Baby safety monitors for the nursery

With baby monitors you can rest easy, knowing your child is safe - but which baby safety monitor should you choose? Get the basics, or choose a monitor with all the bells and whistles.

Light and sound - All baby monitors are used to hear the sounds the baby is making while they sleep and play back these noises to a portable unit for the parent. Some units also show sounds with a light display, so you can have the sound turned down but still monitor the baby.

Powerful options - Good units come with both battery and mains power options. This makes them more portable, so you can visit friends or go outside and be less tied to areas with power points. A good monitor will also have an 'out of range' warning to tell you when the signal between the two units has been lost.

Talkback facility - Some babies just need a word of reassurance to get them back to sleep. A monitor with a talkback option allows you to stay where you are and ease your child's fears.

Heat sensors - New monitors on the market have temperature sensors that gauge when the room is getting too hot. Also available are units with apnoea alarms that go off when the baby stops moving or breathing - although depending on the sensitivity of these devices, they may create false fears by going off when the baby is merely in deep sleep.

Night lights - Babies and children are sometimes fearful of the dark and a clever new addition to some units is a night light to allay these fears.

Dual channels - All baby monitors have at least one channel over which the baby's signal is broadcast, but some units come with dual or even multiple channels in case the first channel has interference from another radio device.

To keep your precious little one safe, shop online for a baby monitor: