The great internet Baby Monitor Debate | Hacker News Reader

The great internet Baby Monitor Debate

blog.livenearfriends.com

5 pointssurprisetalk10 comments

That site is discussing behavior that could get someones baby taken away by social services should they find out. Get a trusted friend or family member to babysit. Never leave your baby alone and no a camera does not count as far as governments are concerned.

Thank you.

It _should_ go without saying, but I'm glad you got here first and made sure it WAS said.

> and no a camera does not count as far as governments are concerned.

Is that an assumption, or has it been tested already?

It seems like it hasn't really been tested as most of the cases I was looking up had other factors or the person just plead guilty. However, the way must of the laws I saw are written is that someone must attend or be with the child, requiring a physical presence.

In terms of what your local CPS might think is neglect, you’re 100% right. And I personally wouldn’t do because it feels a bit off.

But if I think through it rationally, the risk of a bad outcome with my next door neighbor watching the baby monitor vs the baby upstairs while my wife and I watch something 2 floors down in the home theater room (with the baby monitor next to us) is virtually the same. I see no problem with the 2nd scenario, so I should probably be ok with the first.

Not a huge difference, but still a significant difference. Response time should still be quicker in home vs from another house - after all, the neighbor might be multiple flights of stairs away on top of needing to go through the yard, unlock the door, etc. The monitor doesn't provide early detection of other dangers like if you're in the building, such as smoke detectors going off in other rooms of the house - you should hear it, but a baby monitor is not likely to pick it up.

The author clearly doesn't know what they're talking about and doesn't have a mind for the law or for safety in general. Being in a separate building and watching a monitor is not safe. This doesn't allow for monitoring of unsafe conditions such as fires, nor is the reaction time reasonable for things like if they climb out of their crib or get out of bed (if they aren't an actual baby). The person should be on the same property. Depending on jurisdiction? There will be legal problems if they aren't.

Does same property really guarantee safety? I have 5 acres and so could easily be on my property but much farther away than a neighbour in a more condensed neighbourhood.

What if someone was in an apartment building and “next door” was the other side of a shared wall?

Most of the laws refence being attended by an adult or being in line of sight. It's most likely that the authorities would charge you in either example you gave.

Oh, good. All you have to do is happen to grow up somewhere with opportunities, move home for a great job, happen to have the house next door to your family's go on sale at an affordable price at a time you can afford it before having children, win the bidding process for it, and have the family never move and stay in good enough health to leave your baby monitor on in the background without nodding off, then have nothing happen to your kid that requires a fast response time.

Look, I'm all for creating community and building relationships with your neighbors, but this person lives a very privileged life and seems completely braindead to it.

Try to build a community where you can get friends to babysit once in a while. If you have a baby, go on your cruise with family or friends with a baby who can trade shifts with you and be on the same floor as the kid.

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