Tommee Tippee Dreamee review: our verdict on the video monitor and motion sensor pad

Price on writing: £149.99 | Buy now from Amazon

Bringing your newborn baby home can be overwhelming. With a 4.3” night vision monitor, cry sensor and motion pad in one handy set, the Tommee Tippee Dreamee can provide additional peace of mind to help parents get some much-needed shut-eye between night feeds.

What we like

• 360-degree night vision camera ensures clear view during both night and day

• Save battery with VOX mode which turns the camera on only when noise is detected

• Cry sensor can play soothing music when your child wakes 

• Built-in room thermometer

• Motion sensor to keep track of your baby’s movements and alert if they are still for 20 seconds or more

• Large 4.3” screen and clear audio at higher volumes 

What we don't like 

• The motion sensor pad is very sensitive even on the lowest setting, which can increase anxiety if the alert goes off

• Some online reviewers found the range isn’t as long as advertised (300m) 

• The monitor doesn’t sync with a phone or tablet app for real-time footage outside of the home

Key features

• Full-colour 4.3-inch monitor with night vision

• Movement sensor mat with a range of sensitivity levels

• Two-way communication and talkback 

• 360-degree pan, zoom and tilt camera

• Sound-activated night light 

• Easy to use touchscreen controls 

• Auto motion tracking to follow baby around the cot 

• Cry sensor technology 

• Lullabies and nature sounds 

• Room thermometer and nightlight 

• Movement tracker mode which allows the camera to follow movements around the cot once more mobile

Key specs

 Range: 300m | Warranty: 12 months | Dimensions: 12.6 x 41.8 x 26.1 cm | RRP: £150

Related: The best baby monitors, as recommended by Mumsnetters

What’s in the box? 

• 1 x camera

• 1 x parent unit/monitor with fold-out stand

• 1 x motion sensor mat

• 2 x 5V AC adapters

• Instruction manual 

How we tested

Parent tester Catherine tested the Tommee Tippee Dreamee set with her baby, using the monitor and motion sensor for daytime naps and nighttime periods of sleep. She set up everything herself to give us a complete experience with this baby monitor. 

When testing the Tommee Tippee Dreamee, Catherine considered video and audio quality, safety and stability, set-up, range and connectivity, screen size and battery life, as well as features such as lullabies and two-way talkback, aesthetics, cleanliness, and how easy it was to use day-to-day. Crucially, she also considered whether the device offered good value for money.

While Catherine put the Tommee Tippee Dreamee through its paces, we researched wider feedback from the Mumsnet community and retailer sites and scrutinised the impartial views of consumer champion Which? ensuring our tester’s views were consistent with the wider user experience. 

How easy is the Tommee Tippee Dreamee to set up?

Our parent tester Catherine found the Tommee Tippee Dreamee very easy to set up. There are two main parts - the camera and parent unit and despite coming with easy-to-follow instructions, the process was also fairly intuitive, with the camera and parent unit pairing automatically. Tommee Tippee recommends that you charge the parent unit for around four hours before the first use. 

The motion sensor works via batteries (which aren’t included) but positioning the motion pad is relatively straightforward, placing it underneath the mattress where your baby is positioned during the night. 

What is the audio and video quality like?

Thanks to the infrared camera, the picture on the Tommee Tippee Dreamee’s 4.3-inch screen is clear both day and night. Whilst some found the image to be a little grainy at night, our parent tester Catherine says:

The camera also offers the ability to zoom in and pan around 330° horizontal and 110° vertical with a 60° field of view, ensuring no matter how much they wriggle in their sleep, you will always be able to maintain a clear view of your baby. 

As your baby grows and starts becoming more mobile, the Tommee Tippee Dreamee also can track your baby’s movements automatically, instantly moving the camera to follow them as they change position in the cot. This is a great feature, especially if you have a curious toddler who tends to stand or attempt climbing out of the cot. 

The volume can be adjusted using the menu function, although it did take our parent tester Catherine some time to figure out how to do this. Catherine felt the sound quality at higher volumes was good, with clear audio and no interference or background noise, however at lower volumes, the sound does become somewhat muffled. The lights on the side of the monitor also flash when registering sound in your baby’s room. 

How about the signal?

Tommee Tippee state that the range between the parent unit and the camera is 300 metres. If you go beyond this, the parent unit will beep and a warning comes up on the screen to advise that the camera is out of range. 

Our parent tester Catherine had no issues with the signal during the period of testing and had no intermittent warning signals. Some reviewers on retailer sites however found that the range experienced was far less than the 300 metre advertised - something to bear in mind if your house is on the larger side. 

Read next: The best cribs for co-sleeping with your newborn

How long does the battery last?

Our parent tested found the battery life to be relatively good whilst the parent unit was off charge, although she did mostly use plugged-in on her bedside table. Based on the experiences of Which? battery life is around 7-8 hours when unplugged from the mains.

The handy VOX mode can be used to preserve the battery, putting the screen into energy-saving mode and triggering only when noise is detected. With a low battery alert to notify parents, it also visually shares the remaining power so you can easily keep track of when it needs to be charged.

How does the Tommee Tippee Dreamee look?

The Tommee Tippee Dreamee has a widescreen with a built-in stand and a decent-sized camera that feels sturdy, secure and well-made. 

Whilst it’s made from plastic, its white and simple design blends into the nursery setting well without being unsightly or overly obtrusive. 

What is the motion pad like?

Unlike many other baby monitors, the Tommee Tippee Dreamee comes with a motion sensor pad included in the set, making an alternative to separately installed motion sensors such as the Angelcare or BabySense.

Placed underneath your baby’s cot mattress, the motion sensor will send alerts to the parent unit if no motion is detected for 20 seconds or more, or if there is a sudden jolt of movement, ensuring you can check on your baby’s wellbeing if movements slow. 

Initially, our parent tester Catherine found the sensor far too sensitive, “it just kept beeping to tell me the baby wasn’t moving but that was because he was asleep.”

Despite there being three sensitivity settings, Catherine opted to disable the motion sensor due to very regular alerts. This experience was mirrored by some Amazon reviewers - one of whom said “Motion tracking is very erratic - going off on highest sensitivity even when I can see my child breathing.” 

Whilst a motion sensor can provide peace of mind for parents, there is a slight risk that the sensitivity of the Tommee Tipeee Dreamee motion pad could actually heighten anxieties through false alarms, especially with smaller, younger babies. 

Mumsnet user BellaNutella88 agrees saying “We tried it for reassurance. It was going off immediately even when I was watching him wriggling in his cot. We decided not to use it.”

What’s the Tommee Tippee Dreamee like to use day-to-day?

Our parent tester overall found the menu system on easy to understand but less responsive compared to others she had tested such as the VTech RM7767HD Baby Monitor. 

It also took a while for her to learn how to navigate around the menu - something which was also noted by Which? testing.

Does the Tommee Tippee Dreamee have any extra features?

The Tommee Tippee has a variety of other useful features to help make parents’ lives easier. 

The cry sensor can be set up to trigger lullabies automatically and soothe your baby back to sleep if they cry - a helpful support for parents trying to encourage self-soothing or avoid nursing them back to sleep on auto-pilot when they wake.

For those overnight feeds during the early newborn phase, the monitor can also be used to send feeding reminders, alerting you that it’s time to feed your baby once a set interval of time has passed.

The built-in room thermometer is great for peace of mind during peak hot and cold seasons and can reduce the need for a stand-alone nursery thermometer. It’s worth noting however that this rounds up to the nearest whole degree; so not as specific as some stand-alone thermometers. 

Is the Tommee Tippee Dreamee safe?

For parents concerned about the risk of hacking when using Wifi enabled baby monitors, the local auto-pairing of the camera and parent unit and the absence of an internet connection may be welcome news, without the need to password protect or encrypt the device.

The motion pad also uses battery power rather than the mains, so there are no trailing wires or exposed cords to worry about near your baby’s cot. 

Is it easy to keep clean?

The Tommee Tippee Dreamee parent unit, camera and motion pad are all made of white plastic, which is easy to wipe down as and when required. 

Is the Tommee Tippee Dreamee good value for money?

With an RRP of £150, the Tommee Tippee Dreamee is around twice as much as the Spear & Jackson Video Baby Monitor, yet our parent tester Catherine preferred the more budget-friendly design. 

It doesn’t have the best video quality of the baby monitors we tested and may take some practice to navigate through all the settings, however, for those who are looking for a complete nursery package including a motion sensor, it makes a fair all-rounder with helpful functionality for parents.

Our verdict

A fair video baby monitor with a range of parent-friendly features to support your baby’s bedtime routine, but if you’re looking to reduce your anxiety levels, the overly sensitive motion pad could have the opposite effect.

Related: The best travel cots for at home, sleepovers and holidays

About Mumsnet reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after weeks of research and testing – this includes recommendations from the Mumsnet Talk boards. We work hard to provide honest and independent advice you can trust. Sometimes, we earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. However, we never allow this to influence our coverage. Read our how we test page to find out more.

For more information about what to look for when buying a baby monitor, check out our buyer's guide.

All prices correct at time of publication

About the author

Lucy Cotterill is a mum of two and a Content Writer at Mumsnet, specialising in baby/child and lifestyle product reviews and round-ups. Having written product reviews on her own blog Real Mum Reviews since 2012, Lucy loves to research and explore the pros and cons of baby products, scrutinising reviews and consumer feedback to help parents make confident purchases that benefit their families.  

Lucy developed a real passion for blogging and writing when her children were young, and has used and reviewed a number of baby monitors with her daughters, testing key features to ensure quality and value for money.  

She has since gone on to write for several online publications including US parenting site Pregistry and the Evening Standard. When she’s not manically tapping the keys of her laptop, Lucy loves nothing more than to cosy up with her Kindle and enjoy the latest thriller, or compete in Nintendo Switch rallies with her daughters aged six and 10.