Nursery Camera Recomendations

[pete_c]

Its been quit a few years now since my children were infants.

My daughter was the second born and we did a bit different with her; relating to "potty" training, the "bottle" and sleeping. We showed her how to use the training potty chair when she was very young and literally bypassed the diaper stages. Same thing with the bottle showing her how to utilize a sip cup and bypassing the bottle all together. We decided too to bypass the larger crib stage and moved her to a bed with side rails right after the small infant crib (pillow like structures for the "rails").

I did utilize a kind of HA thing with my son when he was an infant. I noticed that whenever we went anywhere in the car; he would immmediately fall asleep (like a light switch almost effect from the sound of the engine). I "rigged" up a LV device under his crib such that it would cause the crib to vibrate similar to the idling of an automobile. I believe I used X10 at the time. It worked and would lull him to sleep in a matter of minutes.

I think back to those times and for what ever reason my wife and I were light sleepers; hearing any sounds from the infants rooms we just always got up and checked; no matter what we thought we were hearing at the time.

I did notice that times are different now. Just a couple of years ago the neighbor's used the small "portable" remote cam to watch their infant. Worked well as we would be sitting outside by their pool relaxing some summer evening and basically I would watch the couple take turns watching the video view of their infant; any sound, motion or restlessness would be a trip to the baby's room.

 

[tmbrown97]

I "rigged" up a LV device under his crib such that it would cause the crib to vibrate similar to the idling of an automobile. I believe I used X10 at the time. It worked and would lull him to sleep in a matter of minutes.

That's pretty ingenious! Nowadays everything has the vibration built in... the bassinet, portacrib, and even mattress itself. Works great!

 

[pete_c]

Thats interesting; you wouldn't believe what I used to make the bed vibrate....better left unwritten.

 

[tmbrown97]

I'm slightly curious... though if I were tackling this project myself I'd follow the principle behind vibrating cell phones and pagers... just a simple motor that spins an off-balance weight. Now I'm picturing sawzall's modified and attached to the bed frame... or even one of those bass shakers :rockon:

 

[pete_c]

It was bigger than a pager motor and smaller than a sawzall; purchased at a "novelty" shop; an interesting shopping experience.

 

[tmbrown97]

It was bigger than a pager motor and smaller than a sawzall; purchased at a "novelty" shop; an interesting shopping experience.

:rofl: :rofl:

 

[DubG]

Unfortunately, I thought a regular audio only baby monitor was sufficient until 7 months ago. I went to check on my 4 month old (our second child) and he was upside down in his crib. He had suffocated I guess, it was officially ruled SIDS (there is lots more to the story obviously, I'm just keeping it brief for the forum and my sanity). I don't know if having a video solution would have helped, there is just so much unknown about SIDS, but I know it couldn't have hurt. We would have spent $3000 if that's what it would have taken, WAF was not even an issue as you can imagine. The last 7 months have been really tough but God has continued to show us grace. In addition to our first son that is almost three now, we are pregnant with a little girl due in September. We have always felt blessed to have children but that feeling is far greater now. We didn't deserve Luke period, not for 4 months, not even for a day. God gave him to us anyway and our lives were enriched deeply because of him. If you guys want to see pictures, you can check out his website.

Anyway, here's my setup: a Vitek VTC IRV30 connected to a Samsung 4 channel DVR with cables like these that also transmit power. Using Samsung software, any browser can view any of the cameras. I got the expensive stuff at AO and the rest online. Total cost was $650 for monitoring two rooms. After seeing some of those camera prices, I think I did alright I wish I could view the cameras on my phone or on my tv's easier but I've got cheap laptops all around the house as it is.

 

[tmbrown97]

DubG-so sorry to hear that. That is my worst fear as a parent with young babies.

I did notice yesterday that Angelcare is making a video monitor combined with their existing sound and movement sensor - I think that's honestly the best you can do along with making sure the crib is safe as can be. The rest is out of our hands.

 

[video321]

DubG-
My deepest sympathies to you and your family...just don't beat yourself up over it.
We almost lost our daughter to the same issue, but it was while she was napping in the living room on a blanket (which we didn't normally do) since we have hardwood floors. Anyway, we were getting ready to go to some event and my wife checked up on her only to find she wasn't breathing and immediate performed CPR. I didn't even know about the situation until our daughter was breathing again and my wife came into the room with her and we called 911. She must have bunched up the blanket enough and rolled over into it, but we weren't sure. She spent a few days in the hospital seeing every specialist you could image, but in the end it was ruled just "one of those things that can happen." Scary situation indeed and couldn't even imagine if fate turned out different.

Again, sorry about your loss.

 

[apostolakisl]

My sympathies as well. I can imagine the pain you feel, just thinking about chokes me up.

This does brign to light the point that a video monitor only works if you are looking at it. It is obviously impossilbe to sit there and watch your infanct sleep continuously. Ten minutes is all it takes, so video may provide something of a false sense of security, at least partially anyhow.

In situations considered high risk people monitor the baby directly with pulse oximeters and apnea monitors. Family's who have had a SIDS child are considered at higher risk with subsequent children. These provide audible alarms when blood oxygenation drops below a preset level or if respiratory rate drops below a preset level. These devices can be purchased relatively inexpensivley in used condition. Provided they are turned on, it is virtually impossible to have an event occur without alarming, however, the opposite is not true. False alarms can be problematic.

 

[video321]

The false alarms are very true, Lou. Our daughter was on a monitor for a few months after her incident. In fact I remember the first alarm within the first couple days and how my wife and I both literally jumped out of bed at the same time running to the bedroom only to find she was fine. Better than the other option, but man was that run to her room scary.

 

[ralbright]

Well I am in the same boat, I have my nursery hooked up with an Airlink SkyIPCam747. It does remarkably well in low-light and bright light, it is a pan-tilt camera. It operates on ethernet and can work with POE. I also only spent $140 for it. Hopefully this helps you in your quest for the perfect nursery cam.

 

[ktrdsl23]

Do you have any links to articles describing the concerns with IR cameras/monitors? I currently use the Summer Infant Video Monitor which uses "night vision" which I believe means IR. I never heard there were questions as to if they are safe.

 

[ktrdsl23]

Just read some of the other posts, I'm really sorry about your loss DubG.