Ok, I admit it. My son is almost 7 years old, and at this point, I still haven't taken the baby monitor out of his room. I use it every night, and quite honestly, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon -- and I'm not sure when I'll turn it off and quit using it for good.
And I'm fully aware of how ridiculous the idea of using a baby monitor for a first grader sounds. Anytime I tell anyone that I still use a baby monitor, I'm usually met with one of three responses.
1.) A blank stare, 2.) laughter, followed by, "Oh, wait -- you're not joking?", or 3.) a confused look and words of advice on how I really need to let go, or something to that effect.
Ok, before you go calling me names and telling me I'm the craziest helicopter parent you've ever encountered -- let me explain.
I can't (and when I say can't, I really mean CAN'T) sleep without some sort of white noise. And neither can my son, because I got him hooked on it when he was a baby and now his sleeping requirements are just as neurotic as mine. (Poor kid.)
That being said, in his room, and our master bedroom, we use air purifiers, which make a decent amount of noise -- to the point that you really can't hear what's going on in the rest of the house when they're in use.
Couple the fact that I can't hear anything besides my air purifier in the middle of the night with the fact that my son isn't one to get out of his bed and come running down the hall if he needs me -- and I've got myself a recipe for using a baby monitor, not because I'm an overbearing control freak, but because I don't have any other choice.
Using the monitor is the only way to ensure that I'll hear my son during the night if something goes wrong, and for that reason, I'll keep using it as long as it's necessary.
But still -- the idea of someone using a baby monitor for a school-aged child does sound pretty nutty, but surely I can't be the only parent out there who still uses one, right? (Anyone? Bueller?)
Do you still use a baby monitor? Or is there some other baby item you refuse to give up?
Image via Robert S. Donovan/Flickr
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Comments 61
I never started using a baby monitor!
Some kids start young, and I seriously doubt they would understand the discretion of being quiet if theyre in their room, alone.
My daughter is almost 7 and we still use ours from time to time. Especially if she's sick and in her room while I'm downstairs with the baby and all that. At night theres not a whole lot of use for it because the baby is with me and my girl is just across the hall. I dont think you're crazy for still using it, but like Mutts said, you'll have to establish some private boundaries eventually.
I understand you. My dh had to pry the monitor out of my hands when ds was 5. We started listening to a talk radio station at a very low level, which replaced the white noise. It was serendipitous, because we started discussing the current events heard the night before, leading to a happier relationship.
I stopped using the monitor about a year ago, I think. He was 8. Like others here, his room is on another level, so I couldn't hear him. Since he was about six, I'd been turning it off more than on - using it primarily if he was sick or if there were storms going on (he's a little storm-shy). But when my brother asked if he could use it for his disabled and elderly mother in law when she moved into his house, I gladly gave it up. We haven't missed it, and my son knows where my room is if he has a nightmare or other need during the night.
My daughter is 4 and we still use it for her. My husband has to sleep with white noise and if we didn't have that monitor on, we seriously would not hear her.
I didn't have my kids as babies and our house is not so large that I couldn't hear them from their rooms, but I could understand using a monitor if one can't hear them...even for somewhat older kids. My kids went through the nightmare stage when they were both 5-6 years old and I always got up to comfort them. I'd hate to think of them being terrified in bed due to nightmares, or even "monster in the closet" fears and me just snoozing through it.
By 7 or so though, both of mine were pretty much through it and if they woke in the night and needed anything, they were more than capable of just coming to the room and waking us up. As others had posted, there comes a time when a kids should have an expectation of privacy in their own rooms (with certain stipulations, but that's a different topic.)