Graco Baby

Will never buy a Graco product again.
One year and one week after we purchased this monitor it finally died. What a relief. We've been suffering with its abysmal signal quality, extremely poor sound quality, and very short range since we purchased the piece of junk.

The advertised range on the packaging was 2000 feet. The actual range with NO obstructions (like walls) in clear air line of sight was more like 30 to 40 feet at BEST. Despite the "Digital" transmission it's still very sensitive to interference from digital wireless phones, wireless network gateways, cell phones etc. Any kind of RF noise in the vicinity of the monitor results in lost signal, constant loud popping noises and scratchy static voices from the nursery.

Thinking we had a defective unit, we exchanged the first set . . . but the replacement was no better. Non-the-less it got the job done and let us know when we needed to check on the baby.

Until a week after the warranty expired.

Two nights ago we heard a loud popping sound from the monitor and all signal ceased. I called Graco's warranty hot-line, but was informed that it was, indeed, out of coverage. "Would we like to purchase a new one?"

Not only no, but heck no!

Since they were out of warranty I opened up the units and looked at the electronic components. I found the very lowest quality, cheapest capacitors on the circuit board possible. One had burst (in the Nursery unit) which caused the final failure. I also found very poor quality soldering joints.

Dear Graco, for about 25 cents more you could have used better quality capacitors that would likely last a lifetime. At least longer than a couple years. But I figure that might break your business model, which is to use about 3 dollars in low-end components to make a 60 dollar monitor. Nice mark up there! And then you get to sell a second, or a third monitor to the same customer when the first one dies before the child outgrows the need for a monitor.

We had two other Graco products that were given as gifts when the newborn arrived. A stroller and an infant traveling crib. Both degraded so rapidly (months, not years) that we disposed of them and bought quality replacements. From what I can tell with my personal sampling of four Graco data points (two monitors and the two items just listed) they are in the baby market to leech money with the lowest quality products I've ever had the displeasure of trying.

Just say no to Graco. Avoid the safety product recalls on their strollers and cribs. Avoid their bottom-of-the-barrel electronics. Avoid their shoddy workmanship and greedy business plan.

Not pleased with this monitor
We have only used this monitor for 9 months. Initially its battery would hold a 3 hour charge, which was fine. Over time the battery will hold less and less charge. We are now down to 30 minutes so we have to move the charger around all the time. In the past couple days it has also become stuck. If my son wakes up crying it gets stuck on the highest sound he made. So there is an incredibly loud noise coming from it. Just great in the middle of the night when I try not to wake my husband. We have to turn off both parts to get it to stop and reset. And as soon as we go into my sons room there is no chance he will go back to sleep on his own. Choose another monitor if you are looking into this one.

What's the point?!?!?
No sleep with this monitor!!!!!!!!!!! It flashes and beeps all night!!!!!!!!! I use it during the day because it keeps me up at night. I would return it if I still had the reciept! And it cuts out all the time. My house is 1100 square ft. and i can only use it in the next room!

It broke after just four months!
We loved this monitor when we first got it. We were sold by the "trusted" Graco name and also the digital concept, as we have a small NYC apartment and had heard a lot about interference. But it completely died right around the time our daughter turned 4 months old. At first we thought it was the battery, but it just gave out.

Another thing that always annoyed us about it was that the plug for the listening unit (the one in the baby's room) popped out really easily. We'd often be fumbling around, usually in the dark since the baby was sleeping, trying to get the plug back in.

Hopefully if and when we have kid #2 another company will have made a great digital monitor...

Less than a year old and not working
My son is one and this monitor seems to be dying. It never worked well in the first place as the battery doesnt stay charged very long (like 3 hours). But now it keeps cutting out and my house is only 1500 sq feet! Wish I had gotten a better monitor. I thought this had good reviews in Baby Bargains book, but they were wrong!