How Safe Are Your Kids at Home?

This is a partnered guest post.

Our home is supposed to be a place of safety, but all too often, it becomes the scene of incidents and accidents. You need eyes in the back of your head when you become a parent, but what happens when your kids are home alone or being looked after by a babysitter or au pair?

We can’t always be there for our children. Many parents have to work and leave their kids at home. Older kids are responsible enough to be left alone, but younger children need to be supervised. You could drop your child off at a nursery, but often the best solution is to ask a family member to take care of them. Alternatively, you could employ a nanny or au pair to live in and be a surrogate parent while you are out of the house.

Peace of Mind

No matter how trustworthy a nanny, au pair or babysitter appears to be, as a parent, you will always have a niggling worry in the back of your head about whether your child is being looked after properly. It’s only natural. We love our kids and the parental instinct is a powerful thing. Sometimes, we have a gut feeling that something isn’t right, or our child says something about a childcare provider that makes the hairs on the back of our neck stand up. In the case of older kids, it might be a quiet word from a neighbor that lets us know we need to keep a closer eye on things.

Of course, we want to know our kids are in safe hands when we are not at home, but without standing outside and peeking in through a window, it is hard to know what’s going on. Luckily, technology is there to give us a helping hand.

Nanny Cam

Nanny Cams are readily available from online electronic stores. They are very easy to set up. Position the unobtrusive camera on a shelf and leave it running while you are not around. When you come home, you can play back the video footage to see if anything untoward happened while you were out. Nanny cams give parents peace of mind, but you need to be prepared in case you capture footage that turns out to be disturbing.

Home Security Systems

Sophisticated home security systems are designed to protect your home and contents. Anyone can buy a home security system and set up cameras in various locations, but if you want the system to be remotely monitored, be prepared to pay more.

With DIY home security systems, such as SimpliSafe, you can keep track of locked cabinets, and receive alerts if anything untoward happens and disarm or re-arm the system using an app. It’s a useful way of watching over your family when you can’t be at home. Since updates are live, you can intervene if you spot something that disturbs you, you can rest assured that you will be notified immediately via text or email, and can even have the emergency services immediately notified.

Home Alone

Remind your kids to keep doors locked at all times when you are not at home. Make sure they understand basic safety protocols and remind them to call you if they have any concerns. Remember, children 14 and under are not mature enough to be left home alone. Once your kids are 14 or older, it is safe to leave them at home while you are out, but don’t leave them home alone overnight until they are at least 16.