On The Cheap: Baby Cameras

Many of you may think that I (Austin) probably cannot offer you any advice in raising your child.  Oh, you are mistaken.  I am, dear friend, always on the lookout for ways to make life easier and more productive--particularly without spending much money (or at least less money).  This is particularly important when you have twins.  Today's topic: baby cameras.

For those who do not yet know, baby [fill in the blank] will always cost more than normal [fill in the blank].  We decided that we needed baby cameras to monitor nap times via video.  It's not a necessity, but our friends with kids have said that they enjoyed having the video or wished they did.  We wanted to put together a system where (1) we could have multiple cameras, (2) we could view the cameras through our iOS devices (rather than carry around a big white plastic piece of crap) and (3) we could view the cameras from outside of the home (e.g., from work).  From my research, there was no such system labeled as a "baby monitor" available on the U.S. market that meets all of these criteria.  What is available?  Security cameras.

Asa and Alden are in full lockdown thanks to these Foscam security cameras, which you can pick up in a pair for less than $200.00:

These babies run wirelessly to our wireless router.  We monitor through an app on our iPhones and iPads called LiveCamsPro ($1.99).  As long as our devices are connected to our home wireless system, we can view and control the cameras from that app.  The final piece is that I set up a web portal that allows me to log into our wireless router from work where I can view (but not control) the cameras remotely.  There we have it.  All three criteria met for less than $200.

The only weird thing that I should have expected is the night vision on the cameras.  To accomplish the night vision, the camera lights in the ring around the lens emit a red glow.  It is not awful, but the cameras take on an anthropomorphic quality that makes it seem like the Eye of Sauron:

I don't think the cameras are instruments of the Dark Lord, but the night vision pictures often make me wonder:




Did you just hear a hawk shriek when you saw this?  You are not the only one.

Whatever the eternal consequences, these cameras were a great deal and have served us well!