The view from Vienna – with the Withings baby monitor

Four days in Vienna sounds like fun (even if I was going there for work rather than pleasure…). And of course, it was very enjoyable, with the chance to take in some of the sights and experiences, as well as consuming rather a lot of beer, wine and schnitzel…oh, and a big lump of sacher torte, too!
But despite the novelty of four days with a bed to myself and the potential for a decent nights sleep, there was one view that I was really going to miss – the sight of two cheeky little faces greeting me in the morning. Much as I like having a whole bed to myself,  I do also like having a cuddly Bubby D or a sleepy Wee Man snuggled up next to me in the night sometimes too.

My one consolation was that we have the Withings baby monitor installed in Bubby D’s room. And unlike many baby monitors, it doesn’t have a limited range – in fact, incredible as it seemed, it promised the opportunity to be able to monitor Bubby D all the way from my hotel room, hundreds of miles away!

It works using bluetooth and wireless, through an app on the iPhone, iPad or android devices; and not only can you hear what’s going on, you can also see and even interact – turning on lullabies, switching a nightlight on and off (which has a whole range of rainbow colours to choose from) and even speak to your little one using the parent talkback function. The app monitors not just sound but motion, temperature and humidity too, and can be set to send alerts if any of these get a little too high, loud or wiggly.

So first things first,  I decided to check it worked with me actually in the house. Getting it out of the box, I was impressed with its sturdiness, clean simple lines and neutral white colour. The box also contained a power lead (which can be left plugged in to the monitor or used to charge it’s built in battery), a cot clip to mount the monitor easily at the top of the cot, a travel bag and an instruction manual – which basically just says ‘get it out, plug it in, install the app, GO!’.

So that’s what I did. It took a little bit of fiddling with the app to understand how it all works, but basically within a matter of minutes I was watching a view of the television (I was trying it out downstairs first while I figured out the settings) through my phone! The Other Half was quite pleased with this and suggested I could leave it there so he could watch tv wherever he went in the house, through his phone – the app for one monitor can be used on up to three devices at once, and you can also connect up to three monitors to one app if you have multiple children too – but I quickly vetoed that idea.

Instead, I installed it in it’s intended location – the end of Bubby D’s cot. She was just going to bed, so it was the perfect time to test out the night video which uses infrared.

Initially I was confused, as the picture was intermittent, only showing for a couple of seconds before blanking out again. It was also focused to the right. A quick swipe of the screen readjusted the focus to the centre once I’d had a little think about it and realised that was the likely solution, but the intermittency was a bit more puzzling. The instruction manual shed no light on this, so I consulted Withings online FAQ’s, which are very comprehensive. Working through the troubleshooting information, I realised that the monitor wasn’t open fully and this was what was causing the problem. A quick creep into Bubby D’s room, a little adjustment…and we had uninterrupted good quality viewing of her sleeping happily.

Not only that, but the sound monitor is very sensitive, and with my phone by the bed, I could hear her breathing next to me all night.

 

So it worked well inside the house…time to try logging in from work!

The view from central London was just as good, with a clear colour picture of Iggle Piggle lounging about in the cot whilst our cat miaowed intermittently in the distance.

Days flew by, and then suddenly it was time for me to be on my way to Heathrow. My flight left at Bubby D’s bedtime, so I had a quick peek before boarding…and there she was, snuggled down happily under her duvet.

Arriving at my hotel, I signed into the wireless, turned on the app…and just like home, there was Bubby D, breathing next to me all night just as if she was only one room away. Amazing!

And at 7.00 Vienna time, I was woken by a little voice next to my ear, saying ‘Mummy, Mummy…’

It was Bubby D, calling me from her cot! So I took the opportunity to say good morning, using the talkback function, and then played a lullaby loudly to make sure the Other Half came to give her a hug! (it worked, and he did).

Bubby D looked a bit bemused by my voice coming out of the monitor, but it was very reassuring for me to know she was awake and ok, even without me there to look after her.

From using the monitor at home, I know there is sometimes a couple of seconds time delay between noise occurring and noise coming through the app on my phone. I also think it would be useful if the unit could be wall mounted (the cot clip is good, but already has a little crack in it and also with an older child, I think the unit being in reach is liable to result in the monitor being given a good poking (Bubby D is pretty good with that sort of thing but I know the Wee Man would have been in full on investigative mode if it was attached to his cot at the same age…) But these are minor niggles, and of course, there’s always the option of installing a shelf to sit it on instead!

The price is a fairly hefty £239 at the time of writing, which is certainly at the top end of the baby monitor pricing scale. But then again, this is – in my opinion – the very best of baby monitors. I can’t shout enough about how wonderful it is to know that wherever you are, whatever the time, you can listen to  and watch your baby sleeping peacefully and be reassured that should they make any noise, wriggle around, or get too hot, you’ll know about it. You don’t have to go to Vienna to realise the benefit (although if you can get there, I’d recommend it – its a very interesting and beautiful city), just the odd night out with a babysitter watching your children or the often inevitable late nights at the office can demonstrate why this monitor is worth its weight in gold. It certainly is to me!