How Baby Monitors Can Help

Baby monitors could be considered a necessity these days. It helps parents “watch” over their babies while doing other chores around the house. It’s an extra pair of ears or eyes for the mother as she washes clothes or cooks meals away from the baby. It really is a handy tool when there is a baby in the house.

HOW THE MONITOR WORKS
A baby monitor, otherwise known as a baby alarm, is a type of radio device that picks up sound that the baby makes. It is a set that has a base transmitter and a receiver. The base transmitter is placed in the nursery near the baby while the receiver can be carried around with the parent. A video monitor is also a portable device that has a receiver that can be carried around as well. It is imperative that whatever device is chosen, it should be tested first.

There are a lot of factors that can cause interference in the transmission of sounds including terrain, walls, and interference from other devices such as computers or wireless phones. A model that offers more than one frequency range is a good choice for problems such as these. If the unit will be used for longer periods of time, an AC adapter may be used to avoid frequent battery change.

TYPES OF BABY MONITORS
Audio monitors can have multiple channels to reduce interference, a light that indicates low battery, and volume control. A LED display allows the sound to be “seen”, and there are those that feature and out-of-range signal also. Usually, the transmitter is plugged in a socket and placed near the baby in a stationary position while the receiver is battery operated and can be clipped on since it can be brought anywhere with the parent.

Video monitors make it possible to see and hear the infant on a TV screen. These types often use infrared technology that allows the parent to see the nursery even in total darkness. A video monitor has a better advantage of allowing the parent to watch over the baby because sometimes the baby might not make a sound while fast asleep while it might be covered by her blanket or whatever accidents might occur.

Another type of monitor includes intercom monitors that allow for communication with others in the house with just a single push of a button and also transmits the baby’s sounds. It has sound lights which “shows” when the baby stirs. A digital monitor offers the greatest privacy. The signal is encoded so that only the parent can hear and no one else can. A more powerful unit, the 900 MHz/2.4 GHz Monitor, provides superior sound quality and has a much longer range than the conventional monitor.

For Recommendations, I would definitely go for the Philips Avent Basic Baby Monitor with DECT Technology as most of my baby products are Philips. I'm not endorsing the product, just based on my experience. But if you're on a budget and still looking for a quality baby monitor, I'd go for Sony BabyCall Nursery Monitor with Receivers as it has almost the same quality as the Philips brand.

Cleaning Baby’s Bottles

Being a mother to a beautiful baby girl for over a year now has made me learn a couple of things, the more important ones being learning how to make use of our money well and how to have patience with her. This can only be understood by mommies just like me or those people who are raising kids not their own such as aunts or grandmas. I’m also the youngest among five siblings which makes me the aunt to, I think that’s about nine kids now.

Before I got married and had a child of my own, I was always asked to babysit my older brothers and older sister’s kids. This was not something I loved most because babies and toddlers can get really tiring for a while, especially when I had to babysit them for a month straight (that’s what my sister always made me do). The thing that also made me cringe at times was because my sister wouldn’t let me go out with my girlfriends at night so that the following day I would have been well-rested to watch over her kids. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t making a slave out of me or something like that. She was taking up baking lessons at the time, and me being single and done with school, was the only available ready help at hand.

These experiences with kids has helped in the “training” that I sort of underwent into becoming a mother myself today. But what I loved the most with my role as a nanny back then was making sure that the stuff of the kids were clean. I finished with a Degree in Nursing, and when you study nursing, you practice what you learned at school even outside hospital duty.

I love washing their clothes, with my bare hands at that. I also loved washing their baby bottles. The thing I liked least was changing dirty diapers.

Anyhow, now that I’m a mother, I’m keener on learning how to care more for the baby and her needs. What I am very cautious about is the baby’s health. I make sure that her things are clean, immaculate if they can be. Aside from learning to meet her needs, I also try to find ways to do so without going overboard on our budget.

This simple and very cheap tip I learned from my brother through his baby’s pediatrician is this: clean baby’s bottles using salt. Yes, salt! Just a pinch and add about an ounce of water. What I do is rinse the bottle first and make sure that every part is properly run with water. After that I put the pinch of salt inside the bottle, add water, and mix it for about ten seconds. I rinse that off and place it in my Chicco Sterilizer (which can sterilize up to 8 bottles at a time).

Salt is very cheap and widely available, so it’s very helpful to our budget. With my husband the sole breadwinner for our small family, I try my best to do my part by helping him make the most out of his income. Salt for my baby’s bottle as a cleaner has proven to be effective. But I always make sure that her bottles are sterilized properly.

Aside from Chicco Sterilizer, I would also recommend Philips AVENT Electric Steam Sterilizer

My baby bottles are all AVENT. The price might be a bit high but it's really worth it.

What to Look for When Planning to Buy A Baby Stroller

A baby stroller is something that parents must buy when expecting a baby or when already with one. It is also on top of the list as gift during baby showers. Strollers come in very handy in a lot of situations and can have many uses that it definitely is worth the expense, very well considered a parent’s best friend. However, with so many brands already out in the market, and with still newer companies popping up, how do you choose the right baby stroller for you?

Among the many names that come up when it comes to durable and quality baby strollers are Graco, Chicco, Bugaboo, and Abiie but these are just a few of the many names out there. Not only will a parent have to decide which brand to use, the styles and the colors are so plentiful that it can really take some time to choose one if you don’t have anything set on your mind. So what do you look for when it comes to buying a baby stroller? The following factors are some important considerations before purchase.

1. Its use. Are you going to need a stroller that you’ll just have a slow walk with, like in taking the baby to the mall or a walk in the park? Or do you jog regularly that you need one that you can take along? Are you a bookworm or are you someone who can’t leave the house without bringing everything but the kitchen sink that you need a bigger storage space in the stroller?

2. Ease and convenience. You need to look for a stroller that will not give you and your husband a lot of fuss in storing the baby stroller and then putting it out again. Do you have your own vehicle or do you take the bus or the train? You will need something that is very easy to handle and very convenient for you as you take a ride in public utility vehicles.

3. Safety. The most important factor of all, you need to look for a baby stroller that offers the best protection for your baby while mobile. There are a lot of baby strollers that have certain safety features and these are something that you need to pay attention to.

These are the most essential things to watch out for when buying a baby stroller. Of course, you can always find one that suits your need.

Here are some baby strollers I would definitely recommend.

1.) Affordable + Durable + Babydeck = Abiie G2G BabyDeck Stroller

2.) Durable + Multipurpose = Graco Alano Snugride 22 Travel System

3.) Affordable = The First Years Jet Stroller