Baby monitor for twins?

[littlehead]

Hi,
We have twins due around Christmas (before most likely!) and are looking into baby monitors. We are interested in the ones that have cameras but I would love to know your advice on reliable devices that are also suitable to use when you have two babies to keep an eye on!
Thanks.

[chrisbarnes]

Hi littlehead,

Thanks for your post. CHOICE reviewed baby monitors just a few months ago. We tested 31 models; some audio-only and some with video capability, plus three that are compatible with Apple and/or Android phones and tablets and usable via a home wireless network or the mobile 3G network. The article lists the recommended models and things to look for in a baby monitor.

With twins, obviously you'll want to monitor both babies at once. I assume they'll be sleeping in the same room and reasonably close together, so a single audio monitor placed between them (no more than about one metre from each child) should work well to pick up any sounds from either child.

For video, you could try positioning a camera to cover both babies, but most monitors’ cameras have a limited field of view so this could be difficult. Check the video image in store if possible to see how it might work in your nursery. Often you can remotely change the camera angle so that might be an option for checking on one baby then the other, but I expect you’d like to be able to see both at once.

Instead of trying to watch both babies with one camera, a better option would be a model that allows multiple cameras to connect to a single parent unit. Many video monitors allow this, so that you can monitor several children or rooms at the same time. With these models you can often buy a bundled set of two cameras and one parent unit. The screen on the parent’s unit can be set to cycle between the cameras automatically, or you can do it manually as needed, or in some cases it can show multiple views at the same time by splitting the screen.

We didn't test any in multiple camera mode, but of the models we tested, these can be set up or purchased with additional cameras:
Luvion Grand Elite Premium
Motorola MBP36
Hestia H100-MFSA
Uniden BW2101
Withings Smart Baby Monitor WBP01
iBaby Monitor M3

All these have their pros and cons (outlined in our article) but they scored well overall. You mentioned reliability; our tests cover performance when new, but we don’t test long term reliability.

There are several other baby monitors on the market that also support multiple cameras, but we didn't test them all – there are too many on the market for us to cover everything.

Best wishes for the arrival of the twins!