Summer Infant MultiView Baby Monitor Review

When Sammy was a baby, we invested in a generic audio baby monitor for his room.  Being the paranoid helicopter momma that I am, every little sound resulted in me dashing from bed to check on him.  The majority of the time, he was perfectly fine and sound asleep - until I opened the door and woke him up, that is.  He never really learned how to self-soothe, and more than two years later he still has trouble sleeping through the night - seeking me out as soon as he wakes up.

Enter Summer Infant's Multi View Digital Color Video Monitor Set.  The wonderful people at Summer Infant sent me this monitor to review for you all, and I am thoroughly impressed.  This fantastic monitor has so many great features that I have no idea why we didn't invest in this a long time ago.

Easy to Set Up

The instruction booklet included with the MultiView Monitor is very straightforward and easy to follow.  An important detail when you're as scatter-brained as I tend to be.  The package comes with two cameras and a video monitor, as well as chargers for all three.  After plugging them in, you simply hold down the power button for a few seconds until the Summer logo appears.  Ta-Da!  

There are a couple of different ways to ensure that you get the best view of your baby -  either tabletop (flat-surface) mounting or wall mounting.  You can see in the picture below that we have ours mounted to the wall above her crib.  Summer Infant recommends placing the camera at least 3 feet away to prevent strangulation and all those other things that come from having a cord too close to a baby!

No Buzzing or Background Noise

This is perhaps one of my favorite features.  Summer Infant has developed a way to save battery life, and reduce the ambient background noise that comes from most audio monitors.  By having an automatic mute function, background noises are silenced as long as the room is quiet.  As soon as the monitor detects even the slightest sound, the mute function is turned off and sound comes through the receiver.  

Great Picture Quality

The 3.5 inch LCD color screen shows all the details you could want from a baby monitor.  With night-vision, the color turns to black and white automatically.  I was a little concerned about this at first, but it turns out that more details are shown from the black and white than the color views.

I love that there isn't a delay in the video feed, giving me a real time view of my baby.  There is no choppy  lag causing the video to jump around; it is fluid enough to be able to watch Kaya breathing - an important detail.  

There are several settings with the handheld monitor that allows for different views.  Because the set comes with two cameras, we were able to test out the multi-room feature.  The monitor offers a spit screen view in which you can view both cameras simultaneously.  With the push of a button, you can select one specific camera, and then zoom in even further to get a better look at the baby.

Wireless Handheld Monitor

The monitor can be unplugged from the wall and carried with you from room to room.  It boasts a long battery life (up to ten hours).  There is an option to turn the video feed off and on, with audio still playing, so there is no needless video feed playing.  The range for the camera to monitor is 600 feet, an amazing distance for the feed to stay so clear.  The set comes with a belt clip for easy carrying, and is extremely convenient for cleaning the house while the baby is sleeping.

The Summer Infant Multi-View Digital Color Monitor can be found at Target for $269.99 or on Amazon for $199.99.  

Disclosure: I was given a free sample of this product to review. However, all opinions are my own.