Not much requires more trust than laying your baby down to sleep in a different room or leaving your infant with a babysitter. Unlike during your grandparent's era, there are now many options to give you peace of mind about your baby while you aren't with them.

A baby monitor is a must-have for a nursery. While there are many different brands and features that you can choose from, they really narrow down to just three main types of baby monitors: smart, video, and audio. A smart monitor has video and audio and tracks other readings such as room temperature, breathing, heart rate, and more. A video monitor has just video and audio, but some video monitors come with add-ons to make them more like a smart monitor. The audio monitor is the most basic monitor; no video, no sensors, just noise indicators so you know when your baby wakes.

With so many amazing features in the different types of monitors, it would be impossible to select the best one overall. I’ve listed the best baby monitors in each category below to help narrow down which type of monitor you would like for your home.

Smart Monitors

At first glance, there isn't a noticeable difference between video monitors and smart monitors, but a smart monitor does so much more than just allowing you to see your baby while you are out of the room. Having a smart monitor in your nursery gives you access to the latest tech in keeping your baby safe and giving you peace of mind. Also, as an added bonus, all the smart baby monitors on this list are FSA/HSA eligible!

Best Sensor-Free Smart Monitor: Nanit Pro Camera Baby Monitor

While the Nanit Pro Camera baby monitor might not turn you into Mary Poppins (that bottomless bag would be amazing though) or give you a magic wand that can instantly put your infant to sleep, babies with the Nanit Pro and accompanying app sleep 10% longer than other babies through the use of scientific data. When the monitor is paired with the Nanit app, you have the ability to track your baby’s sleep patterns so you can understand, and even help, your baby sleep better.

This monitor does so much more than track your baby’s sleep patterns. The two-way audio will allow you to sing that lullaby just one more time when you are too tired to open your eyes in the middle of the night, and the white noise option will help soothe your baby to sleep. It also has a built-in nightlight that you can control from your phone. The app still works with background audio even if you have your phone screen off.

Add-On Sensor: Nanit Smart Sheet

Parents love to track how big their little one has become, but babies sure are wiggly when you want to try and measure them. However, measuring your baby has never been easier with Nanit Smart Sheets. The Nanit Pro can read the details on the Smart Sheet so all you have to do is place your baby in the center of the sheet and the monitor will measure their growth and record it for you.

Add-On Sensor: Breathing Wear

The Nanit Pro Camera alone doesn’t use wearable tech sensors to monitor your baby’s breathing; rather, it uses the computer-controlled camera combined with the breathing band to track breathing motion. When your baby is wearing the breathing band, the camera reads the changes in the pattern on the band to track all your baby’s subtle movements to measure breaths per minute and will alert you if your baby needs you.

The breathing band comes in many different forms for different ages (up to 30lbs or 24 months old) and climates. You have the option of a breathing band, a swaddle, pajamas, or a sleeping bag.

Best Smart Baby Monitor with Heart Rate Sensors: Owlet Dream Duo Baby Monitor

The Owlet Dream Duo is the ultimate baby monitor for keeping track of your precious bundle when you lay them down to sleep. With a wearable sock monitor, you will have access to an amazing amount of information to give you a peaceful night’s sleep knowing you will be alerted if there is a concern.

The monitor uses the data gathered from the fabric sleep sock to develop a baseline for your baby’s sleep behaviors. If the information moves outside of the baseline, you will be alerted to check on your child. The Dream Sock tracks heart rate, oxygen levels, movement, and wakings to alert you that your baby might need attention.

If you want assistance with helping your little one get to sleep, the Owlet Dream App comes with sleep tips for birth through 18 weeks and then a sleep program for ages four months and up.

When the Dream Sock is paired with the HD camera, it creates an information-rich duo that will give you a much fuller view of the nursery. The camera will record room temperature, humidity, and the noise level of the room. Night vision, 4x zoom, and a wide-angle lens will lessen your need to tiptoe into the nursery to check on your infant—unless you just can’t resist that cute sleepy face and just have to sneak in there to stare at your mini-me!

Best Smart Baby Monitor Without Wearables: Miku Pro Smart Baby Monitor

The Miku Pro Smart Baby monitor has all the bells and whistles that you could possibly want and it also has a crypto chip to keep the video feed secure. You will gain amazing insight into your baby's sleep patterns with all the data generated by the sensors in this wall-mounted monitor, such as room temperature, nursery humidity, movement, sound levels, and more. With all sensors covered in this unit, there’s no need to put a wearable device like a breathing band or smart sock on your baby at night.

No more grainy video with a low-quality signal; the Miku Pro has a wide-angle lens and a zoom lens to view the nursery. It's all controllable from your phone so you can have peace of mind knowing what’s going on in your baby's crib, or maybe just to get a close-up view of those adorable sleepy cheeks! Also, no more sneaking into the nursery with a flashlight to check on your child before you go to bed. Now you can use the night vision feature to check-in without worrying about waking them up by stepping on a noisy toy in the dark! And when you find your baby in an adorable pose, the monitor has a picture mode so you can capture those loveable moments.

Babies love music, and it seems like every time you lull them to sleep and leave the room, they want the music to continue. This monitor is also capable of playing lullabies, which will help soothe your baby but won't require you to disturb your sleepy one by going back into the room to turn the music back on.

Video Monitors

Best Video Baby Monitor: Lollipop Babycare Baby Monitor

Video baby monitors give you a real-time view of your baby sent right to your smartphone or tablet. If you want to know what your baby is up to but don't feel the need to know the temperature of the room or your baby's breathing patterns, then this is the perfect type of monitor for you.

Using a high-quality video feed, the Lollipop Babycare baby monitor is a great way to keep track of your baby while you are at work. While it won't monitor your baby's breathing like a smart monitor does, you can still see and hear your baby during the day.

An old-school baby monitor could trick you into thinking your baby was crying because it couldn't tell the difference between a tree branch scratching against the house and your baby crying. The Lollipop Babycare monitor differentiates between white noise and crying and will notify you when your baby needs attention, getting rid of unnecessary, disruptive check-ins.

One of the best features on this monitor is that you can get notifications if your baby goes outside of a border you set inside of the camera's view. Now you can know if your baby gets stuck in the bars of the crib, starts dropping stuffed animals over the side, or escapes the crib altogether.

Add-On Sensors: Lollipop Babycare Baby Monitor Sensor

If you want to know more about the nursery than just video and audio, Lollipop has an add-on sensor that connects through Bluetooth. This extra sensor will monitor temperature, humidity, and air quality in the nursery to give you a fuller picture of your baby's nap time. This is a great option for parents who didn't purchase a smart monitor but decide they want more information about the nursery without buying a whole new setup.

Audio Monitors

Best Audio Baby Monitor: Beaba Minicall Audio Monitor

If you have a small apartment, are traveling, or simply don't want a high-tech smart monitor that has an internet connection, then a simple audio monitor is the way to go. Even without wi-fi connectivity or a camera, an audio monitor still alerts you to your baby's needs while you go about your day or take a nap yourself!

The Beaba Minicall Audio monitor is the best budget baby monitor for those who need a monitor but don't want video monitoring or the features that smart monitors provide. But the lower price tag doesn’t mean a decrease in quality. There's no need to hang close to your baby's room as the 1,000ft range gives you the ability to move around freely while your baby sleeps. Also, if you live off-grid or like to go camping, then you'll love the 25hr battery life that can recharge using a USB connection.

The optional silent mode is a great feature if you are trying to keep the house quiet or are hard of hearing. Just turn the parent unit to silent mode and an LED will illuminate to indicate crying.

Parents are notorious for being able to juggle multiple items, kids, and tasks at once, but what doesn't get mentioned is the number of times one of those items gets dropped! Don't worry, dropping the Minicall isn’t a day-ruiner as it’s both shock- and water-resistant. So the next time you are giving your toddler a bath while your baby sleeps, you don't need to worry about destroying the monitor when you accidentally drop it in the tub!

Every household and parenting situation is different enough from the other that there is no one best baby monitor; it all depends on personal preference. If you are a stay-at-home mom and only go out without your children once in a while, then choosing a smart monitor may be overkill. If you are a working parent, then a smart or video monitor can be a great way to check up on your precious little one during the day. But these aren't the only reasons to select a specific type of baby monitor and sometimes trying to decide which one is best can be overwhelming. To narrow down (and ultimately find) the best baby monitor for your nursery, talk with your Baby and Toddler Expert on Curated.