The Lindam Clarity Digital Video Monitor has quite literally changed my life in a way I thought it couldn’t possibly. I’ve long been a fan of co-sleeping, my husband thinks it’s because I’m lazy and can’t be bothered to get out of bed but really it’s because I worry so much, plus being up and down all night is just not good for you (ok perhaps there’s a little laziness on the side)! When Florence was born it became quite apparent that she was not a sleeper within the first few days. I tried and tried to put her in the moses basket to no avail and eventually, after being up and down like a yoyo for three weeks and feeling like I was going out of my mind, I brought her into bed with us and this is where she remained each night for 2 years! To Jonny’s chagrin. The thing is she woke up so many times in the night it really wouldn’t have been feasible to keep putting her back in her own bed and I was such a worrier that I kind of liked it that way because when she was right beside me I could watch her little tummy going in and out as she breathed. I honestly think I got a better nights sleep because of it. Jonny didn’t though and when she started sleeping through and no longer feeding all night long he said it was high time to get her in her own room. With Jimmy on the way I reluctantly agreed but I spent those first few months popping in to check on her and watch her little tummy going in and out. I only ever really relaxed by about 4 am when she would (and still does) wake up and come in to us.

Then Jimmy was born and it became very apparent from the off with him that he, unlike his big sister, is a sleeper and although when he has teething pain or is unwell he wakes up from time to time, the norm is that he goes around 7 hours. Obviously I had no excuse to bring him in with us when he out grew the moses basket a few weeks ago and without me even knowing about it Jonny put together the monitor and started using it one evening when I was out and he put Jimmy in the cot. He said having Florence in the bed with us by the time we wake up is bad enough but to have both of them when it wasn’t necessary was simply pushing his patience. Of course if Jimmy has been unwell Jonny doesn’t mind but he didn’t want it becoming a regular habit. I understand it I really do and the fact he sleeps and doesn’t need that contact is great but I still worry and having him in another room entirely scared me. When he was in the moses basket I used to jump up every few hours to watch him sleeping and breathing, the thought of him in another room terrified me. But Jonny persisted and over the past few weeks I have grown to love that monitor for it tells me all I need to know, without getting up and without even having to lean over the end of my bed into a moses basket! I don’t have a child in bed (for most of the night) and for the first time in nearly three years I am sleeping alone! (well, Jonny’s there of course but he doesn’t kick me all night long or grapple at my boobs – much)! I’ve never been keen on a regular monitor because I think I would spend the night wondering why I couldn’t hear anything and running in to check. The reason I like the Lindam one so much is because it’s a video monitor and even though I thought a video monitor wouldn’t be much better than an audio only, assuming the picture wouldn’t be that good and thinking it would be no comfort at all, I can honestly say the picture is so clear I can see him breathing! Not just moving but breathing, I can see his little tummy moving in and out from lying down in my own bed and just having turned to look at the monitor. How fab is that! Sometimes I just hold it and stare at the screen for ages and other times it gets a brief glance, I wouldn’t ever go to bed without it!

So I feel so much better knowing I have this monitor, I don’t check any less  but I no longer have to get out of bed in the middle of the night unless he wakes up and that doesn’t happen often! I think it’s actually even better than when he was in the moses basket and I had to lean over the end of the bed. This is literally just on my bed side table. I can glance at it, hold it, take it around the house with me if I want to as it lasts ages un plugged but I don’t have to burst into his room or loom over him which often disturbs him anyway! Personally I leave it with the picture on all night and have the sound on mute so that it only comes through if a noise is made in the room. You can have it with the sound and picture on all the time though or even without the picture unless a noise is made. If I turn the sound up I can even hear Florence breathing without being able to see her so it’s perfect for little old worrier me! When Jimmy wakes up he very often wriggles around looking at his mobile and making happy noises long before he needs me to go and get him, at this point or if he starts to get fussy I can play him lullabies through the monitor to soothe him. How good is that! It gives me at least another 20 minutes in bed in the mornings (as long as little miss Florence doesn’t wake up of course as she is inevitably in bed with us by that time)! It lets me know that he is ok even if I can hear him awake I can see sometimes that he’s perfectly happy to be left a bit longer and I can keep an eye on the pesky cat too who likes to climb in the cot with Jimmy (must get a cat net)!

I take it outside with me in the day time if I need to put the bins out because even if I can’t see them on it if they aren’t in view of the camera, I can hear them and even just for the few seconds that takes it makes me feel better to have it with me. It seems to keep in range when I’m out there doing that so all the better! It’s a really good piece of kit and speaking as a mother who is very attached, slipped accidentally into attachment parenting and loved it, it’s a very good compromise and boy is it good sometimes to not have tiny people in bed with you all night long and just to lean over and see them instead…

The camera looking down at Jimmy from the cot top changer.

Follow