I saw this article about video monitors on Pinterest and had no idea that this could happen. Yikes, I do not want people seeing in my house, not even a trusted neighbor. What video monitor are you getting or are you? I asked my BFF who has a 4 year old and she said they skipped a video monitor altogether because of safety concerns. What are you going to do?
We didn't have a video monitor for the first baby and we won't have one for this baby. Not because of this issue (which I didn't know about and is super scary), but because I just don't see it as a need. We don't live in a castle. I did have a audio monitor but even rarely used that one.
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We pitched ours because not only did they cause too much anxiety, but dd was very loud. She had colic, and I think with monitors, every little noise will freak you out. It was hard to get any sleep because if she took a deep breath I was dashing in to check on her!
No need for a video monitor IMO - but I do love the angelcare breathing monito that tells you room temp and gives sound. Def overkill as well, but I love it.
We will room share like we did with DD. We have never used a monitor.
I believe the frequency can be picked up by other devices. So yes, it's possible for someone to accidentally gain access to the video feed. The same is true with wireless phones and some baby monitors in the old style.
It's creepy, but comes with the territory of using technology. I'm not sure if you can password protect your channel on the more sophisticated models.
I've babysat for moms that use them. They have merit especially if you've got a large house with the master and nursery at opposite ends or levels.
We will room share like we did with DD. We have never used a monitor.
I believe the frequency can be picked up by other devices. So yes, it's possible for someone to accidentally gain access to the video feed. The same is true with wireless phones and some baby monitors in the old style.
It's creepy, but comes with the territory of using technology. I'm not sure if you can password protect your channel on the more sophisticated models.
I've babysat for moms that use them. They have merit especially if you've got a large house with the master and nursery at opposite ends or levels.
The blog has a list of video monitors that are encrypted so I am going to get one of those. But other video monitors are unsecure so people can see. I can't believe Summer Infant isn't safer.
Ehh people can also tap into your phone and see everything going on in your life through your camera. The odds of someone trying to do this to you are pretty slim to none though. I wouldn't spend my time worrying if I really wanted a video monitor. However, I plan to room share. So no need either way.
because it didn't fucking snow enough for me to build my own
We currently have old cell phones mounted...the cameras are set up on a program DH made. Then we have an app on our phones that let us view them...a lot cheaper than video monitors. While it doesn't have night vision I can only imagine there's a webcam out there that does. Uses our wifi.
I love my video monitor. I heard about this issue but still decided on it. I feel like the odds of someone in my area seeing my baby are slim, and if so... Well, it is a sleeping baby. Not much to see!
100 % agree with you.
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We didn't do a video monitor either. The only time I think it would have been interesting would have been when DS was almost a year and more active/playing in his crib. I was more paranoid about the baby not breathing so we got a motion sensor monitor by AngelCare. It has sound and motion and you can select which one you want or both simultaneously.
Along with our Angelcare, we use a webcam set up on our home network, and it requires a username/password to log in and view it. I can see it on my ipad or iphone as long as I'm connected to our wifi. I absolutely love it.
I don't get why people think video monitors are so ridiculous. It has saved me from countless unnecessary trips into his bedroom in the middle of the night over the past two years. When I hear DS on the Angelcare, I grab my phone and check the camera, and the vast majority of the time he is still completely asleep and just making noise. Going into his bedroom at that point would wake him up, and then we'd both be miserable until I could get him back down again.
Along with our Angelcare, we use a webcam set up on our home network, and it requires a username/password to log in and view it. I can see it on my ipad or iphone as long as I'm connected to our wifi. I absolutely love it.
I don't get why people think video monitors are so ridiculous. It has saved me from countless unnecessary trips into his bedroom in the middle of the night over the past two years. When I hear DS on the Angelcare, I grab my phone and check the camera, and the vast majority of the time he is still completely asleep and just making noise. Going into his bedroom at that point would wake him up, and then we'd both be miserable until I could get him back down again.
I'm not sure it's that people think they are ridiculous, just not necessary. They are obviously useful for some people. I have never used one and never needed one.
I have a withings video monitor that runs over our home network, wired or wireless so it doesn't have the same vulnerabilities that the regular baby monitors have. I had planned to room share for the first 4-6 months so I didn't think I'd really get to use it until DS was older but he had other plans.
DS refused to sleep anywhere except in my arms for weeks and weeks and then one day I put him in his crib in his room and he slept for several hours all at once. I tried the pack n play, and the rock n play, AND swing in my room again and no dice. He ONLY slept in his room. That day my video monitor became indispensable. He was just under 2 months old when he started sleeping in his room, I was terrified.
My monitor can be viewed on my phone or iPad, I turn it on and leave the video on at night while I sleep, I have the volume down a little because he does make a lot of noise in his sleep and at first I was rushing in at every sound. Now I can see if he's actually awake awake or just wiggling about and will fall back asleep, it's wonderful. It also tracks the temperature and humidity and alerts on it, will play just the audio if I have the app closed so I don't have to use the video all the time, it has a night light that can change colors, plays music, white noise, and I can even talk to him through it. All in all, it's become one of the #1 baby things I own, I'm very glad I splurged on it.
My Blog: Sewing, crafting, motherhood, computers, and random musings... Sleep is for the weak
I have heard about this but I think as long as you turn the camera part off when not in use it is not an issue.
I swear by my video monitor, especially when your child gets older. We still use one for my now 3 year old. You can see when they really need you or when you can let them cry it out. DD was soooo noisy when she was little, she just made tons of noise when she slept. I always thought she needed me and I would go in and check on her and would wake her up. It turns out she was just a noisy sleeper and didn't need me and so I was only making things worse. I bought the video monitor and it seriously saved everyone from endless nights of sleep deprivation. I didn't have to go in and risk waking her, I could just check and see if she needed anything and go back to sleep.
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2011 DD diagnosed with UCD
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Make sure you read the comment section of the article. One of the monitors (the Motorola one) she lists is actually one the most secure ones. Their is information is the comments about the thing she was questioning.
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We have a Motorola monitor that I researched to make sure neighbors wouldn't have access to. From what I remember, and I could be remembering wrong, the digital ones are safe, it's the analog ones that can get other feeds.
We love the video monitor because we don't immediately go up when we hear noise, we can see when she is standing and really crying as opposed to laying down and whining and she'll fall back asleep. Our room is on the ground floor and hers is upstairs, so we need something to be able to hear her.
It's amazing that you posted this! We received a video monitor as a gift a few months back. It's different in that you can watch from your lap top and not a little monitor. My husband starting setting it up but never actually finished to the point we could use it. Well 2 weeks ago, I'm sitting in my living room(my daughter was asleep in her room) and out of nowhere I hear "Hello?" I thought I was hearing things but then it happened again "Hello?" I completely ignored it because lack of sleep can make someone think they heard something that they really didn't. Two days later, I'm sitting on the couch(my daughter was sleeping in her room once again) and I hear it again, "Hello?" This time I knew I wasn't hearing things so I responded with "Hello" as well. He responded with "How are you?" and in a very creepy voice mind you. At this point I couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from because we have a lot of computers and things set up in our entertainment center. I was determined to figure it out so I turned the video recorder on my phone as I'm trying to find where the voice was coming from. I asked "who is this?" and then he said the creepiest thing..."Where's your husband?" I was completely freaked now! At this point I realized it was coming from the camera that we were going to use to watch our daughter. I responded to him "Excuse me!?" And once again he asked in a very stern and determined voice "Where is your husband!?" With that I unplugged the camera and called 911. It took them 45 minutes to get here and they weren't very helpful. Thankfully I got the conversation on video to prove I wasn't nuts. The officer said to me that these things(the camera) are known to do things like this and he suggested my husband figure "out the bugs." That was it! Like it happens all the time! Who knows how long this guy had been watching us? Plus the camera is a night sensitive camera so you can see everything at night as well. Needless to say, we're never plugging that thing back in again!
We had an audio monitor for the first two and will have one for this one as well. Our bedrooms (at least ours and the littles) are all on the same end of the house so I never used the monitor at night. I don't feel that I need to hear every little sniffle and snort. I am a heavy sleeper and need silence or a fan, but DH has no qualms about nudging me awake when the baby is hungry during the night.
What I did use the monitor for was naptime, so that I could be elsewhere in the house or outside and still hear what was going on. For us, I think a video monitor would be overkill. I would become addicted to watching it, like I was with the Grampa Cam when my Grampa was in the last years of his life.
I dont live near anyone so I got a video monitor. I love it. But I do get it if you live close to people but I live in the country and I'm constantly outside while DS was napping.
It's amazing that you posted this! We received a video monitor as a gift a few months back. It's different in that you can watch from your lap top and not a little monitor. My husband starting setting it up but never actually finished to the point we could use it. Well 2 weeks ago, I'm sitting in my living room(my daughter was asleep in her room) and out of nowhere I hear "Hello?" I thought I was hearing things but then it happened again "Hello?" I completely ignored it because lack of sleep can make someone think they heard something that they really didn't. Two days later, I'm sitting on the couch(my daughter was sleeping in her room once again) and I hear it again, "Hello?" This time I knew I wasn't hearing things so I responded with "Hello" as well. He responded with "How are you?" and in a very creepy voice mind you. At this point I couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from because we have a lot of computers and things set up in our entertainment center. I was determined to figure it out so I turned the video recorder on my phone as I'm trying to find where the voice was coming from. I asked "who is this?" and then he said the creepiest thing..."Where's your husband?" I was completely freaked now! At this point I realized it was coming from the camera that we were going to use to watch our daughter. I responded to him "Excuse me!?" And once again he asked in a very stern and determined voice "Where is your husband!?" With that I unplugged the camera and called 911. It took them 45 minutes to get here and they weren't very helpful. Thankfully I got the conversation on video to prove I wasn't nuts. The officer said to me that these things(the camera) are known to do things like this and he suggested my husband figure "out the bugs." That was it! Like it happens all the time! Who knows how long this guy had been watching us? Plus the camera is a night sensitive camera so you can see everything at night as well. Needless to say, we're never plugging that thing back in again!
SO CREEPY... I would be so freaked out and paranoid.
Technology has changed a ton in the four years since your BFF had a child. As pp have said, most of the monitors are very secure. Also, people can watch your house from anywhere, even windows. I think the video portion is a life saver. We are on opposite ends of our house from LO, who is a little over a year now. I can see her if she cries out. We also like to check on her before we go to sleep. This way, we don't run the risk of waking her up. It gave me tons of peace of mind in the beginning.
We have a Motorola monitor that I researched to make sure neighbors wouldn't have access to. From what I remember, and I could be remembering wrong, the digital ones are safe, it's the analog ones that can get other feeds.
We love the video monitor because we don't immediately go up when we hear noise, we can see when she is standing and really crying as opposed to laying down and whining and she'll fall back asleep. Our room is on the ground floor and hers is upstairs, so we need something to be able to hear her.
Yeah that's the thing. I thought the digital ones were automatically safe but they aren't because they can be picked up easily unless they are encrypted. The summer infant ones are not encrypted.
We had a summer infant with DD and we occasionally saw our neighbors baby and I am sure they saw our DD. It wasn't a big deal to us...all they see is a sleeping baby. People can see way more just walking in front of our house.
I love my video monitor. I heard about this issue but still decided on it. I feel like the odds of someone in my area seeing my baby are slim, and if so... Well, it is a sleeping baby. Not much to see!
100 % agree with you.
I feel the same.
The video monitor has worked great for us with DD.
Along with our Angelcare, we use a webcam set up on our home network, and it requires a username/password to log in and view it. I can see it on my ipad or iphone as long as I'm connected to our wifi. I absolutely love it.
I don't get why people think video monitors are so ridiculous. It has saved me from countless unnecessary trips into his bedroom in the middle of the night over the past two years. When I hear DS on the Angelcare, I grab my phone and check the camera, and the vast majority of the time he is still completely asleep and just making noise. Going into his bedroom at that point would wake him up, and then we'd both be miserable until I could get him back down again.
I'm not sure it's that people think they are ridiculous, just not necessary. They are obviously useful for some people. I have never used one and never needed one.
I agree. I just have a regular sound monitor which I used for my son and now new baby. I have never felt the need to go check on either of them unnecessarily like the way people are saying the video monitors prevent the need to do. I never had that need. It would be cute to watch them sleep though. I have tones of people around me that have the video monitors and they are absolutely obsessed with checking on their kids, we are out they check on their phones, they are in their houses constantly checking, obsessed. I never felt that way, I had the monitor on if they cried and didn't re-settle themselves I went and checked on them, simple. But again it would be cute to watch them sleep b/c they are so darn cute! But too many people with them I know have become obsessed with watching their kids. But if someone had bought a video monitor for me as a gift I would've used it, use whatever you are given
We have iBaby. It's secure, so no one can access the feed.
We didn't need a video monitor with DD, but with two sharing a room I feel better having one available. It's actually more helpful when they're older (imo). If I open the door to check on DD I usually end up waking her up, but checking a video monitor won't disrupt her at all.
Evelyn (3.24.10), Graham (5.30.13) & Miles (8.28.16)
Re: I had NO idea!! (baby safety)
I believe the frequency can be picked up by other devices. So yes, it's possible for someone to accidentally gain access to the video feed. The same is true with wireless phones and some baby monitors in the old style.
It's creepy, but comes with the territory of using technology. I'm not sure if you can password protect your channel on the more sophisticated models.
I've babysat for moms that use them. They have merit especially if you've got a large house with the master and nursery at opposite ends or levels.
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The blog has a list of video monitors that are encrypted so I am going to get one of those. But other video monitors are unsecure so people can see. I can't believe Summer Infant isn't safer.
Is the Snuza encrypted?
100 % agree with you.
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Along with our Angelcare, we use a webcam set up on our home network, and it requires a username/password to log in and view it. I can see it on my ipad or iphone as long as I'm connected to our wifi. I absolutely love it.
I don't get why people think video monitors are so ridiculous. It has saved me from countless unnecessary trips into his bedroom in the middle of the night over the past two years. When I hear DS on the Angelcare, I grab my phone and check the camera, and the vast majority of the time he is still completely asleep and just making noise. Going into his bedroom at that point would wake him up, and then we'd both be miserable until I could get him back down again.
I'm not sure it's that people think they are ridiculous, just not necessary. They are obviously useful for some people. I have never used one and never needed one.
I have a withings video monitor that runs over our home network, wired or wireless so it doesn't have the same vulnerabilities that the regular baby monitors have. I had planned to room share for the first 4-6 months so I didn't think I'd really get to use it until DS was older but he had other plans.
DS refused to sleep anywhere except in my arms for weeks and weeks and then one day I put him in his crib in his room and he slept for several hours all at once. I tried the pack n play, and the rock n play, AND swing in my room again and no dice. He ONLY slept in his room. That day my video monitor became indispensable. He was just under 2 months old when he started sleeping in his room, I was terrified.
My monitor can be viewed on my phone or iPad, I turn it on and leave the video on at night while I sleep, I have the volume down a little because he does make a lot of noise in his sleep and at first I was rushing in at every sound. Now I can see if he's actually awake awake or just wiggling about and will fall back asleep, it's wonderful. It also tracks the temperature and humidity and alerts on it, will play just the audio if I have the app closed so I don't have to use the video all the time, it has a night light that can change colors, plays music, white noise, and I can even talk to him through it. All in all, it's become one of the #1 baby things I own, I'm very glad I splurged on it.
My Blog: Sewing, crafting, motherhood, computers, and random musings... Sleep is for the weak
I have heard about this but I think as long as you turn the camera part off when not in use it is not an issue.
I swear by my video monitor, especially when your child gets older. We still use one for my now 3 year old. You can see when they really need you or when you can let them cry it out. DD was soooo noisy when she was little, she just made tons of noise when she slept. I always thought she needed me and I would go in and check on her and would wake her up. It turns out she was just a noisy sleeper and didn't need me and so I was only making things worse. I bought the video monitor and it seriously saved everyone from endless nights of sleep deprivation. I didn't have to go in and risk waking her, I could just check and see if she needed anything and go back to sleep.
Help me spread Urea Cycle Disorder Awareness!! 2011 DD diagnosed with UCD 2012 started process for IVF with PGD 8/9/12 started stims- 8/20/12 ER- 20 retrieved, 19 ICSI'D, 12 biopsied 5 viable unaffected embryos 8/25/12 ET-1 "awesome" embryo-9/4/12 1st beta- BFP with HPT at 7dp5dt- Beta #1 9/4/12- 210!, Beta #2 9/6/12- 465, First scan on 9/19/12 Baby Boy due 5/13/13- diagnosed with a single umbilical artery
We love the video monitor because we don't immediately go up when we hear noise, we can see when she is standing and really crying as opposed to laying down and whining and she'll fall back asleep. Our room is on the ground floor and hers is upstairs, so we need something to be able to hear her.
We had an audio monitor for the first two and will have one for this one as well. Our bedrooms (at least ours and the littles) are all on the same end of the house so I never used the monitor at night. I don't feel that I need to hear every little sniffle and snort. I am a heavy sleeper and need silence or a fan, but DH has no qualms about nudging me awake when the baby is hungry during the night.
What I did use the monitor for was naptime, so that I could be elsewhere in the house or outside and still hear what was going on. For us, I think a video monitor would be overkill. I would become addicted to watching it, like I was with the Grampa Cam when my Grampa was in the last years of his life.
SO CREEPY... I would be so freaked out and paranoid.
Yeah that's the thing. I thought the digital ones were automatically safe but they aren't because they can be picked up easily unless they are encrypted. The summer infant ones are not encrypted.
I feel the same.
The video monitor has worked great for us with DD.
The spanish movie "The Baby's Room" was enough for me not to want a video monitor.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430164/reviews
I agree. I just have a regular sound monitor which I used for my son and now new baby. I have never felt the need to go check on either of them unnecessarily like the way people are saying the video monitors prevent the need to do. I never had that need. It would be cute to watch them sleep though. I have tones of people around me that have the video monitors and they are absolutely obsessed with checking on their kids, we are out they check on their phones, they are in their houses constantly checking, obsessed. I never felt that way, I had the monitor on if they cried and didn't re-settle themselves I went and checked on them, simple. But again it would be cute to watch them sleep b/c they are so darn cute! But too many people with them I know have become obsessed with watching their kids. But if someone had bought a video monitor for me as a gift I would've used it, use whatever you are given
We have iBaby. It's secure, so no one can access the feed.
We didn't need a video monitor with DD, but with two sharing a room I feel better having one available. It's actually more helpful when they're older (imo). If I open the door to check on DD I usually end up waking her up, but checking a video monitor won't disrupt her at all.
Evelyn (3.24.10), Graham (5.30.13) & Miles (8.28.16)