Sanity Check Needed

[mrs_sweetpeach]

I don't have children but I fear one of my friends is being overly protective of her son. He's the only child she's likely to have and I get that he's extremely important to her. That being given, I have a question. Just in case parenthood makes a difference, I have divided the question, the first set of answers is for parents, the second for non-parents.

Edited after the first two responses:
What I'm looking for is the age at which a normal, healthy child should no longer have a baby monitor turned on in his/her bedroom. If never is a choice, feel free to leave a comment. I'll tally those by hand, later.

Edited again:
Upon further reflection, the question I want answered is "By what age should a baby monitor be removed from a child's room because if it isn't I will think the parent is a nut."

[Poll #1291613]

Comments

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Not enough options. I am a parent and I don't see a pressing need to use a baby monitor. We had one for one kid, didn't for the next. Not a big deal one way or the other.

[mrs-sweetpeach.livejournal.com]

Damn. And I just found out you can't edit a poll after it's been posted. So much for fixing that typo or adding "Never" as an option.

Oh, and what I'm looking for is the age at which a normal, healthy child should no longer have a baby monitor turned on in his/her bedroom. Do you have an opinion on that aspect of my question?

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Do you mean, "below what age does the child NEED a baby monitor on, for safety reasons" or "at what age should a child's need/desire for privacy override the parent's interest in spying on the kid"?

My answers, zero, and maybe 3 or 4. I don't think they're necessary for safety for a normal kid; if the kid has some kind of medical condition that may be necessary. I think as soon as the kid has anything that the parents could be spying on the kid about, they should probably give him space. I guess I can't care much about parents using technology to spy on their kids if the kids don't care either.

[mrs-sweetpeach.livejournal.com]

Well, actually, it's more along the lines of "at what age should the monitor be removed because if it isn't, I will think the parent is a nut."

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

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.

[mbcrui.livejournal.com]

"It depends" I never had a monitor (don't think they were invented) with the first, had one for a while with the second, and never had one with the 3rd. I do tend to keep the baby on the same floor that I'm on. And my mother was a firm believer (and I agree) that babies should get used to sleeping thru noise, like vacuum cleaners and phones ringing and people talking.

However, kids need a baby monitor as long as they need them. Some kids are really really good at getting into quiet trouble... therefore a monitor would be necessary at a later age. My little practice grandson likes to "cook". He managed to destroy $100 in groceries at his mother's house the other day by waking up before his mother and sneaking downstairs.