Drinking from a firehose

Well, that's a more interesting question, I suppose. I don't think that with a normal kid there's really any reason to have a monitor past when the kid can get out of bed and come to the parent's room by himself, or at the latest, go to the bathroom by himself. That's probably 2 to 3 years old.

I don't know where to draw the "parents are nuts" line. It's absolutely got to be under the age of 10, for sure. I can't imagine needing one past 5, unless the kid has some issues (parental issues are another thing). I don't think you really NEED one past about 1.5 years old at the latest, and in fact I don't think you really NEED one at all, unless you have some situation like a big house and for some crazy reason you simply CAN'T have the baby sleeping near where the parents sleep. But in a big house, the crib could be right IN the parent's room; that seems like a great option to me.

We always had the crib within crying range of our bedroom, usually about 15 feet from our bed, and no closed doors between.