Review: E-thos baby monitor

We’ve had the E-thos baby monitor for a while now and thought it was about time I share my experiences. If you don’t plan on buying a monitor any time soon…feel free to leave now.

Here’s the short version: It’s great! Buy it!

…And the long version: Getting it the first time, it was easy to set up. The monitor is in two parts – the camera and the screen. Plug them both in, make sure they’re both set to the same channel (a choice of 4) and you’re good to go. Easy peasy. 

The screen is 5.6″ in colour and the image quality is pretty decent. You do get a bit of static/interference occasionally, but it is quite good on the whole. It’s quite nice to have a big screen – apparently you can even record the images on to a video/DVD, although we haven’t tried. One caveat (which I noticed someone put in another review) – the screen MUST be connected to a power socket. It’s not a deal breaker for us, but If you want full portability, this probably isn’t the one for you.

The camera can run on batteries or directly plugged in – we keep ours plugged. The one hassle we had was positioning it correctly – the camera doesn’t swivel enough to get the angle we needed from the top of a cupboard, so we ended up taping it to the side of the cot. Silly solution, I know, but from what I can tell a lot of these baby monitor cameras don’t swivel enough.

When we first switched it on, it picked up the Sky TV signal – so you could actually use it as a mini TV! Why watch the baby when you could watch Sky Movies? And did I mention it has a 5.6″ screen?

Ok, before I’m accused of advertising, it is by no means perfect. When we first used it, it wouldn’t adjust to nightvision mode, so the screen just got darker and darker. Luckily, this was only for the first day – it seems to be fine since then. We sometimes get this annoying static noise, but you can usually resolve it by changing the position of the monitor. It is also, to be fair, a bit pricey. Argos and Mothercare are currently selling it at £199.99 (we bought it at a discount) – so look out for offers.

Overall, though, I would highly recommend it – it’s great to be able to see what you baby is up to – even if it does involve watching him sleep. When we first got it, we spent ages just staring at the screen, watching him. Hey, at least he’ll be used to the Big Brother society we are heading towards! PS….did I mention it has a 5.6″ screen?

PROS – Big screen, night mode, record to video/DVD. Can also get a Sky signal and watch TV!

CONS – Screen must be connected to power source, occasional static interference, camera does not rotate enough, quite expensive.

Review: nappies

What’s a baby blog without a few reviews about baby products, eh? Since Baby A has moved up a nappy size, I thought it worth mentioning our experiences with various nappy brands. We ended up trying a few types out….although maybe we shouldn’t have bothered.

We ended up trying Pampers, Boots’ own brand and the Huggies ones, although it’s an easy decision which one to pick.

So…what about the Huggies? Well, I only got these cos of a free voucher, to try them out. They weren’t bad, but they were tiny. Yes, I know, BAby A was a tiny newborn, but even these were small! We couldn’t wait to finish them ‘cos they got rather…fitted. Hmm, I wonder if he cried partly ‘cos of the tighty tight nappies…..

We got Boots’ own on a recommendation – similar to other brands and cheaper. Except it wasn’t really cheap. I worked out you probably saved yourself about a penny per nappy. Use a hundred of those and you save yourself….a pound. Whoopee. 

Also….they leaked big time. I have less than fond memories about using these nappies ‘cos Mummy A kept blaming me for not putting the nappy on properly and causing the leaks. And I got told off a lot. The day we realised it was due to the nappies was a relief….

So stick to what you know, I say. I’m a Pampers man through and through. They’re a good size, absorbent and less messy.

PS to any Pampers executives out there, I’m available to do advertising. Er….not that I have a nappy fetish or anything.