Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Leslie -
    
    My "high tech" friends gave me a SONY, which also costs $50.  I cannot
    compare it to the other models, but I suspect the differences are not
    all that great.
    
    Our SONY worked great, but I got to where I could hear the baby without
    the monitor.  It might depend on how far away the baby's room is from
    yours.  
    
    I suspect that one difference might be in the amount of "noise"
    generated.  I had to turn the dial low because the monitor was very
    sensitive and picked up all of the noises in the room.
    
    I believe they are all portable - put batteries in the remote and take
    it outside, etc.  I didn't use that feature much.
    
    If purchasing my own I'd probably go with a brand name, but otherwise
    keep it inexpensive.
    
    Mary
    
    
    

     I was given a Gerry monitor as a gift.   I have seen it at Sears for
    $29.95.  If I had to buy one myself, I probably would have purchased
    the  Fisher Price for twice that amount, simply because I would have
    thought that more expensive=better quality.  But the Gerry monitor is
    great.  I can't imagine what the more expensive models can do that it
    doesn't.  I like it so much I bought one for a gift for someone and it
    wasn't just to save money.  I actually like the looks of the Gerry as
    compared to the Fisher Price monitor.
    

    I have the Fisher Price monitor & like that one a lot.  The one good
    feature that it has is that it has a light system on it so that when
    the child is making noise and you have company, loud music or tv, etc
    you can see the baby making noise.  I really like that feature!
    
    Sonia

    We found the Gerry monitor worked very well -- it allowed me to
    work in my basement office and still hear the baby in the second
    floor room. 
    
    --bonnie

    I have the Playskool model, it too is a nice one. I put batteries in
    it a year ago and never had to change them. I only used it over the
    spring and summer months when we sat out in the yard and the baby was
    napping. They are great to have for that reason and for people with 2
    level homes. Otherwise I never used it in the house because I could her
    her just fine without it. It has been through being dropped to rained
    on outside and it's still looks new and works great!
    
    Sandy

    Ours is the Fisher Price, I believe.  The feature I like is that there
    is a bar of lights that correspond to the volume of noise being picked
    up.  When you are doing something noisy, you can just look at the
    lights and see if there's any "activity".  Also, if you turn the volume 
    down, the blinking lights (from ambient house sounds) are reminder to 
    turn it up later. 
    
    We've been very happy with it. 

    We also have the Fisher Price, received as a gift.  I agree with some
    of the previous entries - the LED display that allows you to see that
    the baby is crying without the volume being turned up.  One comment,
    though, and I think this might be for any model.  Every now and then we
    pick up our neighbors who also have a monitor.  We heard a baby crying
    (more like wailing) one night and I ran upstairs only to find Jackie
    sound asleep.  My husband didn't believe me until it happened to him. 
    We first heard about this from friends of ours who picked up neighbors
    on their monitor.  We didn't believe it then, and found it quite
    humorous.  Well, it does happen (and it still is humorous!).
    
    Mary
    

    I think one of the differences that coresponds to price is also
    distance from transmitter to receiver.  It's been so long since we've
    even used ours, I can't even remember what sort of distance ours had,
    or for that matter I can't even remember the brand.  We used to be able
    to go outside in the yard, and take the transmitter quite a distance
    from the house and still hear noises quite well.
    
    As for .7, my sister inlaw had almost an identical incident.  She had
    given a neighbor accross the street a baby monitor identical to hers. 
    She went tearing upstairs when she heard "the baby" wailing, only to
    find her darling sleeping, when she suddenly realized she was hearing
    her neigbor's voice comforting their own baby!  Fortunately I've never
    had such a ?wonderful? experience with ours!
    
    Lyn

re: .7, .8

See note 400

Clay

    Thanks for all the input.  
    
    Well, MUCH to my surprise, a shower was held for me today at work, and
    we were given the Fisher Price!  I'm psyched.
    
    Thanks again,
    
    Leslie