Shopping in the lead up to Black Friday is one of the most savvy things you can do as a parent or parent-to-be, especially when you need help securing the best Black Friday baby monitor deals. As a mum of one, I was often overwhelmed when shopping for baby essentials but one event sticks out the most: navigating the world of baby monitors. Honestly, there are so many on offer at so many different price points it fried my brain. I found myself asking questions such as will I use it for long enough to justify spending hundreds of pounds? Will just having audio be enough once they reach a certain age? Will having an app on my phone stress me out and make my anxiety worse? What if the picture quality isn’t great so I can’t see him breathing in his crib? Baby monitors are not health devices, but they are a crucial tool for safety and peace of mind. Unless you plan to be around your baby 24/7, baby monitors are essential for every parent (we all deserve some me time) and now come with a range of features that can be hard to decipher. However, I am here to help you find the best baby monitor to suit you and your family – from personal experience with my little one at the front of my mind. I considered cost-effective options, price options, safety, ease of use, battery life, Bluetooth versus internet connection and features that you’ll use and some you may not. I’ve taken the stress out of reading a million reviews, opening a whole load of tabs to compare products, by narrowing down the selection with the help of real life parent testers, including myself. Having used and tested a few baby monitors in my time, I can say that having a clear video, the option for sound detection, decent volume and a two-way talk function are a must. I have used high-end baby monitors such as the Owlet Smart Sock Baby Monitor (that tracks your baby's heart rate, oxygen levels and sleep trends) and less expensive ones like VTech's best-selling Colour Video baby monitor that doesn't require internet connection. Absolutely. Securing a deal on a baby monitor in the Black Friday sale will save you a lot of money and stress and I am here to prepare you for the big day. To save you sifting through the endless amounts of offers, I have hand selected current deals and have predicted deals that may occur based on my experience of sales events gone by to make your life a little easier. In fact, a whole month of Black Friday deals often start when the clock strikes midnight on Halloween. Deals that occur before the big day are called 'early Black Friday offers' and are worth keeping an eye on because baby offers tend to be extremely popular and stock sells out quickly. Big ticket items tend to be extremely popular on Black Friday, so I will bet my house on baby monitors being included. For example, in 2023, Tommee Tippee had 40% off their whole website and the Nanit Pro Baby Monitor had a whopping £60 off so we can expect similar this year. Big brands such as Amazon UK and Argos also tend to have offers across technology, too. We'll keep you updated as soon as we have information about this year.Are baby monitors likely to be on sale on Black Friday?
Is Black Friday good for baby monitors?
SHOP: Best Early Black Friday Baby Monitor Deals 2024
Tommee Tippee
If you're tech savvy, this clever Dreamsense smart baby monitor connects to your smartphone so you can keep an eye on your little one from anywhere. It features a baby unit with built-in sensors and a camera along with a wireless ‘parent pod’, which lights up on each side to indicate any noise from the baby or changes to the sleep environment at a glance. The 2-way audio feature allows you to speak directly to your baby from a distance and the built-in speaker allows you to try to soothe your baby with with pink noise, pre-set set lullabies or personalised recordings. It does have a high price tag (understandable as it can do so much) so getting it when it's on offer is a good shout.
Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Camera pans around the room
- Built in temperature and humidity controls saves you money on buying other products
- Amazing camera quality
Cons
- App may slow down your phone at times
Keep an eye out for Black Friday savings
VTech
Even though there are so many all singing and dancing baby monitors out there, I am a sucker for a simple one that will give me loads of battery life and a fuss-free camera and monitor. The VTech ticks all those boxes. If you're worried about the safety and security of having to use an internet connection with your baby monitor, you don't need to, as it doesn't need a wifi connection to connect with the screen (you will just need to keep it plugged in). Even though it is one of the more basic versions on the market, you still get a colour LCD screen, built in soothing sounds and lullabies, two-way talk intercom, portable parent unit, temperature sensors and up to 19 hours on one charge. Pretty impressive.
Tested by Grazia parenting writer Hannah Mellin: "I waited until I was about 38 weeks pregnant with my first child before I suddenly remembered that I might actually need a baby monitor in the months to come. I honestly was in denial about maybe having to leave my baby snoozing whilst I had a wash. After asking my friends and reading so many reviews I settled on the VTech Video Baby Monitor, with my friends stating that all I needed was good battery life and decent screen and audio quality.
"I did stress myself out looking at cameras that had an app that you could install on your phone, but I decided that would make me anxious (and drain my battery life) and sometimes having something simple that does an amazing job is the better option. It was so easy to set up, connect (you don't need a wifi connection) and the battery life lasted days at a time without charge. The camera quality does the job and I never worried about not being able to see my baby clearly. I loved the two-way, talk-back intercom - as sometimes all my baby needed was the sound of my voice to send him back off to sleep. Using it was so simple I even gave it to Grandma to use when she did babysitting duties."
Pros
- Great video quality and night vision
- Doesn't lag
- No need for a wifi connection
- Simple to use and simple interface
Cons
- If you're not connected to wifi, you need to have the monitor plugged in
VTech
Another option from VTech, this Smart Pan and Tilt Baby Monitor has a bit more to offer in terms of features. It features an impressive high-definition colour LCD screen that allows you to watch your baby on the parent unit, or through an app on your phone or tablet. The camera also has the capacity to pan up to 360 degrees side-to-side, tilt up to 182 degrees up and down, and zoom up to 10 times for maximum visibility of your baby, giving you the clearest view of your little one no matter what room they're in.
As tested by Mother&Baby's parenting panel: "Overall this is an excellent baby monitor with many features. Whilst it is fairly expensive, you do get a lot for your money and I would definitely recommend it. It has an easy-to-use parent unit and app and a pleasant nightlight with variable brightness and various colours. I liked the ability to see the temperature and capture pictures/ video of my baby. It has excellent zoom and range plus a clear picture and the ability to talk to baby and play sounds."
Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Large screen interface
- 36-degree pan and tilt
- Automatic night vision and night light
- Plays lullabies and white noise
- Built in temperature sensor
Cons
- Parent screen takes a while to boot up
- Battery life could be better
CuboAi
The CuboAi baby monitor as won praise from parents everywhere thanks to its crystal clear image quality, notifications when your baby's face is covered, rolls over, cries or coughs and UD night vision. They also loved the app features where you can keep an eye on your little one through your phone, play lullabies, capture video clips and view sleep analytics. As well as the incredible technology, the wooden design and wall mount look great in any nursery.
Tried and tested by our sister brand Mother&Baby: ""Cubo Ai is a baby monitor for tech savvy parents. It uses a smart monitor app that controls the monitor settings, background noise, alert settings and much more. It includes face recognition that gives you, ‘cry’, ‘roll over’ and ‘covered face' alerts and the nursery environment can be monitored for temperature and humidity. The night vision is great and you get very sharp images that you can zoom into and check that everything is ok. While some features are only available when you are on the same WiFi as the monitor, you can check in on the app as long as you are connected to the internet. I loved this feature, as it meant, I could still check in on my daughters nap time when I returned to work and my husband was on paternity leave."
Pros
- So many features including cry detection and sleep analysis
- Connection very strong
- Amazing picture quality
- Comes with wall mount
- Easy to set up
- Great for anxious parents
Cons
- Only get a year of Cubo Ultimate, free for a year and then £6.99 charge
Babymoov
The 360 degree Babymoov YOO Moov baby monitor is an award-winning baby monitor for parents who like to be plugged into the highest level of baby tech. As well as being able to keep an eye on your baby from all angles while they sleep, it helps calms the with a selection of sounds, lights up when it is operating and pairing is activated and is easy to use. It has 4.3-inch screen with great image quality, screen size and zoom option that mean you can see your little one's bedroom in detail. You won't miss a thing.
Pros
- Easy to control
- Large screen
- Creates reassuring environment
- Quiet function
- 360° view
Cons
- Battery life could be better
Owlet
The Owlet Dream Sock is the only medically-certified smart baby monitor. This wearable device not only provides real-time insights, it also delivers health notifications to the app when levels fall out of set zones, so parents always know when their baby needs them. As well as being a baby monitor that can be paired to your phone for all-round updates, you can track your baby's heart rate, oxygen levels and sleep trends by using the sock.
Tested by Grazia Parenting Writer Hannah Mellin, "I tested both the Owlet Dream Sock and the Owlet Cam 2 when my seven-month-old was starting to make the transition into his own room, and if I'm honest, it was a gamechanger to help ease my worries. I found the Owlet Sock and Cam incredibly safe, which was really important considering the brand is all about providing detailed health metrics through a medically certified, safe and comfortable way. It was easy to set up, and looked really nice above my sons cot. Personally, I loved that I could have the baby monitor all in one place on my smartphone. The only downside to this was having to remember to keep an eye on my phone battery, as having the app open all night did drain the phone battery. You also have to make sure the camera is plugged in to the mains at all times. My favourite thing about the Owlet is the predictive sleep feature. I had been struggling with nap times and wake windows, but if you use the Owlet Sock for every nap or sleep time, (or if you manually input naps), it will then automatically track sleep and wake windows. The app lets you know when it thinks your child is ready for their next sleep, and I found it got them bang on pretty much every time. An absolute gamechanger."
Read the full review Owlet Dream Sock Baby monitor review.
Pros
- Recognised as medically accurate and safe
- Includes predictive sleep technology
- Great camera quality
- Secure connection
- Looks great mounted on the wall (comes with wall mount kit)
Cons
- Only suitable up to 18 months
Baby Monitor FAQs
What age should I stop using a baby monitor?
It is completely down to you, there are no rules. As mentioned before, baby monitors are not health devices, but they give you peace of mind, so it is down to you to decide. It all depends on your child's development and your comfort level, but most parents typically stop using a baby monitor when their child is around 2 to 3 years old, although some will wait until 4 or 5. Every family is different.
Is it worth having a baby monitor?
We would say so, yes. In the early months, it is completely acceptable to want to have your baby around you 24/7 but this will change as they grow and get more independent. Some studies even suggest babies can sleep better when they are in their own environment without their parents making loads of noise. As well as enjoying some much needed down time in the evenings and during the day, not needing to physically check on the baby can improve your own sleep. You can relax knowing the monitor will alert you if something is happening.
There isn't a parent who I've spoken to that doesn't worry about if their baby is okay whilst they sleep, whether or not they are in the same room as them. However, some parents may feel anxious checking a monitor constantly and others may just prefer to have an audio monitor for this reason.
Do doctors recommend baby monitors?
Yes, doctors do recommend baby monitors for convenience and peace of mind but urge parents to be mindful that basic safety practices and a safe sleep environment is considered before anything else. This can include using a firm mattress, avoiding cuddly toys and loose blankets in their cribs.
Room-sharing with your precious baby is recommended by the NHS and The Lullaby Trust for the first six months of your little one's life to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Bedside cribs help keep your newborn baby close during the early months while ensuring a safe and comfortable sleeping environment.
Hannah Mellin is our Parenting Product Writer, creating listicles, how-to guides and product reviews of all aspects and products of family life. She's mum to an almost one-year-old and is navigating her way through first -time parenthood, every developmental leap at a time.
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