VTech DM221 Audio Baby Monitor with up to 1,000 ft of Range, Vibrating Sound-Alert, Talk Back Intercom & Night Light Loop, White/Silver

So I’ve had this monitor for a few months now, it’s got great sound but that’s not to say you can leave it in another room and expect to hear it very well. You can adjust the sensitivity for how much sound you want it to pick up. I have mine set to the highest sensitivity so if I leave my fan running in the room my baby is in, I can hear the fan but I also can hear baby just as much. You can talk through the parent monitor and the sound comes out of the baby monitor so you can talk to your baby if they are into that. Baby monitor does need to be plugged in in order for it to turn on but the cord is long enough so it shouldn’t be a problem. I do recommend that as soon as you start setting it up, first thing you want to do is turn off the parent advisory speech it gives the parent monitor every time it gets powered on. I didn’t mind it during the day but when I’d go to work at 6am and turn it on for my mom, I would try lowering it down when it came to that part but it was quiet during that time which made the speech it gave still be loud. It took me a good few days to turn off the speech, the instructions are a little confusing on how to turn it off but I figured it out somehow. Overall it’s a good baby monitor for the price and it’s both have been dropped on the floor multiple times and they still work without problems. They are very durable.

I love this product. It is so simple and easy to use!

My wife and I bought this to replace the $10 craigslist monitor we got a couple of months ago. Our biggest complaint about THAT monitor was it was an analog signal and super prone to interference and awful bouts of beeping. We finally sucked it up and purchased this unit a month ago and have been moderately happy. This units signal is crystal clear and the strength is enough to go through all the walls of the house so the wife and I can sit out on the back deck while baby sleeps. The parent units nightlight is Ok, albeit kinda gimmicky. However its simple to setup, just plug it in and turn it on. Good to go. My main gripe is the receiver unit. My complaint is two fold. 1) Battery life on this unit sucks and charge times are ponderously slow. Forgot to plug it in after you went to bed? Enjoy being tethered to the charger the next night. Only charged it for an hour? Enjoy that 1 bar out of 3 of battery life that might get you thirty minutes (what Im doing right now.) The battery life is atrocious, plain and simple. Want to page the receiver unit from the parent unit? Pray that the battery is charged (it wasnt the one time we needed it). 2) Background volume of the monitor. I think this is more me than the monitor as our old monitor could be heard from the other room and more specifically the wave sound machine we have to help baby sleep. I always used that sound as the fail-deadly switch, meaning that if I heard the waves stop it meant either the monitor was dead or that there was an issue in the bedroom. Vigilance is my middle name. The VTech I think filters out alot of background noise as a feature however, its just disconcerting to me. Take it for what it is. In all fairness though, you will definitely hear baby if baby wakes up, the mic is especially tuned to those little wails. So, if you can stomach abysmmal battery life, this monitor is cheap and easy to use. Overall, Id recommend it as long as youre OK with being tethered to a charge cord.

Church nursery workers wanted to be able to hear the sermon. Instead of wireless speakers (bad reviews) or running wires (not really feasible) these work great. These are placed approximately 90 ft apart and the sound is amazing.

Great product

Awesome

I have been using this for over 5 years to monitor my child, who is prone to seizures, but gets an aura or warning before they escalate. It has literally been a life saver. The only issue I have had is with the charging cord. Over time, they are prone to fray near the plugs. Anyone who recalls the old chargeable calculators back in the day might remember this issue. If you move your receiver often, your cord will eventually fray. Its not an if, its a when. In order to hopefully prevent this on my new unit, I purchased a set of Cable Protector Spiral Phone Charge Cable Savers for $5.99 here on Amazon. As you see from the pic, the fit seems nice and it should prevent the cord from bending near the plug. Hopefully these work. Also in the spirit of keeping your unit for multiple kids/grand kids, the batteries are replaceable and are the same as in portable land-line phones, naturally also available on Amazon.

First time parents: No matter what is written you will likely be like us and never trust a baby monitor those first few hours of sleep at a time, but once you get comfortable with knowing you will be woke up, this monitor will be your best friend. WE all know what these do, so here is the best way to describe our experience (Kiddo is now 18 months old) Pros: 1) The feature that it is silent all the time unless triggered to send sound to the parent unit is a little worrisome at first (notice I put this as a pro), but once you are more comfortable with your babys lungs ability to trigger this, it is awesome, because you dont get all the little grunts and sniffs that they make. Our biggest problem was any sound we heard when we shared a room (never bed!) with our kiddo was we were waking up and holding our breath waiting for the cry. So this feature once you are sleeping in different rooms is awesome so you only get woke if there is any real sound. We keep they mic within about 15 feet of the crib and it ALWAYS gets every sounds. All cries, all babbles, and a loud sneeze maybe, but besides that we sleep peacefully as long as she is. 2) Range: Good not great. We didnt have high hopes, this is not a 5-mile 2-way radio, but we do live in the country and doing lawn chores during a nap keeps us within about 100 feet of the house. But that leads to next pro: 3) Sound- level 5 has great volume. If you can sleep through a baby crying at that level you probably have taken too many sleeping pills or need to get checked for sleep apnea! 4) Light bar that shows sound intensity when volume is muted. Once we got to the let er cry it out bedtimes, we could do other things rather than listen to a baby scream but still keep an eye on her. This is great especially if you have a partner who is trying to sleep while you worry. WORRY AWAY IN SILENCE! 5) It has lasted 18 months as still works as a receiver well, but that is the one biggest con now--- CONS: 1) This may have been our fault from being on a road trip vacation in the summer, but after being in the car for a couple days, when we got to our destination and plugged it back in (this is after having it about 6 months), the display was burnt out for all but a couple bars. We already had the set up all done and with the different tones when you are at max/min volumes we can still set the volume, but we are doing this by ear, not display. 2) Battery life is questionable on the parent unit. It worked great at first and one thing that makes it last longer is the PRO #1 where it doesnt always pick up background static unless there is sound from baby. But we did have a fan on in her room for the nights, and we noticed this white noise did cause the monitor to pick up sound more often, which would make sense that it would use the battery more. We keep the monitor plugged in 24/7 unless we are taking it our of our bedroom during nap time or on vacation, so I guess 18 months of use and battery that lasts a few hours is probably pretty decent. Overall good product and while some bells and whistles havent maintained, its true purpose, which is to lower your worry and increase your sleep, has been flawless the last 18 months!

I use this caring for my elderly mother. Very comforting especially at night.

We use this for travel! I feel kinda like the parent unit is almost always dead and needs to be plugged in. Maybe that is user error because we don’t use it constantly so the batter dies when it isn’t in use? That is frustrating to be honest since it takes a while to charge up when it’s dead. BUT when I have the foresight to plug it in as soon as we get somewhere a couple hours before we need it… it’s great! A classic.