Baby Monitor Voices

On October 9th, 2009 8:30am…

The morning of Ruby’s Baptism. Ruby was 7 ½ months old.

I woke up before her and was in the living room on the computer and heard her whining to let me know she was awake. I turned on the hall light and opened the door to her room, walked over to the monitor and shut it off. I leaned over Ruby’s crib and she was quiet but awake so I started talking to her. I was saying “good morning pretty girl” etc. Then I heard a baby crying in what seemed like my bedroom. My husband had still been in bed and the handset to the baby monitor was still on. I left Ruby in her crib and went to see where the noise was coming from. I leaned in to the bedroom and my husband looked at me and I said “that’s not her, she’s quiet!” He just stared at me like he was confused. I listened for a minute and went to get Ruby. I made sure the monitor was off in her room and it was. We went back into my bedroom and my husband was still listening to the sounds coming from the monitor. Ruby and I sat on the bed and the three of us listened together. I thought at first that our monitor has picked up another monitor in the neighborhood until I heard the baby more clearly. The baby was whining, making different noises and saying “da da da da.” I knew from the minute she started making those sounds that it was Ruby I was hearing on the monitor! It was hear voice with the same fluctuations! My mouth must have been hanging open and my eyes wide as I told my husband “that’s Ruby!” You know what your baby sounds like and I knew for sure I was listening to her.

The longer we listened, the more clear it became that this sounded like our nightly after bath routine. Then I heard my own voice asking her if she wanted lotion! I always lotion her after her bath and talk to her as I’m getting her dressed. I just heard my own voice! I was dumbfounded at what I was hearing and my husband and I kept staring at each other as we continued to listen. It sounded like listening to a recording, only our monitor has no recording device at all. There are no babies in our neighborhood that are around Ruby’s age that I’m aware of.

We listened for several more minutes to what sounded like the baby eating from a bottle and then drifting off to sleep. I had to feed Ruby so we went ahead and shut the monitor off. I couldn’t stop thinking about it all day! Our monitor has never picked up any interference before this day and nothing since. The monitor in her room and the handset are always placed in the same position. The sound was as though it was coming from the room the monitor was in and didn’t have a lot of static like it was picking up something far away!

My biggest question is this: if I was picking up someone else’s monitor why would I be listening to a Mother bathing, dressing and feeding her baby when a monitor is used for sleep time? The monitor wouldn’t be on during that time!

My husband and I are wondering if because of the significance of the day and the fact that his Mother has passed on that she was somehow trying to let us know that she hears us and is still watching?

This picture was taken at the church before the Baptism on the same day as the incident.

Thank you for your reply Heidi. Her monitor was indeed off in her room, I checked twice. Our squeels and makes obnoxious noises with fuzz when the receiver is left on and the main monitor is not on in her room. It made no noise like that this day. I would say that it picked up on someone else's monitor that was on except that I'm positive I heard my own voice talking to her. That was weird to say the least. I wish I could have recorded it but I was so dumbfounded that I didn't think of it at the time. It literally sounded like a replay of our nightly routine before bed.

I think you may be one of the only people I've heard that leave their monitor on:) Our is an angelcare and monitors movement and breathing so we can't leave it on. It would alarm with her not in the crib.

Once again, thank you for your reply. I'd love to find out what this could be. I even checked to make sure our video camera etc. wasn't around the monitor and maybe interfering with it. It wasn't.

Sometimes things happen, and there truly are no explanations for them.

Ruby is a cutie.

Welcome to PUG. Glad to have you here with us.

Thanks so much, I'm starting to agree with you. Not sure that I'll find an explanation.

Also thank you for the welcome and the compliment on my little girl:)

Wow, that is fascinating, especially since you are sure it was you and your baby you were listening to.

Other than the monitor picking up someone else doing the same exact routine as you and a family that sounds exactly the same, I can't think of a normal explanation.

I don't think I've ever heard of this type of instance before. Interesting! I'd love to know if you have this type of thing happen again.

And your baby is adorable!

I know, I wish I could hear it again! I've tried to leave the monitor on several times now to see if it picks up anything and nothing but ticking and fuzz. Weird.

You see, my husbands Mom died 10 years ago of cancer and was very involved with her Grandkids. My husband is the youngest and Ruby is his first. He's the one that took care of her when she was sick and they were very close. I'm wondering if it could be her letting us know that she was listening. The fact that it was the day of her baptism may have been significant. I'll make sure to leave it on the morning of her 1st Birthday and see what happens! Then again it could be someone else completely, maybe one day I'll find out.

Thank you for the compliment on Ruby!

This phenomenon has been reported before I believe with radio operators actually talking to themselves.

That of course involves a two way radio. I will try to find the accounts that I read about " a long time ago,"

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Thanks so much, I'd love to hear about it!

Can you tell the brand and model number of the baby monitor? Maybe we can look it up and see if there has been anything reported about it.

I'm glad my wife doesn't visit this site. Lately when she sees a baby girl, she gets this look in her eyes and just keeps telling me she wants a baby girl.

Sure! It's and Angelcare Bebe Sounds, model#AC201.

Baby girls are so fun. I know the look, I'm starting to feel the same way again:)

It's what I call pregnancy amnesia.

I found some stuff on the monitor but other than the movement pad that it comes with. I couldn't find the frequency range for it. A lot of the low band frequencies can pick up skip from a long distance away depending on certain weather conditions. I've heard of some fire departments in Florida picking up New York City on their low band radios. Their radios will be a bit stronger but you can pick up stuff from far away.

Baby monitors are notorious for picking up outside transmissions.

There is even a documented case of a baby monitor picking up transmissions from astronauts on the space station.

I cannot say with any certainty that is what is happening in your case but if you do a little research I believe you will find a lot on what can be picked up by them. I have even known ghost hunters that were on a budget that have used them and picked up all kinds of stuff.

Pregnancy amnesia is exactly it. I could add colic amnesia too, apparently I'm ready to put myself through that again.

I completely agree with what both of you have said, I know they pick up all sorts of weird things. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that I'm positive it was my voice and my baby after bath time and before bedtime. If I hadn't heard it with my own ears I would have written it off to picking up a conversation of some sort from anywhere. My husband also heard it and is even more of a skeptic than I am. I don't know what to believe other than it's probably not going to be explained and we'll probably never know why it happened unless it happens again. I will have a recorder handy just in case so I'll have something to critique:)

Thanks again for your help in finding a cause, I really do appreciate it. I'll be sure to let you know if anything else happens!