Where to Set up Video Monitors?

We can set up two video cameras with our system. Not sure of the best place to put them. The parent monitor is portable.

1. Babies sleep in our bedroom now. They will continue to sleep there at night until 1 year or so. They may also take some naps there.

2. Babies' room will have two cribs and they will take some naps there.

3. Living room has one PNP and they nap there also. When they are in the living room, I only run upstairs to use the bathroom or go to the kitchen which opens into the living room. I can also pull the PNP into the kitchen. (My kids sleep fine through regular day time noise, so we don't have a problem with naps in the living room).

4. I want to turn the study into a gated playroom. The study is on the first floor, kind of set off by itself. I cannot just look from the kitchen into the study--I have to walk over there, so if we go this route, we need to have one of the cameras in the study. This may not work out if it turns out that I cannot supervise them well in this room.

My goal with the cameras:

A. Watch them while they sleep. I would be either in the living room or kitchen.

B. I would LOVE to be able to shower during their naps without feeling rushed. I shower in the master bathroom, which is attached to our bedroom.

C. Watch them while they are in the playroom and I am in the kitchen.

 

To be honest, we don't have any cameras set up. Our boys were born at 29 weeks and spent 55 days in the NICU. They came home & only lasted about 1 week in our bedroom before I moved them into their room in their shared crib. They made too many little noises in their sleep that I couldn't get any sleep. So now we sleep w/ them in their room and our room is right across the hall so both our door & their door is open. No monitor used either. They nap where ever they happen to fall asleep, which most of the time is in their swing, bouncer, or on their little play mat in what used to be the dining room lol, but it's right next to the living room so I can see them directly from the living room. I can't see them from the kitchen, but I don't worry. I still do all of my things around the house and leave them where ever they happen to be. Their little play room is safe for them right now (they aren't mobile, but even when they are the only thing they could hit is their own toys). There's a PNP in there, but they don't like it. So it's become a toy storage lol. I can hear them from all parts of the house (2 story) so I don't worry about monitors, especially videos. The only time we use a voice monitor is when they are asleep at night and we are down stairs watching a movie or playing a video game because then it would almost be too loud to hear if they cried.

I know you asked for advice for camera set ups, but to me it seems a little bit much. Not trying to offend you at all.
I guess if I had to pick, I would put one in the future play room in the study so that you can ease your mind more while you try to do other things. Then I would put the other one facing their area in the living room w/ the PNP incase you want to be able to look on the video occasionally if you're showering and want to make sure they're okay. My least concern with mine is when they are sleeping. I figure that's the time they're less likely to have anything happen (aside from breathing type issues).

I shower whenever I have time, sometimes when they're napping, sometimes not. But I always bring them upstairs to their crib so that they are across the hall from the master bathroom that I am in so I can hear if they cry loudly. I don't leave them downstairs in their little area just because they are managing to roll across a room now and I wouldn't want them to roll too far and get hurt.

Don't know if any of this made sense, but thought I'd share.

 

We have 2 video monitors as well. But our boys were moved out of our room to the nursery as soon as they started STTN (around 5 months old). We got one monitor a few weeks before they started sleeping in the nursery. Then once they both started sleeping in the nursery we realized it would be a pain to use one camera to pan around the room (their cribs are in opposite corners of the nursery). So we got a second video monitor then - and we love them! We hung a camera over each crib, and it only takes a very small nail. So I wouldn't stress too much on where you mount the camera, as it is very easy to remount elsewhere. In fact we didn't like the angle of one of the cameras, so we pulled out that nail and mounted it elsewhere, and you can't even see the previous nail hole.

I would probably hang them where they nap the most, since they still sleep in your bedroom at night and you don't need a video monitor during those times. I like having a video monitor during naps because its not uncommon for Brandon to make lots of noises and move around pretty loudly while sleeping. He did that off and on for 40 minutes one day but ended up sleeping 1.5 hours. If I only had a sound monitor then I probably would have went in there numerous times assuming he was awake (that's just how I am) but I could see on the monitor that he was actually still sleeping.

Sure we don't HAVE to have video monitors...but its just one more modern day convenience that I really like!

 

That's exactly what mine do! It's not a problem during the night--since I can just glance over--but it makes it hard to get stuff done during the day while they are napping!

And my mom has ingrained in me that I must be watching them at all times--she even wants me to take them into the bathroom when I shower, like she did with me. But, that's very hard to do with two babies.

It's good to know that the cameras being easy to mount--I just assumed it would be a big pain. It probably makes sense to see if we can get away with just one in their bedroom by putting the cribs close to each other.

 

I thought that the purpose of two monitors was to have one focused on each crib? I think that thinking forward to the playroom is a little too far in the future because it will likely be 2-3 years before they can be trusted to play in there without an adult in the same room.

Anyway, I agree with a PP who stated that it sounds like you are stressing about this a little too much.

Wow, this makes me cringe. Babies have survived for hundreds of years without being constantly supervised by their parents. You ARE ALLOWED to pee, shower, etc without the babies in arms reach. If they are in their cribs or a pack n play they are safe and even if they fuss, crying never killed anyone. As a twin mommy you have to realize that other people's rules for parenting cannot always be projected onto your current situation and you may have to make up the rules as you go along.

As for them sleeping in your room, I would definitely rethink the plan to keep them in there for a full year. I recently had to spend 2 nights in the same room as mine and it was pure hell! Your babies are still in the "newborn sleep pattern" mode since corrected they are about 3 months. You will hit a point very soon where they become much more distractible and unless you plan to go to bed when they do you will live in constant fear of disturbing their sleep. Also, fast foreward to about 8-9 months or so, and you will be getting into separation anxiety and when they wake in the middle of the night if they see you they will want you and sleep will be gone. Third, if you have any hope of reclaiming a sex life you will not want 2 infants sleeping in your room.

So, I think that one video monitor in their room if that is where they will nap most and then hang on to the other until you figure out where they will need it...but soon they will be needing more consistency and quiet time for naps and you will likely not be able to keep them in the kitchen with you anymore.

I don't have video monitors myself, just audio ones. Personally, I think the purpose of a monitor is to A) know when the babies fall asleep (mine sometimes play for a while first) B) know when they wake up. I do see the benefit of a video monitor only because my DD tends to play quietly sometimes and we don't know how long she has been up...but if you spend your entire time watching a monitor while they are sleeping then you are going to make yourself crazy.

 

So it sounds like the playroom is something that won't be needed for a while. Thanks for that info.

Well, the AAP recommends a minimum of 6 months for safety reasons, so they will be in our room until they are at least 7.5 months (actual). After that, we will see how things go but I would like to shoot for one year. We just put them to bed, wait til they fall asleep, and then we leave the room/are very quiet. It's definitely a sacrifice I am willing to make if that is what is better for my kids. My DD has STTN for 11-12 hours since 4 weeks (adjusted) and my DS only wakes once to eat (but he's IUGR so his digestive system isn't as developed). So it seems to be working for us.

 

I'm highly perplexed where you are getting this information. Either someone is giving you false information or you are misunderstanding something you have read. I am actually a member of the AAP and I have NEVER told a parent that the child had to stay in their room. A baby is no safer in a bassinet or crib in their parents room than in their own room unless the parent stays awake and stares at them all night (don't get any ideas!) The only AAP recs are sleeping on their back on a firm mattress, no co-sleeping, no loose blankets or toys in the crib. The other recs for avoidance of SIDS are running a fan, letting them fall asleep with a pacifier and breastfeeding.

They are obviously your babies and you will do what you want, but I was just warning you that there will likely be a time where you won't be able to lay them down and sit/wait for them to fall asleep because they will actually be aware of their surroundings and turn their head to every noise. They may even be the kind of kiddos who play for a while before they fall asleep. Even babies who STTN have periods of time when they wake and then fall back to sleep, and when that happens to an older baby, you get a child who is sitting in the middle of his crib, staring at you, and yelling at 3 AM because he sees you and therefore wants you (this is what happened when I shared a room with them at my parents house last weekend). All I'm saying is be open minded to changing as the situation changes, rather than already deciding what you are going to be doing a year from now. You'll stress yourself out way too much if you have a rigid list of how everything has to be.

 

It's right here: AAP SIDS Policy

"A separate but proximate sleeping environment is recommended: The risk of SIDS has been shown to be reduced when the infant sleeps in the same room as the mother."

This policy was recently reaffiremed by the AAP.

 

Reaffirmed (I type bad!)

 

Ok, I stand corrected. There was one study done in Scotland that suggested benefit to keeping baby in the room that long. I actually searched the AAP site looking for it before I posted (trying not to look like an idiot) and didn't even find that policy statement, so I'm impressed that you had the link.

I kept mine in our room until they outgrew the bassinet (3 months for the larger, 4 months for the smaller). You must have a huge house because there is no way in he#@ that even 1 full size crib would ever fit in our bedroom, much less two (we had to separate our munchkins about 5 mo old because they started rolling around the crib). The way I look at it, there are many studies proving that breastfeeding has protective benefits, so to me this is more important than crib placement.

Also, I really don't think you have to adjust 6 weeks ahead for everything...a 37 weeker is considered term and thus 34-36 is considered "near term" in the pediatrics/NICU world. After they leave the hospital, we don't adjust in our charts for anything other than growth. The great majority of near term babies will have caught up on all milestones by the time they are 3-4 months old. The adjustment is really for those babies who are significantly premature so that they have more time to reach their milestones.

I hope you don't take my posts the wrong way. I just think people freak out a little too much about things that are actually rare and think that parenting is much more rewarding if we relax a little bit and go with the flow.

 

I just hope you do realize that your eyes do not need to be pierced on them 24/7. I feel you will wear yourself out even quicker that way and it's not going to be good. I can understand your worries. My boys had NUMEROUS apnea episodes in the NICU, so many times that I was almost scared to hold them. When they came home I really thought I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if they were just in their room (just across the hall literally), but like I said earlier.. I didn't last but about a week w/ them in there cause I was getting no sleep.



My nephew died of SIDS at 7 months old in June 2005. He went to sleep for his nap just like any other normal day, not but a few feet from his dad. My brother in law took a nap at the same time and was woken up by my sister very upset because she had come home from work and found my nephew no longer breathing. He was on his back, no blankets, none of that. And he's no longer w/ us. I have had to take it from my sister that you can do all of the right things and SIDS can still happen.

I hope you figure out whatever you decide to go with, but please try to relax just a bit