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You’ve just spent $400 on a baby monitor. Now you need a subscription | Once upon a time there was a company called Miku who wasn’t making quite enough money... (www.theregister.com)
submitted 2 years ago by [M, B] to c/technology@lemmy.world
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You’ve just spent $400 on a baby monitor. Now you need a subscription | Once upon a time there was a company called Miku who wasn’t making quite enough money...::Once upon a time there was a company called Miku who wasn't making quite enough money...

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[–] 74 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

Don't use a baby camera that is connected to the internet. Use one with a monitor that is connected to the camera with a local encrypted signal.

The one we had isn't available anymore, but I am sure there are more modern equivalents.

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  • [–] 25 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    There are. We only use a local analog camera/monitor for our youngest one now, fuck the internet-enabled ones.

    For our first baby, we had an Owlet setup originally because of the smart sock for newborns (the sock monitors the baby's heart rate/oxygen levels and alerts you if it drops below a certain bpm/%) and it came with a camera as well. While it was nice to be able to remote view the camera from anywhere whenever family members were babysitting for us, it was so damn glitchy and unreliable (the camera, at least the sock never gave us issues). I can't tell you how many god damn times that shitty camera would simply just die and you'd have to sneak into the nursery to manually reset the camera like a ninja in order not to wake the baby you just spent an hour trying to get down only to get back to your room and realize the fucking monitor isn't working... Fuck Owlet.

    Oddly, there was no monthly subscription, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's changed now.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    We have an owlet with the camera and sock. No subscription yet but also no problem with the camera.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That's good they seem to have fixed the camera. This was over 4 years ago when we got ours. We still have the sock + sock base station for our new baby, but yeah we got rid of the camera. I think part of the problem was the camera only supported 2.4ghz wifi, and where we lived at the time was pretty housing dense, so there was lots of interference. However, that didn't explain why it'd just stop working entirely until we unplugged/replugged it. Oh well, our new monitor system works reliably so no use fretting over the past. Good luck with your kiddos, may your nights be long and restful! 🙂

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    If you ever need to reset it, based on what else is in the room, I'd just flip a breaker instead.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I'm not sure if you're joking or not but there were times where I literally contemplated doing just that. Unfortunately the nursery's white noise sound machine would also get caught in that crossfire, which ultimately would stay my hand, heh.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I don't really feel baby monitors are really even needed unless you have a large house . With my son I used an old phone as one when I would go across the hall to my neighbors apartment for a couple of minutes. If I actually bought one it would of been a big waste of money. I used to work for a company that did warranties for toys r us and alot of people would speed hundreds on special chairs it a machine that mixes and heats up formula . I used a little chair I got for free and a bottle warmer that was like $15 .

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago*

    We never even warmed bottles. Some people were shocked to see us pull a bottle straight out of the fridge and give it to our daughter but I didn't see any reason to warm them when she was perfectly happy with cold milk. I'd rather not have to worry about overheating it or having to lug around a bottle warmer when traveling.

    I do like the monitor though but it's more of a convenience and piece of mind thing than a necessity. Being able to see her means we know if that big thud was her kicking the wall vs falling out of her crib without getting up and running into the room. We almost always keep the volume muted though, it's a small house and we can can hear her just fine except for if we're both outside.

    The advice I give other parents is to not buy anything but the absolute basics until you really need it because a lot of things you think you'll need you probably don't.

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  • [+] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Your house must be very small, quiet or have thin walls. That, or you didn't get bothered by babies crying in their rooms.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    I actually agree with this. We use a big fan at night that's really loud. With the baby's door closed and the fan on, I wouldn't hear her unless she cried super loud or screamed. I personally think it's nuts that some people never used a baby monitor. There's no way I wouldn't have one.

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