor plugged in 24/7 unless we are taking it our of our bedroom during nap time or on vacation, so I guess 18 months of use and battery that lasts a few hours is probably pretty decent. Overall good product and while some bells and whistles havent maintained, its true purpose, which is to lower your worry and increase your sleep, has been flawless the last 18 months!

Good

Todo bueno

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.!

Great product

This works fine, and does the job for which I procured it. I should point out that I am not using it in the traditional way - i.e., to monitor a baby. Rather I am using it to monitor a dog that has a pronounced fear of thunderstorms (not unusual for dogs). I crate my dogs at night in another part of the house. If a thunderstorm arises during the night, my dog will panic and try desperately to escape her (wire) crate. The baby monitor allows me to keep tabs on her during the night, if thunderstorms are likely (I dont use it every night) and I will be awakened by her attempts to escape and can come to her rescue. The baby monitor sender and receiver link with no problems (theyre about 30 feet apart through interior walls). Sound quality is very good, and there is no background noise. So the only time you hear anything from the receiver is when there is actually sound being picked up by the sending unit. The sensitivity can be adjusted to pick up very small sounds or to only pick up louder sounds. My only complaint is that turning the receiver ON and OFF isnt easy. The directions say to Press and hold the power button to turn the unit ON, and Press and hold the power button to turn the unit OFF. However, there is no visual indication of power ON or OFF, and no feedback letting you know which state the unit is in. So it can be a bit tricky to turn it ON, but especially to turn it OFF. A minor annoyance, to be sure, but it points out a design flaw - it should be easier to turn the unit ON/OFF, and there should be a more definitive feedback indicating what state the unit is in.

Just buy it, you know you will use it. We also have a camera but this helps with sound since the camera isnt the best running all the time.

Distance was about 40-40 feet. Voice is clear and no buzzing or random noise from either end