It’s also more complicated to hand over the task of checking on a sleeping baby to other caretakers. A baby or toddler who is finally, blessedly sleeping through the night can sleep for 11 or 12 hours at a stretch, so more is better. In our testing, the parent unit’s rechargeable battery lasted an amazing 30 hours 35 minutes on a single charge.

There's an option to connect the unit to your home Wi-Fi, but should you prefer to just use the built-in range it promises up to 300m. One quibble we had was the blue light that shines out when in night vision mode, which was annoyingly bright. Plus, we like that the included white noise, lullabies, and night-lights can remain useful into the toddler years and beyond.Hybrid monitors work similarly to local monitors, as they come with a camera and a display screen that needs regular charging, but they can work in local-mode-only or pair over Wi-Fi through an app. In battery life, it’s in the same class as our other picks in this guide, offering about 12 hours of run time per charge. I can’t speak to this from experience, because thankfully this was never triggered with Jasper, but its reputation is excellent and it’s a great solution should your budget not stretch to its more expensive competitors.

The monitor works by clipping on to your baby’s nappy, tracking their breathing through their abdominal movements. Parents should bear in mind that a newborn should always sleep in the same room as a carer or parent. Ideally, the monitor should also have a setting to conserve the battery with an idle display and recharge efficiently.The VTech VM5254 offers a 5-inch screen, good battery life, and a reliable signal, plus extras (including a built-in night-light) that we’ve come to love with long-term use. Even just a year or two ago, I would have recommended a monitor that relies on a two-way signal between devices, rather than one that needs Wi-Fi or a strong phone signal. Voices from this monitor sound true to life, which is great if, say, eavesdropping on your partner singing songs to your child helps you know that all is well in the room. If you have your heart set on continuous sound from at least two cameras, consider the Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor. This includes a live stream you can access from anywhere, the ability to pan and zoom, two-way audio, plus you can program lullabies or white noise to play for your baby.