Surveillance TV?

Being a deaf parent, I wanted to know what technological advances were out there for me. My husband and I were very excited anticipating the birth of our first baby last summer. Like all parents, we naturally wanted to make sure we could care for our baby in as many ways possible.

I embarked on a quest for a baby cam that met my needs - ideally something that could be minimal wiring, suitable for babies/ children and possibly infra-red to "see" the baby in it's cot in the dark. A bit ambitious maybe I wonder?

I made enquiries with the local social services and was provided initially with a Tomy baby cam. This looked promising but I felt daunted by the extensive wiring that was needed in order to install it. The Tomy baby cam is widely available at Mothercare and most baby care stockist. However it is more suited to a proficient DIY handyman! I felt quite crestfallen to see the lengthy instructions and wires. Not exactly encouraging for a heavily pregnant mum to be. Pah! Through my social worker, I discovered the DPI (Disabled Parenthood International) and continued my investigations.

I contacted DPI in the hope to glean information to help me along my quest for a user-friendly baby cam. With their help, I found out about two more new baby cam that I had not heard of.

The first one was called "Teddy" cam. This came along in an appealing packaging of a cuddly teddy bear which had a camera hidden in its nose! The Teddy cam had some useful functions such as a discreet camera set inside it as with all baby cams, it allowed you to be able to view the baby in its cot using your television as a viewer. Upon closer inspection, I found that alas! , it did not "see" the baby very well in dim light. Quite crucial when you need to see how the baby is during the night times. I felt this defeated the purpose. Upon closer inspection, I found that the Teddy cam had several limitations. One being that the teddy bear was rather rigid and did not move its head. In order to see the baby, I had to rest the teddy perching on the cot barrier in order to look down on the cot. It was all rather precarious and would need a shelf or bracket but even then it still would be a limited fixed position with no scope to turn the camera to different viewing angles. The second being that despite being presented as a cute teddy bear, it was NOT A TOY, which I felt would only lead to tears as the child grows older. I had nightmare scenarios where a young baby/ toddler could pull the teddy apart and maybe swallow something also, an older child may play with it. Can't have that, as this would interfere with mummy and daddy's surveillance work! Ho hum! So the quest was back on again..........

The second one was called a "Kinder" cam. This was presented in the form of a sturdy plastic bear or rabbit head attached to a moveable bracket. So, my husband and I set about to try install this. This did need wiring but not as extensive as the Tomy cam. The Kinder cam did not have a junction box as such just a straight wire to your television set whereas the Tomy had a port that needed to be housed somewhere. Having overcome our reluctance to re-route the wires (rather like telephone wires), we set about our surveillance operation.

Ah-ha, it does see quite well in dim light. This is starting to look promising. Oh goody, I can move the head to the right viewing angle. Mmmmm. The camera is sneakily hidden in its nose amidst its cheerful face. Good disguise for unsuspecting babies. The plastic arm holding the bear's head has a universal attachment, which slots over the cot barrier easily. This is looking good. I feel this has more merit over the Tomy in some ways - less wiring, more appealing face and more flexibility in viewing angles over the cot. Okay let's switch it all on. Hooray, I can see the little 'un.

Now I have something to help my husband and I to find out if the baby is just coughing or needs to be seen to. We use Bellman Symfon vibrating pager system. A fabulous device on which we depend heavily. However, we don't know if that curt buzz in the night is a case of just a splutter or "I need attention NOW!". With the help of our bedroom television - no more traipsing into the baby's' room half awake only to find out that the little 'un is fast asleep! Ah bliss. My quest is now declared over.

Review written by Pippa Greed