Watching your baby monitor away from home

Updated 7 November 2026

The baby’s asleep with a grandparent at home, and you’re at a restaurant, at work or in a hotel abroad. With a phone baby monitor you can still check in. Here’s how it works and how to set it up.

At home: Wi-Fi

When both phones are on your home Wi-Fi, Sleepybo sends the video straight from the nursery to your phone over your own network. It doesn’t use the internet or your mobile data.

Away: any Wi-Fi or mobile data

Once paired, your phone keeps watching wherever it is, over mobile data or any Wi-Fi. The camera stays on your home Wi-Fi. Video is encrypted end to end, with keys only your paired phones hold, so nobody in between can see or hear it, us included.

To watch away, make sure Watch when away is on in Sleepybo’s Settings › Privacy. Pairing has to happen at home first, with both devices on the same Wi-Fi.

Before you head out

• Try it once in the daytime. Turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and check the picture comes through on mobile data.
• Charge your phone. Live video uses battery, so bring a charger or a power bank for a long evening.
• Check your data plan. Watching away uses mobile data. Abroad, roaming can be expensive, so connect to the hotel Wi-Fi when you can.
• Turn the volume up. Alarms play even on Silent, but a loud room can still drown them out.

If the connection drops

Phones lose signal in lifts, basements and on trains. If the live picture or sound stops, Sleepybo sounds an alarm within seconds, so a frozen picture never fools you into thinking all is well. If the camera itself goes offline, our server alerts you about a minute later, even if Sleepybo is closed.

Sharing with a grandparent or sitter

The person looking after the baby can watch on their own phone, and so can a partner who is away. In the live view, tap Who’s watching › Add a parent and send them an invite link. You see their name and phone, and nothing reaches them until you tap Allow. Up to four people can watch at once, and everyone gets the same alerts.

A word on trust

A monitor that works from anywhere is also a camera in your child’s room that is reachable from outside your home. Before you choose one, check who can see the video, whether anything is recorded and how new viewers are approved. With Sleepybo nothing is recorded, nobody gets in without your approval, and there’s no account to hack. Read the privacy policy.

Sleepybo is a monitoring aid, not a medical device. It doesn’t replace adult supervision. For safe sleep advice, see Safe to Sleep or ask your health visitor or paediatrician.

More guides

• How to use an old iPhone as a baby monitorWhich phones work, where to put the camera, and how to keep it going all night.
• Free baby monitor apps: what to check before you choose oneSix questions about cost, privacy and alerts to ask any monitor app.
• Are phone baby monitors reliable?What can go wrong with a phone as a monitor, and what a good app does about it.