How to Create a Baby Monitor with a Cell Phone

Creating a Basic Audio Monitor

Obtain a mobile phone with "mute" and "speaker phone" features. Current mobile phones—especially smartphones—almost universally include these functions. You will also need to acquire a second mobile phone or ensure the availability of a landline phone.

Place one standard landline phone or cell phone near the baby's crib. Meanwhile, parents should carry the cell phone with the mute and speaker phone functions.

Connect a call between the two phones. Then, activate the mute and speaker phone functions on the parents' mobile phone. This ensures that parents can hear babies in the event they cry or struggle without creating noise that could awake or disturb the child.

Test the connection to ensure any noise the baby makes is audible on the mobile phone's speakers. If you have established the connection correctly, parents should hear the baby while the baby will be unable to hear any noise from the parents phone.

Keep your mobile phone with you at all times. Because you've removed it from your pocket, bag or purse, you may be more likely to forget your mobile phone in the event you leave the room.

Using Smartphone Software

Obtain two smartphones. One will be used by parents, and the other will be positioned next to the baby. The advantage of using smartphones is that you can both watch and listen to your child. In most cases, you'll need smartphones using the same operating systems (e.g. iOS, Android or Windows).

Find or purchase video streaming software. There are several popular applications designed specifically for monitoring babies, including Cloud Baby Monitor (available for iOS devices via iTunes), Dormi (available for Android devices via GooglePlay), Baby Monitor 3G (available for both operating systems via iTunes and GooglePlay) and Baby Monitor (available for Windows devices via Microsoft). These applications generally include additional functions like noise or motion alerts and lullabies. Cloud Baby Monitor includes a companion application allowing parents to visibly monitor their babies from other Mac devices like tablets or notebooks. If you don't wish to purchase this software (which generally runs between $4 and $10), you can simply use a video streaming service like Skype, FaceTime or Google Hangouts. Simply connect two devices as you normally would for a video call. Though this software lacks unique baby monitoring functionality, it still allows for a audio and visual connection.

Connect your devices via the preferred software. This requires following the program-specific instructions for setting your devices up, adjusting preferences and ultimately connecting the two smartphones via the monitoring software or video call. Be sure to test the connection and video feed before leaving the room.