How to create a safe sleeping environment for your baby

The average new-born baby sleeps for 16-20 hours a day, however as those already with children know, it is usually staggered, and isn’t always at night either! With your baby sleeping so much, there are some things that you need to be aware of to make sure your baby is as safe as possible in order to ensure that everyone will get a peaceful night’s sleep.

Here are five of the most common questions asked by new parents, and what actions should be taken:

How can I make my baby’s room safe?

As a rule, there should be no smoking in the same room as your baby. Other things to look out for include:

– making sure the changing mat is secure if kept in the same room
– making sure all bookshelves and wardrobes are secure so they cannot be pulled down on top of them
– making sure other items are out of reach e.g. baby wipes and baby powder.

We can’t watch our babies every single minute of the day, so a baby monitor can provide additional reassurance when you’re not in the same room as your child. The D-Link EyeOn Baby Camera turns your smartphone or tablet into a monitor, giving you HD clarity and audio for 24/7 monitoring of your baby. The camera also sends instant push notifications to your phone so you know when your baby is stirring or making a noise too.

Where should my baby sleep?

When putting your baby down to sleep, it is important that the environment is right to give your baby the best sleep possible. Depending on the time of day, babies can sleep in cots, moses baskets, prams or in their parents beds providing they have not been smoking, drinking or taking drugs.

A moses basket is suitable for new-borns as the basket is small so will not be overwhelming, providing a cosy sleeping environment. However, it doesn’t take long for your new-born to outgrow a moses basket and need a cot.

Cots are the most common sleep solution and babies can stay in these for years, depending on the size. The mattress should be firm and there should be no more than two fingers width between the cot and mattress. The width between the cot bars should be between 45mm – 65mm wide.

An additional feature of the D-Link EyeOn is that it allows you to communicate with your little one from your smart phone. Either use the two-way audio exchange or play one of the classic lullabies when your baby is restless, no matter where they’re sleeping.

Which position is safest for my baby?

When putting your baby to sleep, it’s important to place them on their back. Statistics have shown that this reduces the chances of SIDS. Although statistics show that over the years the risk of this has been dropping, it is still seen as a risk and should therefore be avoided.

When laying your baby down to sleep, you should put your baby in a feet-to-foot position – ensuring your babies’ feet touch the end of the cot. This prevents them from wriggling down the mattress and underneath bedding.

To reduce the risk of suffocation, all additional bedding items should be removed when your baby is sleeping, including blankets, bumpers, pillows and toys. The only thing that should be in with your baby is the mattress and a fitted sheet, which should come up to their shoulders.

What temperature should my baby’s room be?

When removing additional blankets you may be concerned whether your baby is too hot or cold. The temperature of the baby’s room should be kept in between 16-20’C, and the cot itself should be kept out of draughts from open windows and away from radiators and direct sunlight. Babies should be warm but not hot to the touch or sweating.

Another feature of the EyeOn baby monitor is the temperature gauge, which can be customised and set so when the temperature becomes too high or too low in your baby’s room you can receive push notifications on your mobile or tablet.

You can check to see if your baby is the right temperature by feeling their stomach. If they are too warm you should remove some layers and too cold you can add another vest, footed sleepsuits or a baby sleeping bag.

How often should I check on my baby?

The intervals in which you check your baby is completely down to personal preference. Some parents feel they need to check regularly, whereas others are happy with checking only a few times.

The EyeOn baby monitor has audio functionality and a constant Wi-Fi connection, so can be kept on at all times when you are in other rooms. The camera also has a night-mode setting, meaning you don’t have to go in and potentially disturb your little darling. Instead you can get a peaceful night’s sleep, safe in the knowledge that your baby is sleeping safe and sound.

For more information on the EyeOn baby monitor please visit D-Link website.

*Post in collaboration with D-Link EyeOn Baby Monitor

Watching WatchBot Watch

WatchBot 3.0

So with great anticipation you open the box, first thing that strikes you is this is a masterclass in packaging. The camera, cables and manual are all safe and snug in a Styrofoam block to seriously reduce any chance of damage in transit, so far I am impressed.

There is inside both a detailed user manual as well as a card giving just the bullet points for a speedy set up, time to test that card and see if it is effective.

First step is to connect the power supply and the internet cable to the camera.

A simple registration form, name, email and how many did you buy (you can have up to 64 on the network if you so need).

Download the app for your platform; choices include Windows, Android and iPhone with Mac coming soon. Install and then run your app. Following the bullet points you can quickly set up the camera with your new app and connect to it and viola! Technicolor images of whatever your camera is point at are blazed across your PC.

Now it maybe that I am not technically literate, but as set up was so simple I am thinking it is not a technical issue but the camera supplied to me seemed resolutely determined not to move either up or down. Left and right was no problem, I was able to use the sweep function and the manual control but no joy up or down. I think my camera maybe poorly 😦

Next step was the setting up of the WiFi so that I can move the camera to a position that is useful opposed to sitting beside me at my PC. Again this was a preference thing and the addition of my WiFi enabled router and internet provider password and viola, done. Disconnect cables and reinstate the power and the camera boots and again Technicolor images abound.

Now I was able to place the camera anyway, albeit near a power supply socket, and control it from the PC, easy. Full of myself I next decided to synch it with my lap top so that I can have remote access when away from my desk. It took me less than 2 minutes to set up the laptop to see images, it really is idiot proof. Though still no joy on that up and down movement issue.

This is how my private control center looks like

I did however fail at my last mission, to set it up on my android phone. I scanned the QR code and was taken to their website, I installed the android app, and it clearly stated it was downloaded and installed, however I cannot for the life of me find the app, or widget or any mention of it on my phone. The bullet points say after downloading app just open it and pick the camera you want to connect to, however I can’t get to that step… so I cannot comment as to the wonders of fully mobile monitoring of the WatchBot camera at present, maybe tomorrow when I have calmed down I will have another go.

The camera itself is compact, lightweight and discrete and virtually silent when moving, tucked up in the corner of a room or your garage it is unlikely to get noticed.

The video you take can be saved to your hard drive for future viewing, making this WatchBot an extremely powerful tool in your home security arsenal. You can set up a sweep cycle so it constantly scans from side to side, and allegedly up and down! If you want to you can also enable audio, and even two way communications. However I have saved the best to last, you can set up your WatchBot to monitor an area with a motion detector enabled. If triggered the WatchBot will start to record video and save it to your PC, but not only that it will take a snap shot of what it has detected and then email that image to you to see if you are happy about what it has noticed. In the advent of a burglary you would be able to contact the police within seconds of the break in; that could be invaluable in the apprehension of the criminals. It even has infra red just in case the light is low or its night time. What a powerful little tool, still impressed.

As an example here is a short clip of my WatchBot on patrol using horizontal sweep function. He is watching over the garage and the “Porsche” 😉

I would absolutely recommend the WatchBot camera to you for use; it has the ability to bring a level of peace and security to your life that you may well never have experienced before. Imagine with up to 64 cameras in your control nothing would move in your castle without you knowing about it, and after all they do say that knowledge in power.

And now something special!

WatchBot are running a competition! The prize will consist of £600 worth of WachtBot products (4 x WatchBots 1 x Free Mobile App). If you are feeling lucky you can enter it below, just follow the link into Rafflecopter Giveaway.

WatchBot

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Good Luck!

* I received one WatchBot for free for review purpose. All opinions about the products are honest and my own.The competition as stated above is solely run by WatchBot themselves. We are just passing on the good news and take no responsibilities for any prizes not received.

 

ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions
SuperLucky Blog Giveaways Linky