I will be the first person to tell you that when you've having a baby, especially your first, you do not need to go out and buy every gadget, toy, blanket, outfit out there! Chances are you won't use it as much as you think or sometimes not at all. I did not purchase anything new with my daughter. I bought everything used or was given stuff from friends and family that no longer needed their baby stuff any more. However, as you go along you will find that there are certain items that even though they may not be absolutely necessary; they make your life just a wee bit easier. With being a new mom, anything that makes your life easier is a must. For me it was the baby video monitor. My daughter is currently 6 months old and up until this point we had been using a hand me down audio baby monitor. Worked fine and all but there was room for improvement.
1) My daughter has her bedroom upstairs so I go up and down those stairs more times then I care to count.
2) My daughter is not the best of sleepers. She makes lots of noises and with just audio you're never too sure if she's asleep or not
3) This is tied into my second point. If she is awake and sees you peeking in on her she gets excited and wants to play. Which means you pretty much have to start all over again.
So I did my research and found a video monitor I thought was the best bang for the buck and it is a god send! I couldn't go back now...I wouldn't go back now! I'm wondering why I waited so long. The last 6 months could of been that much easier.
Anyways, I went with the Levana Keera. Overall I would give it a good review. At times I wish there were an audio only option. It has what they call the PEEP mode which the video only flicks on when the baby makes a noise. This can be annoying in the middle of the night if it keeps flicking on and off. However you can just flip it on its front to solve that.
The moral of the story is, by the way, pick and choose what is important. Don't feed into the hype and buy all the trendy stuff the moment you find out you're pregnant. Get the basics and when the baby comes figure out what you actually need/want. You'd be surprised how little stuff you actually need for the baby the first 6 months. Then as you figure life out and what would make it easier, then splurge a little and buy whatever it is that will make parents and baby happy. Everything else is just clutter!
