Harbor Baby Monitor Review: Pros and Cons
As a mom of 2 under, born 11 months apart, it has taken all 18 months we’ve had kids to find the best baby monitor for our family. We tried four different baby monitors – all of the most popular ones, too – and had complaints about every single one. We would say, “I wish we could just combine the best of each one…” Now, my friends, I think we’ve found the one.
The Harbor baby monitor is truly the best of all baby monitors in one. And I say this from experience of trying them all! What was important to us was:
- High-quality video stream
- Reliability
- Wake notifications
- Split-screen viewing for multiple monitors
- Ability to view the monitor on a separate screen (like a dedicated device or iPad)
- Affordable membership
The Harbor baby monitor is this and so much more. I wish we had this from the get-go with Carson because we could have invested in this system alone and been incredibly happy with it for years.
Harbor Baby Monitor Pros and Cons
We used the Nanit, the Nanobebe, and the Maxi-Cosi See Pro and liked each for different reasons. Before we tried the Harbor, we loved the Nanobebe for its quality, but it lacked the notifications we were looking for, and it didn’t support more than one monitor, so we would primarily use the Nanit for Parker. But we didn’t like the poor quality, dropped connection, and pricy membership model on the Nanit.
We’re so glad we found the Harbor because it really does have the best of all the monitors we tried! From my perspective, these are the pros and cons of the Harbor baby monitor.
Harbor Baby Monitor Review – Pros
Split-Screen for Up To Four Cameras
You can view up to four cameras with a split-screen on the monitor or app. This is a huge plus because the other monitor we loved (Nanobebe) didn’t support more than one camera at a time!
Separate Monitor
There’s a separate 10-inch display monitor, so you don’t need to use your phone to monitor your kids if you don’t want to! This is truly awesome for nannies, babysitters, or even when you’re working and taking phone calls when you can’t use your phone for both. You can also view the stream from a desktop browser.
Personalization of Notifications
There are a lot of options for personalizing notifications and settings. You can set mobile notifications (or text or email) every time there’s movement (depending on how sensitive you want it) and for crying for specific periods of time and volume.
For example, you can set motion sensitivity to go off for every movement and a soft cry for only a few seconds. OR you can set it only to notify you when your child cries loudly for 30+ seconds. We have different settings for both kids since Carson likes to play in her crib before she gets up from her nap, and I only want to know when she’s crying out and ready to get up, but any sound from Parker means he’s prepared to be up immediately.
No Wifi Needed
You don’t need wifi! We had a few instances over the last year and a half where our internet would go out for periods of time, and it would always knock our monitors offline, too; it was so annoying. This is also great for travel since you don’t need to connect to a hotel/Airbnb internet to use it!
Video Quality
The video quality is top-notch, even in the dark. Our first camera, you couldn’t even see if their eyes were open or closed, but with this one, you can see at night.
No Memberships Required
There are no memberships involved, so parents don’t have to worry about additional subscriptions or renewals. You get all the features for one price!
Stable Connection
More stable connection and very few disconnections. My Nanit would constantly disconnect overnight, and I wouldn’t even know it, which always gave me so much anxiety when thinking about how long Parker might have been crying overnight, and I slept through it.
Microphone
You can speak through the camera from wherever you are. We don’t use this a lot (ever) for Parker, but we do use it for Carson to get her to sleep!
Night Nurses, Lactation Consultants, and Sleep Consultants
This is awesome! You can book secure help through the app for overnight sleep and monitoring or help with feeding and sleep. It would be great to know that there is an option for newborns! We haven’t used it but might have used the Night Nurses early on.
Harbor Baby Monitor Review – Cons
No Floor Stand – Wall Mount Only
There is no floor stand, so it’s permanent wherever you mount it on the wall! But you can place it on a tabletop. I just like having my cameras over their cribs. But a little birdie did mention that they’re working on accessories to launch in 2025!!
No White Noise/Music
There is no white noise option. We never used this for Carson, because she has a loud air purifier in her room, but Parker doesn’t, so we would use it for him if available.
No Sleep Analytics
It lacks analytics for sleep, awake windows, etc. – for now. I have no doubt they’ll improve their software as time passes! In fact, I checked with the team and they’re working on introducing it in the next couple months! (We used analytics a lot for Carson, but probably wouldn’t use them much for Parker.)
If you’re looking for a baby monitor and know you will want to use it for multiple kids, I highly recommend the Harbor baby monitor! In fact, we just packed up all of our other monitors and are only using these from here on out.
