Bringing your newborn home from the hospital can be as worrying as it is magical. Your baby is extremely fragile especially in those first few months of life.
New parents are also bombarded with the dangers of SIDS, which unfortunately affects around 2,500 babies each year and most often occurs during their first year of life.
For any parents, the anxiety can be overwhelming and can really detract from enjoying your beautiful newborn. This can be even more terrifying if your baby has additional health concerns or has spent time in the ICU.
The constant leaves in technology have provided parents with countless products that can now monitor their babies, rock them to sleep, entertain them and even track their sleep.
Smart baby monitors are one of these great technological developments and can help to alleviate some of the worries that new parents experience.
We are going to take an in-depth look at two of these popular smart monitors – Nanit and Miku. Both offer a variety of smart features that help parents reduce their anxiety by monitoring their baby’s breathing and sleep.
There are also a few differences between these brands that could be the deciding factor as to which one is right for you and your baby.
| Title | Price | Prime | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Miku Smart Baby Monitor - Breathing & Movement Monitor | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | |
 | Nanit Plus - Smart Baby Monitor and Floor Stand: Camera with HD Video & Audio | PrimeEligible | Buy Now |
In this article
What Exactly Is A Smart Baby Monitor?
smart baby monitors are usually made up of a variety of different features. They most commonly have a camera that sends high-quality video, sound, and wellness data about your baby to an app on your smartphone.
All this information is sent via WiFi and your phone acts as a receiver so there is no need for a separate receiver – this is great as the vast majority of parents always have their phone close at hand.
Unlike traditional baby monitors that only live-stream video and sound the smart baby monitors come with a range of different features such as monitoring your baby’s sleep, breathing, and even the conditions in their nursery.
All of these features are done through the use of sensors and artificial intelligence software, and they can also alert you if it detects that there is something wrong with your baby.
These smart baby monitors go far beyond just being an extra pair of eyes and ears like a traditional monitor. They are in fact an entire team of extra people to watch over and monitor your baby, helping to relieve some anxiety for parents.
Is A Smart Monitor Right For You?
You may be asking yourself this question and even wondering if you need a smart baby monitor or if a traditional monitor would be just as good.
Here are a few reasons why the additional features of a smart monitor could benefit you and your baby:
Concerns About SIDS
Most parents are very knowledgeable with regards to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) more these days than in previous times.
As parents, we are taught best practices for safe sleeping habits – like ensuring your baby sleeps on their backs with no other objects in the crib with them.
But there are some things that even us parents can not monitor. For example, the vast majority of parents would not be able to tell if their baby’s breathing rate was normal purely based on observation.
Smart baby monitors provide parents with a way to remove some of the guesswork by electronically monitoring breathing using smart sensors.
View in gallery
The data is then transferred to an app on your smartphone allowing you to always be able to see how your little one is doing.
Although smart baby monitors can not guarantee your baby’s safety by preventing SIDS, they can provide accurate monitoring of your baby’s breathing allowing anxious caregivers and parents some relief.
Your Baby Has Additional Health Issues
If your baby has health complications or was in the NICU, when you bring them home you may feel more at ease if you are able to provide constant and in-depth monitoring of them.
A smart monitor can provide high-quality images and provides information about your baby’s breathing, temperature, and sleep.
This will allow you to have a less anxious and smoother transition from hospital to your home.
You Want To Track Your Baby’s Sleep Pattern
Smart baby monitors use artificial intelligence software and sensors to monitor your baby’s sleep. Most can provide you with detailed breakdowns of your baby’s sleep from sleep length, patterns, and even quality.
With all this information to hand it will allow you to have a better idea of whether your baby is getting the sleep and quality of sleep that they require.
It will also allow you to plan any changes that need to be made during the sleep training phase.
Comparison: Nanit vs Miku
Although to look at you would think that both Nanit and Miku are very similar products there are some key differences between them.
Nanit smart baby monitoring system comes with the following:
- Nanit Plus Camera
- Breathing Wear – a swaddle and breathing fabric band.
- Smaller Multi Stand – suitable for travel.
The Nanit Plus camera streams HD video of your baby direct to the app on your phone. The app itself has some great additional features too.
It uses the breathing band to monitor your baby’s breathing, while the app provides you with information about your baby’s sleep and nursery conditions.
In the app, the Nanit insights function gives in-depth advice on ways that you can improve your baby’s sleep.
Miku smart baby monitoring system comes with the following:
- Miku camera unit
The Miku camera unit streams live HD video of your baby’s breathing, sleep, and room conditions. It can also provide you with an analysis of your baby’s sleep data.
The key difference between these two smart baby monitors is that the Miku is a non-contact monitor, which means that there are no additional items that your baby needs to wear in order for the monitor to do its job.
The Miku does this through built-in sensors.
Here is a side by side comparison of the two monitors:
| Nanit | Miku | |
| What’s Included | Nanit Plus Camera
Breathing Wear Travel multi-stand Free 1-year Nanit insights |
Miku camera unit
Wall mounting kit Free app |
| Camera Mounting | Waal mounted or freestanding | Wall-mounted or freestanding |
| Monitor Receiver | Nanit app on a smartphone | Miku app on a smartphone |
| What it Monitors | Video
Night vision 2-way audio Temperature Humidity Breathing motion Sleep |
video
Night vision 2-way audio Temperature Humidity Breathing motion Sleep |
| How is breathing monitored | A fabric band is secured around baby’s chest. | Micro-movements are detected by the camera. |
| Additional Features | Night light
White noise |
Lullabies and music
White noise |
| Price/Refunds/Warranties | $379 for the bundle
45-day happiness guarantee 1 year limited warranty |
$399
90-day refund from date of purchase or 30 days after activation. 1 year limited warranty |
| Set up and Connectivity Information | Set up in under 10 minutes
Wifi required |
Set up in under 10 minutes
Wifi required |
| Picture/sound quality | HD, 960p with 130° wide-angle lens
Good audio quality |
HD, 1080p with 130° wide-angle lens.
Good audio quality |
Nanit Smart Baby Monitor
Nanit was founded by Assaf Glazer after the birth of his eldest son, so as a parent himself he understands the worries and concerns of parents.
Assaf learned that sleep is vital to the health and development of infants, and his son was no different. He searched for a monitor that could provide him with detailed insights into his son’s sleep.
View in gallery
But instead what he did find was monitors with very limited capabilities and that there were none that could provide the kind of insights into his son’s sleeping patterns that he wanted.
He set out to reinvent the baby monitor, and this is when Nanit was born.
Assaf teamed up with some great minds to create a system that provided parents with real insights into their children while relieving their anxiety by providing a comprehensive monitoring system.
The Nanit Plus Camera System
The baby video monitor can be set up as a wall-mounted, floor stand, or portable stand camera. You can have a bird’s eye view of your baby whenever you want due to the multi-angle feature.
The camera provides HD quality video that is streamed straight to an app on your phone, so there is no need to carry any extra screens or monitors with you.
It also has a two-way audio function that lets you hear everything that is going on in your nursery, and it allows you to talk to your baby.
The Nanit also has sensors that determine the temperature and humidity of the room to ensure that you are providing the ideal conditions for your baby at all times.
There are also sensors that monitor your baby’s sleep and it can tell you how many times your baby woke to the total number of hours they have slept.
It also comes with some super useful additional features such as night light and white noise functions which will all help to soothe a fussy baby.
Breathing Wear
The Nanit breathing wear is a swaddle or a fabric band which is usually used for older babies. Both of these have specially designed patterns that allow the Nanit camera to assess your little ones breathing.
It does the by cleverly analyzing the movement of the patterns on the swaddle to understand your baby’s breathing. If any abnormalities are detected in your baby’s breathing motion, it will send an alert via the app.
Nanit Insights
Nanit Insights are part of the complete monitoring system which you access through the app.
These insights allow parents and other caregivers access to detailed tracking information about their baby’s sleep by simply using the data that has been collected from baby’s breathing wear.
Nanit Insights offer you personalized sleep tips that are based on your baby’s age and all the data that has been gathered.
Key Features Of Nanit Camera
Portable Stand
The camera comes with a stand that is called a multi-stand. This stand is really useful for traveling. You just unclip the camera from its usual wall mount or floor stand in your home and pop it on to the multi-stand.
This is also a great option if your baby sleeps out at grandparents, aunts, or uncle’s homes.
Memory Book Feature
This is a super cute little feature that works through the app. The app captures when your baby reaches a certain sleep milestone, and also lets you manually save video clips to create a personalized digital scrapbook.
Nanit Insights
We mentioned the Nanit Insights briefly above but they really are what sets this system above the majority of other systems currently available.
It tracks your baby’s sleep through the advanced sensors that provide information for when your baby is awake, sleeping, or in a different sleep cycle.
The insights also provide you with summaries showing how your baby did through the night. It shows you the different sleep phases, sleep quality, and even gives you tips on how to help your baby sleep better.
If when your baby is older you are considering sleep training then the insights can also be used there.
Safety Features
Safety and security have been high on the list of must-haves for the Nanit system and the safety features that they have in place show that they have done their research and listened to parents’ concerns.
Any information that is transmitted is encrypted using a 256-bit encryption standard, making it very difficult for your system to be hacked.
The Nanit design has also taken into account that parents have concerns with regard to dangling cables. The camera system comes with an adhesive wire casing that sticks to the wall to keep all those cables out of reach.
Setting Up
Set-up time depends on the type of set-up you want. If you go for the floor stand set up then it literally takes seconds as all you need to do is attach the camera to the stand and connect the power source.
View in gallery
The wall mount system does take a little more preparation in that you will need to drill 3 holes in order to install the mounting plate that the camera attaches to.
Set up takes less than 10 minutes, and then simply link the app with the camera.
Pros Of Nanit System
- It is a complete system that can monitor a baby’s sleep, breathing, and environmental conditions.
- Image quality is really good even while using night vision mode.
- The breathing wear helps to reassure anxious parents that their baby is ok.
- The detailed sleep tracking takes the guesswork out of tracking sleep.
- Parents were able to check on their baby even while they were away from home.
- Great additional features such as night light and white noise.
- Data safety features gives users peace of mind that their system will not be hacked.
- Super easy to set up.
Cons Of Nanit System
- The price is going to be a sticking point for some families.
- Some users experienced connectivity issues.
How Much Does Nanit Cost?
| Bundle or Product | Price | What’s Included |
| Nanit Smart Baby Monitor – Wall Mount (discontinued by manufacturer) | $209.99 | Wall-mounted Camera |
| Complete Monitoring System – Wall Mount | $329.99 | Nanit Plus Camera
Floor Stand Breathing Wear Travel Multi-stand |
| Nanit Plus Camera – Wall Mount | $249 | Nanit Plus Camera
Wall mount Protective Cord Covers |
| Nanit Plus Camera – Floor Stand | $329 | Nanit Plus Camera
Floor Stand |
Miku Smart Baby Monitor
The founder of Miku, Eric White, never set out to design a smart baby monitor – he kind of just fell into it.
Like many new parents, Eric went out and purchased the best baby monitor that was available and very quickly was disappointed by its lack of features and quality.
View in gallery
It didn’t offer parents the reassurance that their baby was doing fine at night that all parents want and need. So as an electrical engineer, Eric knew he could do better.
He decided to use all his skills and knowledge as a parent and built the prototypes for the first monitors all by himself.
Since those early days, Miku has now been developed into a world-class device that helps parents relieve some of their anxiety by knowing that their baby is fine.
Miku Camera And App
The Miku smart baby monitor can be used in two ways either as a stand-alone device or a wall-mounted one. The way in which you use the camera will reflect the picture that is transmitted back to the app.
So, if you place the camera on a flat surface you will get an upright view of the whole nursery, but if you mount it on the wall you will get a bird’s-eye view of your baby’s crib.
The camera transmits live video of your baby and nursery in HD quality, it also comes with night vision. The video is streamed directly to an app on your smartphone so no need for a separate receiver.
The app can be downloaded to multiple phones, so can be used by different caregivers – great for when grandparents come over to watch your little one.
The camera also comes with two-way audio allowing you to talk to your baby through the monitor.
Miku has several features that go far beyond normal baby monitors, using built-in sensors and machine learning to provide you with detailed information about your baby’s sleep, breathing, and even the nursery conditions.
Key Features of Miku Smart Baby Monitor
No Baby Wearables
One of the best features of the Miku smart baby monitor is that there is no need for your baby to wear any extra devices, wraps, or clothing in order for the monitor to do its job. This is far more convenient as baby wearables can easily get soiled, be placed incorrectly both of which make getting accurate monitoring impossible.
Safety Features
As a parent, I completely understand that it can be worrying thinking that your baby’s camera could potentially be hacked. But Miku has listened to these concerns and uses the best available encryption to prevent such an event.
It also uses a crypto chip that makes the device tamper-proof – this means that if your device fell into the wrong hands, all data on the monitor would be erased.
Hanging cables are also a big concern for parents but Miku has also provided a solution to this. Miku comes with adhesive wore guards meaning that leaving your baby alone in the nursery with a Miku baby monitor is not a concern.
Set-Up
Set up depends on whether you are going to use your monitor free-standing or wall-mounted.
If you are using the Miku free-standing on a flat surface, you just need to plug it into a power source and you are ready to go. There is the option to purchase a floor stand separately which you can then attach the camera to.
Wall-mounted use only takes a few simple set-up steps too. You will need to screw in the mounting plate into your wall using the 2 screws provided and then clip your monitor on – they even provide you with the screwdriver!
The total set-up time is less than 10 minutes.
Alerts & Tracking
The Miku smart baby monitor is able to detect any abnormalities in either your baby’s breathing or the nursery conditions.
All alerts are received through the app on your phone – this feature allows you to watch over your baby while you both get a good night’s sleep.
Miku also provides in-depth sleep tracking for both day and night sleep. The tracking includes information like the total number of hours slept, sleep quality, movement during sleep, and much more.
This data can be used to work out if changes need to be made to your baby’s schedule to help them get more sleep or better quality sleep.
Pros Of Miku System
- Provides sharp HD video.
- Comes with motion and non-motion alerts.
- Monitors breathing and sleep patterns.
- Temperature and humidity sensors.
Cons Of Miku System
- The cost may be a sticking point for some families.
- The app needs further development.
- The camera heats up giving an inaccurate nursery temperature.
How Much Does Miku Cost?
| Bundle or Product | Price | What’s included |
| Miku smart baby monitor | $349 | Wall-Mounted Camera
Cable Guards Screwdriver |
| Miku smart baby monitor (refurbished) | $299 | Wall-Mounted Camera
Cable Guards Screwdriver |
| Floor Stand | $99 | Miku floor stand
Protective cable guards |
| Travel Case | $29 | Miku camera travel case |
Nanit vs Miku: And The Winner is…
These two smart monitors are very closely matched and choosing a winner is a tough call. Both Nanit and Miku offer HD video quality, good sound quality, and monitor breathing giving parents great peace of mind.
All the data is streamed directly to your smartphone so no need for a separate receiver – super convenient for parents. The monitors are really well designed and all cables are safely covered.
In terms of features, both smart monitors are outstanding in different areas.
Miku does not require any additional baby wearables in order to be able to monitor breathing – making it far more convenient while Nanit needs the breathing band to carry out the same checks.
Safety and security are a top priority for any parent and while Nanit uses 256-bit encryption. Miku went just that step further by including a crypto chip – designed to reset encryption keys and delete all data if tampered with.
But Nanit comes with the unique Nanit insights feature. This not only records your baby’s sleep data, but it actually analyses the data and translates it into tips that parents can actually act on.
This means that it provides personalized sleep advice for your baby. If you pick either of these smart baby monitors you will not be disappointed, as both offer HD video streaming, reduce the fear of SIDS, and track sleep.
After all, they provide new parents with the extra pair of eyes they need to reduce their anxiety and worry while keeping their baby safe and providing alerts if something is wrong.
They do far more than the traditional baby monitor and although they are pricey they can be seen as a long-term investment to be used for several years to come.
FAQs
Does Miku work without WiFi?
Miku baby monitor requires WiFi connectivity to send you alerts, notifications, and other important messages.
But Miku’s core functions are processed locally so they will continue to collect data for a short time without a wifi connection and that data will then be accessible once a WiFi connection is re-established.
Does Nanit work without WiFi?
If you are not at home, or there is no WiFi connection, the Nanit will continue to track movement and breathing as long as it is powered on. You will then be able to access the data and camera once you can connect to the wifi again.
Can Ninit be hacked?
Nanit features 256-bit encryption and according to the company ‘IP addresses that can’t be hacked’ to keep your baby’s images and data safe.
The Final Thought
As a parent I understand the anxiety, fears of SIDS, and the constant worry of having a baby, this is why I think that any technology that can be used in order to help parents rest easy is a great investment.
While it is true that both these smart baby monitors are considerably more expensive than a traditional baby monitor, the additional features they offer are well worth the price tag!
