baby monitor... when to stop using at night?

positivenote

hi all. just asking when people generally gave up using the baby monitor at night. our 8 month old has been in his own room since he was 12 weeks and we've always used a monitor. but the last while we are being woken bythe noises of him stirring/waking and by the time we go in to him he's back asleep. We are thinking of not using the monitor so that maybe we might get a decnt nights sleep, but are worried we wont hear him if he wakes up and stays awake? any advice on when people decided to unplug their monitors and just rely upon hearing their little ones waking...
thanks a million

julesrtc

My girl is 21 months and we still use the monitor at night. We have a cat so have to keep her door closed so probably wouldn't hear her without monitor? I wouldn't feel comfortable not using it, we would turn it very low though during the night so would only hear her if she cried rather than moaning and turning around. Every week or fortnight we take turns to sleep in spare room so one of us gets a good night sleep and lie in as she talks to herself for half hour in morning before getting up:)
Its whatever you feel comfortable with? No harm in using it if you think you mightn't hear them?

Das Kitty

We don't use ours at night, only when we're downstairs and he's up. We still hear him when he wakes at night but we don't get wakened by every snuffle the way we did when we used to have the monitor on.

bulmersgal

If they want you they'll let you know. I only have it on when i'm downstairs.

Cottontail

Me & hubby were just talking about this the other day! we figured the best time to stop using is when the baby has been moved into a bed, and if anything's up at night he can come into us and tell us. But while he's in the cot and can't get out voluntarily, we will continue to use the monitor.

Tabnabs

Like our new and adept ninja skills (for catching bottles and soothers etc. junior drops when in your arms), we found that we can hear him crying from downstairs even with the TV on. You develop a keen sense of hearing and we are always impressing ourselves by how well it works. It was proven by us hearing him crying a microsecond before the monitor picked it up and confirmed it. At that point, it was just taking up space and using electricity...

Terpsichore

Never used a monitor.
Baby moved to his own room when was 5 weeks old.
My parents never used a baby monitor for any of their 5 children.
I've seen friends still using their monitors when their child was 3 years old, and I thought: this is mad! Let the little one be!
If you can't sleep properly: time to give the monitor to charity!

d4v1d

Our little girl is 9 months old now and we stopped using the monitor about a month ago. It was a good decision, as previous posters have mentioned, every little noise she makes doesn't wake us up. Looking back now we would probably have been better off stopping using it a lot earlier. There really is no mistaking when she's happily awake and by herself or if she wants something

The only time we use it now is during the day when there are more distractions in the house just to know when she's settled/awakened.