VTech DM221-2 Safe&Sound Digital Audio Baby Monitor with 2 Parent Units

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out of 5, based on 4 reviews

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My Mother had fallen at night in her bedroom and was unable to get up for quite a while. She was also unable to yell loudly enough for my father to hear her. He sleeps in another bedroom and does not wear his hearing aids at night. I was very concerned about that situation and started looking for something that would assist them to communicate with each other, even if my Mother was unable to reach a communication device. I first thought of walkie talkies, but realized that would require her carrying it with her and being able to push the button in order for him to hear her. Then I thought about baby monitors. When I started reading reviews on these, I saw a lot of other people were using them for elder care and safety. The base unit picks up sounds without effort on the part of the one needing that level of assistance. The “parent unit” or caregiver in this case received the sound without effort as well. Then the caregiver can use the parent unit as essentially a walkie talkie to talk through the base unit if needed or to go see what the issue is. Also with the 2 parent units, my Mother and Dad can use the two units during the day to communicate with each other as long as the base unit is left on in the bedroom. My father can go downstairs or in the study where he normally can’t hear my Mother very well and she can keep the other parent unit on the table next to her and call him if she needs to communicate, and he can call her as well if he has a question while he is away from her. After the easy installation it is working perfectly for their needs! My parents didn’t need the video unit, and the sound unit is perfect for their needs. Both of my parents feel more secure knowing they can easily contact each other in the house or even when one is outside. Both feel and are much more safe as they go about their lives. My siblings and I are very relieved that they are safely in their own home and able to communicate easily both day and night. This product is impressive and does exactly what we needed it to do. Sound can be adjusted and doesn’t interfere with my fathers hearing aids, is clear and doesn’t pick up a lot of residual noise. The batteries seem to be sufficient for their needs but they do plug then into the chargers when they are not carrying them with them. The two parent units have a built-in belt or waist band clip which allows them both to just wear them as they go about their day. These are truly a blessing to our family!

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I bought this for an elderly parent’s home. For the most part this system works fine and is easy to use. I’m surprised what it can pick up. I can hear my mother breathing (and unfortunately snoring) while she sleeps. But there’s several gripes I have with it. The first is the transmitter has no battery backup and it really needs one. I live in a rural area of East Texas where power outages are frequent, especially during thunderstorms and in the summertime. When the power goes off so does the whole system! The receivers also start beeping continuously trying to reconnect until you turn them off (so nice at 3 AM). Another gripe is the weak transmitter. The signal is too weak for a large 2-story house. I have to have my receiver facing her bedroom otherwise it can easily disconnect and reconnect. I’ve learned to keep it away from computers, my Wi-fi router and cell phone. If you have a small home I bet it will work fine, but it needs a stronger signal for large houses.

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I bought this monitor to be used as a baby monitor knowing 1) baby unit must be plugged in (I searched around for one that could be used on battery, but did not find one and needed a monitor 2) did not need/want a video monitor for baby’s nursery. This monitor picks up baby’s noises and white noise music (played on Google Hub inside nursery), but I can clearly hear my baby above the sound machine (baby unit is placed on baby’s crib rails). There is an option to adjust the sound sensitivity of the baby unit (which I have found to be helpful); so if you don’t want the monitor to pick up certain noises, you can adjust the sensitivity. “Sensitivity” is based on varying levels of “loudness” from “highest” (picks up everything) to “lowest” (only picks up loud crying or screeching noises). We have only had this baby monitor for a week or so (so I can not speak on battery life as, but we have only had to charge it one time as when we received the monitor, it was low on battery), but we are happy with our purchase. And the second parent unit is nice to have (parent units can run on battery) so if my husband is out working on cars and I’m in the garden, we can both have a monitor. This is your standard audio monitor and we are very happy with it.

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I use the Vtech brand but a similar unit with 1 parent unit to monitor an adult and it works great.