Monitors

I would say she is plenty old enough. I stopped using them at around a year old. If she sleeps through the night most of the time but is keeping you guys up that's not a good thing because then you're sleep deprived.

He can't have it all ways. If you feel that you need it still, you probably do. A mothers instinct never lies. At a year and a half, you need to keep a listen for her, if she gets up and starts wandering or something. You need to know if she needs you.

We almost never used a monitor....i think that at 18 months old, if she woke up or something happened, you'd be able to hear it, especially if the rooms aren't too far away.

You can keep the monitor but just turn the volume down low so you will only hear your daughter if she is really upset ie crying very loud. If having the monitor gives you peace of mind, there is nothing wrong with keeping it.

I agree that it is a personal choice. If it is disturbing your sleep you might want to consider getting rid of it? If she is on the same floor as you, you would still hear if something was wrong even if your door was closed. Good luck!

Hey there!

I have never used a monitor. I can't sleep with all the little groans and grunts that babies seem to make. Plus, now I have two kids in one room and the 5 YO SNORES!!!!! lol

Your husband may be right and if it is disrupting your (or his) sleep it might be time to give it up.

Do what your heart tells you.

Truthfully I never used a monitor. Both of my boys were in my room for the first 5 months or so, but as soon as they were in their own rooms I realized that even though I could sleep through a bomb going off next to my bed, I heard them from across the hall no problem. We sleep with our doors closed, too, because of our dog. If you feel comfortable turning it off I would do so because well rested parents are the best parents, but if it makes you uncomfortable there is nothing wrong with leaving it on. I know people that were still using theirs when the kids were 3 or older. Why not try it for a night or two and if you are still uncomfortable go back to using it. Good luck and either way it will be okay.

My kids are 4 and 7 and we still use monitors. Not because we are overprotective. I just feel better knowing that if someone has a really bad dream and wants comfort or worse yet gets sick in the middle of the night I can easily hear them calling me. We also sleep with our doors shut and I would hate for one of them to have to get out of bed after throwing up all over the place and walk to my room to let me know. Yuck! It hasn't happened yet but you never know. We keep them turned as low as we can so we only hear them if they really yell. I don't think it hurts to have them unless you cannot sleep with it on anymore.

I still use one with my 2year-old and he's right next door to us(with a closet and bathroom inbetween)but he gets up to go to the bathroom so we still use it.
Now with the other 2 we stopped using them at 2years-old..i say it's a personal choice

J.

I just had my third and my oldest just turned 4. We had 2 monitor sets with my first 2, but were able to listen to both rooms with them set to different stations. Expecting our new arrival, we found a unit that monitors 3 rooms with just 1 receiver. You can set it to one room or have it cycle through all 3 stations every 5 sec. My husband jokes that we'll have it when they are teenagers to keep tabs on things. It's a personal comfort thing I think. I don't think there is a right or wrong time.

You said you have a small house. Mine is small too. The bedrooms are close together. I never bothered to use a monitor. I could hear my child if they started crying. In fact, I can hear my 2 month old in his bassinet on our first floor when I am in the bathroom on the second floor.

18 months is old enough to know to get louder when they don't get the attention they want. Trust me, 2 months seems to be old enough for that.

Good luck.

I think you should use the monitor at least until your daughter is in her own bed and can get out on her own to wake you up.

Hi D. my son is 4 and we still use monitors they sometimes can be a lifesavor

Our boys are 2 and 6 years and they share a room which is downstairs from our bedroom. We still use a monitor. We use it mainly because weare on seperate floors but I feel whatever makes you comfortable. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to this one.

Hi D.-

I think it depends on how comfortable you'll feel without using a monitor. My son is 2-1/2 years old and I still use a monitor and his room is right next to mine. I feel safer knowing i can still hear him through the monitor.

Hi D.,

I still use the monitor with my 27 month old son. He only wakes up every so often, but I want to hear him when he does so that I can go in. There have been times when the monitor has been packed from a trip or something and we haven't used it - but most of the time we do. I keep it on low volume so I don't hear every movement, but only hear him if he cries out. I think when you stop is up to you - but you may want to wait until your daughter is in a toddler bed and can open doors herself so that if she really does need you she can come get you.

J.
www.mothersboutique.com

I never used a moniotr, my daughter started sleeping on her own abt 4 months, but i always figured if she gets up crying real loud ill here her, there's been a few times my husband said he heard her crying and I didn't wake up, but she always went back to sleep. I don't feel it's necessary to get her out every time she cries out, but I do get her if she goes for more than 10-15 mins!

I would keep the monitor until she is in a bed, because like you said you might not hear her cry. This was if she is in a bed that she can get out of and needs you during the night she can go to your room instead of being trapped in her's.

Hey there D.,

I still use a monitor because I'm a nervous Mom. My daughter is 3 1/2 years old. Tee hee. Just go with however you feel. If you think it's too soon, then it's too soon. If you are comfortable with it, then try it out for a night or two. Just go with your gut. If you have hesitations, then it's too soon. Maybe not for her, but for you!

Good luck!

C. Smith
www.EnhanceYourWayOfLife.com

HI. Use your monitor until you are ready to give it up. Turn it down, by all means. But until you are conpletely comfortable (espically if you sleep with the doors closed) leave it on. It doesn't hurt anything and it gives you some peace of mind. If your hubby really wants you to turn it off why don't you try keeping your cat out of your room using a babygate and leaving the door open so you can hear.

Hi D.,
I'm probably not much help but I was in the same situation as you. My daughter has made general noises that would wake me up since birth. I love my cats but they are to pesty to sleep in our room so we too keep our door shut at night. With my daugters room is on the other side of the house you can't hear her until you are listening intently. What I've done, being a semi light sleeper, is I turned down the volume on the monitor to one of the lowest setting so that I couldn't hear all the little noises but would hear her if she was crying.
Good luck.
J.

I think that if you sleep with your doors shut you are right you may not hear her but if you turn your monitor down all the way you wouldn't hear every little sound but if she is really upset and needs you, you'll still have some insight to whats going on in her room at night. With having a little girl you may want to use the monitor till she moves out, HAHAHAHA!!

I am a light sleeper and hear a lot of things through the night so we no longer use the monitor at nighttime. Our bedrooms are also pretty close together and we keep the doors open. I think if we kept the doors closed I would probably still use the monitor. My kids recently turned 2 yo and 3 yo. But as the other moms indicated it is a personal preference. Oh, I just remembered. I used to place the monitor in the top drawer of my nightstand with the drawer ajar. I could still hear it, but it didn't seem to bother my husband as much. Maybe something like that would work for you.

D.,
Do what you need to do to feel comfortable! I was glad to read that some other mothers here still use there monitors like me and my daughter is 3! I have a 2 story house and keep one downstairs and one in the family room upstairs. I keep the family room moitor on when we sleep. I can't hear every moan and groan, but if she gets upset it gives me the comfort that it is helping me hear her. I never was a light sleeper until she was born and now I can't turn off my insticts! So, knowing the monitor is on helps me sleep better because I feel like I can be in a deeper sleep and not have to have one ear open for her!
Our rooms are right next to ear other, but we keep all the doors shut too becuase of the cats. I am happy that I kept the monitor on becuase more then a few times she has vomitted in her sleep and that extra minute of hearing her before she started crying makes all the difference in calming a child.
Long story short - do what feels best for you and your situation. Everyone is different!

Best,
jen

We are in a similar living arrangement and our philosophy since he turned about 1 is that if he's not crying loud/long enough for us to hear him without the monitor than he doesn't really need anything from us. So unless it's raining really hard and i can't hear him - we don't use it anymore.

Keep the monitor for a while longer, or maybe until she is in a big girl bed.

God forbid if anything happened in the middle of the night, even if she threw up or something and then fell back asleep, you wouldn't be able to forgive yourself for not being there when she needed you. At least I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

I'd get your hubby some earplugs.

D.,
I think you should do what your gut tells you to. If your sleep is being comprimised, then go without it. But if you are up anyway worrying, then keep it on.

Personally, I didn't even use one with my now 6-month-old because her cries automatically wake me up.

Good luck!

D.,
i stopped using ours when my daughter was six months and sleeping through the night...i keep her door shut and ours almost shut and i also use a fan at night cuz i need the noise to sleep..she does occasionally still get up at night but i am a light sleeper and i actually wake up right before she starts crying (i guess its that motherly instinct)..i would say maybe try it for a night or so and see how it goes..if you are still uncomfortable with it then just use the monitor until you are ready

i was going to say you could stop.. until I read you keep your doors closed. I do the same thing, so I still use ours (my daughters are 15 and 30 months old and our house is very small too). I keep them turned down very low, but I still use them. I probably could get rid of them, but I'm not ready yet. maybe when they break! :-P haha!!!

I can't think of too many emergency situations in the middle of the night that you would necessarily HEAR on your monitor. If, that is, what you are worried about by getting rid of the minitor. Crying at night isn't something that is necessary for you to respond to at this age. If she is happy remaining in her crib and not escaping, then it is probably o.k. to turn off the monitor. I will say, however, it takes a few nights to get used to...you will keep checking on her out of worry for a few nights.

I used a monitor until my daughter was old enough to sleep in her own bed all night and come get me if she got up - I was told that I probably didn't need it but I felt better having it. When she did cry, she usually went back to sleep on her own - I'd give it a few minutes and then go if necessary. It made me feel a whole lot better knowing if she was crying three and four times a night or not at all - I could also determine when she was starting to get sick if she was crying more, etc. So do what you feel is better - I was more of a worrier so I would have checked on her more and disturbed my sleep that way more.

Good luck,
S.