The Nanit Is the Best High-Tech Baby Monitor on the Market—Here’s Why

• Value: 17/20
• Functionality: 20/20
• Ease of Use: 19/20
• Aesthetics: 20/20
• Reliability: 19/20
  
  TOTAL: 95/100

Here’s a weird thing about baby registries—they should be fun to make (it’s a list of cute-looking baby stuff that other people want to buy for you!), but they’re surprisingly stressful. And this is especially true when it comes to baby monitors—with so much choice (government-level surveillance, built-in nightlights, encrypted video, etc.), it’s hard to know which one is the best fit for your family.

Well, you can return to adding those adorable onesies to your registry because we’ve got you covered on the monitor front—here’s everything you need to know about The Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor, including how easy it is to set up, what we like and don’t like about it and whether it's worth the cost. Check out our review below.

I have two kids, a 4-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter. In my role as a family editor and a parent, I have tried many monitors in my day. It’s not that I’m paranoid, it’s just that in my experience, monitors often... stop working. In fact, my husband and I joke that we have a graveyard of broken monitors that have failed us. And because we had been through a slew of bad monitors with my son, we knew exactly what we wanted from my daughter’s monitor when she was born: something that was reliable (there’s nothing that ruins your first postpartum date night more than when your monitor stops working), easy-to-use (you know, something I could set up while nine months pregnant because of course I left it to the last minute) and wouldn’t cause me more stress (one monitor we had for my son would turn on a bright light every time I opened the app, waking him up; another monitor had such bad video quality that it was easier just to use the audio only). I installed the Nanit shortly before my daughter was born and we have been using it for the last 16 months, in two different rooms in our house.

Let’s get this out of the way first: This smart monitor is an investment ($299, to be exact). And I get it—why dish out all that money for yet another baby item you don’t technically need? But this thing is designed to make your life as a new parent so much easier, with clever features like the ability to check the temperature and humidity of the baby’s room at a glance, track stats and data on the Nanit app (“Wait, what time did she wake up from her first nap again?”) and get remote alerts to see how your baby is sleeping with her sitter. I also love the always-on audio feed, which means that I can hear the audio from my kid’s room even if I leave the app to read the news (or you know, scroll Instagram). There’s even a feature that lets you talk to your baby anywhere, so you could technically sing her a lullaby from your desk at work.

The video and sound quality are excellent—I can zoom in and actually see if my baby’s eyes are open or not (which is a little creepy, but helpful when trying to decide if you really need to get up at 5 a.m.).

I can also share my app with a nanny or sitter, so that they can keep an eye on my baby from their own phone in another room. Previous models had no option to automatically disable other users (cue your sitter getting notified of your babe’s 5 a.m. wakeup call after you forgot to disable their access), but happily the new security feature on Nanit uses local only Wi-Fi which allows other users to only access the live stream when they are connected to the home Wi-Fi. We currently have five users set up as "viewers" in the app (this means they have certain restrictions, like not having the ability to save videos, edit night metrics, change camera settings, etc.), so you can definitely add all your sitters and caretakers on there.

The Nanit is a easy to install, with sleek childproof wire coverings I had no idea I’d need until my kid started pulling and chewing everything in sight. The app is intuitive and serves up helpful tips and videos to get baby sleeping better (more on that below). The Nanit is aesthetically pleasing, reliable and most importantly, intuitive, which is a lifesaver when you’re surviving on three hours of sleep and don’t have time to read an instruction manual. My only quibble with the set up is that you have to choose whether you want a wall mount, floor stand or flex stand (i.e., can sit on a dresser or table) when you purchase your monitor, and the price varies depending on what you choose ($299, $399 and $249). We chose the wall stand which has worked great, but means we haven't been able to travel with it unless we purchase the Travel Pack ($80).

One of my biggest concerns with getting a non closed-circuit monitor was that someone would hack into it. And, in theory, any smart baby monitor can be hacked. But The Nanit is equipped with security measures that make it unlikely that your worst nightmare comes true—the video is encrypted in transit, the app requires two-factor authentication and they update their firmware regularly. (If you’re still concerned, check out this checklist to protect yourself from potential hackers.)

One very cool feature of the Nanit is the sleep analysis it offers, including the ability to track your baby’s sleep patterns and play and save video clips. The app also has sleep guidance offered through the app from pediatric sleep experts. Will all that data and knowledge help you get more precious slumber? Maybe. When it comes to baby sleep, wake windows are a big deal. But in those early newborn days, it can be hard enough to remember to brush your teeth, let alone keep track of when your baby woke up from her nap. The Nanit makes that easier by tracking all your baby’s sleep habits and logging them in the app, so you can put Junior down exactly at the 90-minute mark. These insights are only free for the first year (which is arguably when they're the most useful anyway), after which you'll have to pay for a subscription to access some of them.

You can also pay $100 extra for Nanit Insights, which offers even more data and analytics, including breath monitoring and developmental tracking. To be honest, this feels like it would be a lot of information that... you don’t really need? But for especially nervous parents, maybe it would give them some peace of mind .

• High quality video and audio
• Ability to monitor baby remotely
• Interesting sleep insights

• Price
• Have to pay extra to change monitor set up
• Some features only available for the first year

Do you need the Nanit? No, probably not. Should you put it on your registry and hope that you’re well off aunt gifts it to you? Yes, absolutely—especially now when it’s $50 off on Amazon. It’s the most reliable monitor I’ve tested, with crystal clear video and helpful insights to get more sleep (maybe).

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