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This time last year, I often found myself at my wits’ end dealing with a severely colicky little 2 month old. The days felt like the longest ones of my life. It was so hard to find relief for my child, and she would often scream for hours during the day from discomfort. It was truly exhausting for me, both physically and mentally. I caught myself wondering and asking my friends, “does this parenting thing ever get any easier?” Some of the most helpful and truthful parenting advice I received during that time was this: Babies don’t necessarily get easier, they just get different.  In one full year’s time, I’ve come to learn just how true that really is!

The road to defeating colic was a tough one. I’d hold my baby for hours at a time and walk the halls of my home with her until she fell asleep. Now that she’s a toddler, I’d give just about anything in the world to hold her for hours and walk her around the halls until she fell asleep in my arms. Unfortunately, me taking time to hold or rock her just doesn’t fit into her busy toddler schedule. My child is into everything, and she’s not slowing down for anyone!

And because of her new toddler tendencies to get into everything, it’s become so much easier for her to find herself in situations that could get her into trouble, or even put her in danger. As her parent, I do try my hardest to keep my eye on her at all times, but we all know it’s easier said than done. Within a matter of seconds, a toddler can knock everything off the very top shelf without even being able to reach it, leaving you wondering HOW in the world they did it, and HOW did it happen so fast? (My theory: baby laser vision, or at least the ability to destroy things with just the blink of an eye. 😉 )

We all know that there are numerous baby monitors on the market, so it can be a little overwhelming trying to find the right one for you. Traditional audio monitors are great for babies, but as the baby gets older they leave you pretty limited in knowing where the baby/toddler may be and exactly what they’re up to. As I said earlier, toddlers are ALWAYS into something! Video monitors can also be a great option, but it just isn’t feasible to keep your eyes glued to the screen all day long to feel confident that your child isn’t somewhere they shouldn’t be.

That’s where motion sensors come in to save the day! My family uses the VTech Safe&Sound DM271-110 Audio Monitor with Open/Closed and Motion Sensors, and it’s been a much welcomed addition to our home (mostly because it helps keen me SANE!)  At first, you may think the idea of installing a motion sensor is a little bit silly, but here’s a few great reasons why the VTech Digital Audio Baby Monitor is something you’ll really want to consider when you’ve got a toddler on the prowl:

You’ll magically be able to GET. STUFF. DONE!

What do I mean by that? It’s simple, really. The VTech Digital Audio Baby Monitor gives me the eyes in the back of my head that I feel like I need when my toddler is awake and running wide open throughout my house. As much as I try to keep an eye on my daughter at all times, I just can’t do it all the time. I can’t do the things in the house that I need to do if every ounce of my attention is on the toddler. With the motion sensor installed, I know when my baby is in a location of the house that she’s not supposed to be in.

We put the motion sensor in our laundry room, which is a very heavily trafficked area in our home since it’s where our back door is. We’ve found that putting a baby gate at the entrance of this door is majorly inconvenient, but it’s definitely a place in the house where we don’t want our daughter to go. Even though all of the laundry chemicals are up and out of her reach, I’m fearful that she’ll use her baby laser vision to somehow, some way get a hold of something she isn’t supposed to. The biggest concern, however, is our hot water heater. Unfortunately, our tiny little house just doesn’t have anywhere for it to go besides out in the open inside our laundry room. It has lots of buttons and knobs that are fascinating to her, and messing with those buttons and knobs can cause big problems with the heater (or so I’ve learned the hard way.)

Even though she knows this room is off-limits, she usually forgets about 3-4 times a day. Now with the motion sensor installed in the laundry room, I’m immediately notified if she sneaks in without me knowing. Instead of being right by her side 24/7, I’m able to have much more freedom to move around the house and get things done without worrying if she’s somewhere dangerous.

You’ll Gain Peace of Mind

I’ve caught my daughter several times over the past few days trying her hardest to turn door knobs throughout our house. I know it won’t be long at all before she has it figured out, and she’ll be in and out doors faster than I can blink! The open/closed door sensors are GREAT in that they send the hand held monitor a direct notification if a door with a sensor has been opened. I’ve seen so many horror stories floating around social media lately about children who have wandered off by opening doors or crawling into hot cars and getting trapped without their parents knowing. It’s such a scary thought to think that something like this could happen! The VTech Digital Audio Baby Monitor comes with one door sensor, but can be expanded to use up to 20 sensors (additional sensors sold separately), so you can put them on any door that may be a concern-area for you.

I’ll be purchasing more in the future to put on our exterior doors to notify me if those doors have been opened when they should’t have been. Having these sensors in place really help me to breath a little easier and give me peace of mind knowing that I’m better able to keep up with my kiddo.

Communicating Safely and Effectively With Baby is Easy

When my daughter has woken up from her slumber, or if she’s simply playing in her room sweetly, I am able to hear any sound she makes through the two-way talk back intercom feature. The VTech Digital Audio Baby Monitor has up to 1,000 feet of range AND comes with DECT 6.0 digital technology, which keeps the connection static free and prevents anyone close by from being able to eavesdrop on the connection.

Nap Time Gets a Little Easier

If you have a baby or toddler that needs to be soothed to sleep, the VTech Digital Audio Baby Monitor may be an excellent choice for you! There is a glow-on-ceiling night light feature included that projects stars, moons and clouds on the ceiling while playing a gentle lullaby. I wasn’t sure that my daughter would be interested in this feature, but she absolutely LOVES it! She loves to point to the stars and she seems pretty mesmerized by them, which helps her keep her focus in just one place so she can fall asleep easier. She wasn’t sleep trained to fall asleep to music, so we just simply turn the lullaby feature off.

I’ll admit that I certainly never thought that a motion sensor would be something I’d ever use when I was registering for our baby over a year ago, but I’m definitely sold thanks to the peace of mind this device brings to my husband and I. I watch my daughter gazing up at the galaxy glowing on her ceiling and I shut the door knowing that my VTech Safe&Sound DM271-110 Audio Monitor device will be the eyes and ears I need when I leave the room.

What sort of features do you look for in a baby monitor? Do you think a motion sensor system would be a good fit for your family? Check out VTech to read more about this monitor, plus find their other fabulous VTech products that are on the market!

Buy it now:

The VTech Digital Audio Baby Monitor is available to purchase at VTechPhones.com and on Amazon.com for just $119.95.