As a mum of a very energetic 14 month old I am always looking forward to the next nap time. Time that I can put my feet up, sit back and take 5 minutes for a breather before jumping into the million things I need to do before he wakes up again. I have found of late that he has started to push the boundaries in nap times. i.e not going to sleep or creating havoc by reaching over to the change table and pulling the nappies out of the basket and throwing them all over the place. I only had a sound baby monitor in our room and knew a "pair of eyes" in the room would be helpful to see what was going on. Enter the Uniden Baby Watch Monitor {BW31xx}

I was given the opportunity recently to trial and review this monitor. As I was having troubles with J.D during nap time I knew I couldn't pass up the chance to see how it would go. Let me give you the "specs" of this monitor:

The BW31xx has a large 4.3'' colour screen - no more squinting trying to figure out what you're looking at. I found this particular helpful that I was able to take a quick glance at the screen to see what J.D was up to.
Has the normal features of: Temperature and time displayed on the screen.
Eyes to see: Two cameras come with this unit which is a God send as if you have two children you can set one up in each bedroom or one in the bedroom and one in the play area - it means you will have eyes everywhere!
Ears to hear: Each camera is set up with audio capability allowing you to hear your child cry if they are hurt, giggle if they are happy or whatever it is that they do!
Lips to speak: Each camera is also set with a microphone allowing you to "hear" you child as I mentioned above but it also has a "walkie talkie" function allowing parents to communicate with each other in different areas of the home.
Baby Watch Skype: This is the crowning glory of this monitor. By downloading the skype application through your smart phone it allows you to remotely connect securely to your monitor allowing you to see, hear and watch your little one from anywhere in the world. This application also allows you to talk to your child.
It also has features of 'smart motion detection' turning the display screen on if any motion is detected, infrared camera for night time viewing and nightlight and lullabies built into the cameras.

What I thought:

I have been using this monitor coming up to three weeks now (at the time of writing this) and can I say I just love it. I am not saying that because I have too, it's because I want to. The first day of watching J.D do his going to sleep routine helped me figure out things that he was doing and also reprimand him quickly if he started throwing nappies around. I had eyes in the room at long last and was able to monitor him during his sleep as well. It was freeing to be able to do this. It gave me a little bit more peace of mind being able to see him as I went about my chores during the day. This would have been very helpful in the early stages after he was born. I remember constantly having to pop my head into his room to check on him and sometimes I would inadvertently end up waking him because the door creaked to much or he saw me if he was not asleep yet.

One thing I did find with the monitor though it did not have a huge range if you took it outside. As we live on an acre property this is probably an extreme example, however for most suburban blocks there will be more than enough range to walk around your house and outside. To point out one more thing this is a monitor only, it is not going to sensor your child's breathing as it does not have sensor mats and you would have to invest in something else to do that.

If you are looking to invest in a monitor why not consider the Uniden Baby Watch Monitor... It truly gives you peace of mind! RRP $249.95.

For stockists visit Uniden Australia or call 1300 366 895.

I am sorry if I am flooding you with reviews of late. These have been backlogged for a while since I have been either reading, glueing or trying different things out over the past few months and have finally found time to sit down and write about them. In future I will be keeping reviews down to once a month for your sanity and mine! Although I do enjoy telling you about new products, books, wines and paint. It's good to get an opinion off someone who has tried it, read it or used it to see what they think and feel about something.

{Disclosure: I was given the Uniden Baby Watch Monitor to trial and was not paid to write this post. All opinions are my own}