Parents want to ensure their children have no issues sleeping at night, as their tiredness may affect their day at school or the activities they participate in during the day. While some adults opt to put a baby monitor in rooms to check on their young ones, it can sometimes leave them feeling conflicted, especially if their child is no longer a toddler.
One worried mum said she placed a camera in her six-year-old daughter's room as she would sometimes catch her leaving her bed. Taking to Baby Centre forum, she wrote: "I should probably start by saying my daughter is 6, not 16 lol, but I'm still not sure if this is wrong or an invasion of privacy or gonna make her feel suffocated/watched."
She continued: "So basically she is a terrible sleeper, because she will just not try to go to sleep! I feel like we do everything right, she’s healthy, moves around in the day and has a couple classes during the week like dance/swimming etc. She goes to bed at the exact same time every night and wakes up at the exact same time every morning, so there’s no consistency issue. She has a great bedtime routine of bath story bed, a dark room with a nightlight, so nothing obvious I can think of."
The mother said her daughter would find excuses to leave her room, including to use the toilet or to request a glass of water. It has left her feeling annoyed since her daughter has made it into a regular habit.
She wrote: "We all know that to go to sleep you basically have to pretend to be asleep, lie still in the dark and close your eyes, but that's the part she struggles with. As soon as we're gone she's up playing with her toys, reading, writing, singing, as well as the usual delay tactics like pretending she's thirsty or need the toilet. Things only got worse recently when she got tall enough to reach her light."
The frustrated mum confessed she bought the camera already but feels 'bad' if she used it on her daughter as it would invade her privacy. She said: "But I feel like she'd REALLY hate it. I could do it secretly but is that even worse?! She's so tired and grumpy in the morning and this just can't be good for her development or mood, so I have to do something."
One user sharing their opinion on the matter said it would be better if she spoke to her daughter about it first, writing: "Oh and never do it secretly. That is unreasonable." Some believe there's no harm in placing the camera in her room if it's to help her sleep.
They wrote: "We've still got a baby monitor for our 3 and 6-year-olds, no plans on removing it any time soon, I don't see the harm in having one to help her sleep better. Ours is super handy as they both sometimes wake up crying from a nightmare or being ill etc. and we can respond much quicker." A second chimed in: "I still have baby monitors on my kids who are 5, 6, 8, and nearly 10. It's totally normal in my house so I see absolutely no reason not to."
