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0 pointsJabavuAdams10y ago0 comments

Q: Why do you want a baby monitor?

We got one as a gift, but hardly used it. Of course both my kids are little Darth Shnorkulas.

I just can't really think of a scenario where the monitor helps. I mean I've had those panicked moments where I'm like "Is my kid dead, and I've just been sitting here playing computer games?" But either get up and check, or just keep playing. They almost never die.

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pavel_lishin10y ago

My favorite part of asking any technical question is the mandatory "you don't actually want to do what you're asking us how to do" :)

Pretty much most of what people said in response; if the baby's asleep and I'm cooking in the kitchen while watching a YouTube video and boiling something, it'd be nice to have a window displaying the kid in the corner so I can tell when it wakes up. Plus, it might be nice to tune in from work and watch it sleep. Plus, the wife wants one.

Given that dedicated hardware ones are expensive, I'd like to try it with one of the old phones we have laying around - if I come to agree with you that it's unnecessary, I won't have wasted $200 on something that really has no other purpose.

JabavuAdamsOP10y ago

> My favorite part of asking any technical question is the mandatory "you don't actually want to do what you're asking us how to do" :)

As I was writing my response, I realized that I was doing this, but it amused me. So yeah, touché.

DanBC10y ago

Some children sleep in rooms that have decent sound insulation, and the parents want to know if the child is awake and distressed. (You don't start sleep training a child who is under 6 months.)

JabavuAdamsOP10y ago

Don't worry, you'll know when they're awake and distressed. I tend to let kids cry for at least a minute before intervening, well, unless they're old enough to be asking for help.

The alternative is madness and leads to divorce or murder-suicide.

EDIT> Actually, I just made that number up. It's all context. My main warning / peeve is that our unrealistic standards of care as modern, educated, intelligent, self-improvement-minded parents actually leads to a shitty child-rearing experience that produces somewhat shitty children, rather than a more laissez-faire approach. Crying is like the weather. We don't always have to fix it.

pavel_lishin10y ago

I agree with you, and hope I'll be strong enough as a parent to not always come running when my kid starts crying.

1 more reply

r00fus10y ago

A: In our case we have twins and when they were babies, if one was rousing, we could put her back to sleep without having the other one wake up (and create a wakeful feedback loop).

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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pavel_lishin10y ago

My favorite part of asking any technical question is the mandatory "you don't actually want to do what you're asking us how to do" :)

JabavuAdamsOP10y ago

> My favorite part of asking any technical question is the mandatory "you don't actually want to do what you're asking us how to do" :)

As I was writing my response, I realized that I was doing this, but it amused me. So yeah, touché.

DanBC10y ago

Some children sleep in rooms that have decent sound insulation, and the parents want to know if the child is awake and distressed. (You don't start sleep training a child who is under 6 months.)

JabavuAdamsOP10y ago

Don't worry, you'll know when they're awake and distressed. I tend to let kids cry for at least a minute before intervening, well, unless they're old enough to be asking for help.

The alternative is madness and leads to divorce or murder-suicide.

pavel_lishin10y ago

I agree with you, and hope I'll be strong enough as a parent to not always come running when my kid starts crying.

1 more reply

r00fus10y ago

A: In our case we have twins and when they were babies, if one was rousing, we could put her back to sleep without having the other one wake up (and create a wakeful feedback loop).

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse