nannycam in the house with a helper around

[scoobydoo]

i was wondeirng if anyone has nannycams in their house when they go out and if so then where did you get them from.
i want to try and leave my baby with my helper when i go to the gym and desperately want to have cameras for me to see how she deals with her...she is only 10 months old so im super paranoid coz she cant tell me if shes handled roughly!!!

[natalyakir]

Not that long time ago I saw a shocking video on local news where a maid was screeming at a 2 months baby and tossing it and god knows what else she was did when baby was crying and no parents were around. I was so depressed that I decided I couldn't even think of letting myself to leave my babe to a maid or any nanny.

[aussiemeg]

I think you can get them a sim lim. Alternatively you could set up a webcam in one or two rooms and jsut go to a cafe and view them.

Not to be harsh because I am an over the top paranoid mum who even asked them to change the fire procedures and to personally view the security reports at my twins pre school...if you are unsure about your maid them don't do it or get a new maid because you will know in your heart as a mummy if she is ok or not. Simplest test watch your daughter's reaction when she walks in the room that is the way we initially assessed child abuse cases that come to the court in the UK in children as young as 7 months. A child can hide fear or compliance very well.

Sorry if I am out of line just seen a lot of bad stuff

Cheers
Megan

[durain]

months ago i saw in carrefour (suntec) a webcam that look like a normal infar-red alarm device. the webcam will take still fotos once the infar-red is in range. the fotos are saved on a SD card.

IMHO, i wont have webcam to spy/monitor on anyone (i got no maid, so no worries) as that is infringing on their privacy and civil liberty. i will only have it if i suspect something is not quite right.

work with your maid so that he/she knows what is require from you, etc. after all, your maid is now part of the family. and like aussiemeg said, watch your child reaction to the maid, if your child is not rejecting your maid, than that is a good sign.

[QRM]

If you feel uncomfortable why not go for a long walk or swim with the kid instead of leaving them alone while you are at the gym, its only for a year or two.

Sure its only a small percentage of helpers that are bad you just can't tell. Having had a close call with one of our helpers (who was perfectly normal before she flipped)

If abuse does happen would you ever be able to forgive yourself? for me personally I have a helper to help with the household chores, but bringing baby up is my role.

Its heart breaking when you see the abuse that goes on.

Like the video below the baby has no chance to even fight back or call for help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7PIDiKS ... re=related

[Blue Sapphire]

http://www.homecamera.com

I've tested this, but for now they only do still pictures. It works by using your webcam to take the pics. You have to setup the software on your computer so that it can send the pics to your phone (provided your phone can view a webpage). Whenever you view the page from your phone it will send a pic to your phone, you can receive it within a couple of seconds.

I've got broadband on my mobile phone. I havent really got to using it to spy on a babysitter as I havent been needing one yet. But still trying to find possibilites of getting video into my mobile.

Would be good while I'm at the esplanade theatre to get check on the babysitter once in awhile hehe (without her knowing ofcourse).

[Min_Ong]

the video you posted is just heartwrenching. i am this close to crying for the poor dear. And to note the baby didn't even cry (used to it?). I watched a local video on a baby abuse case too, screened on the news. it was absolutely heartwrenching. I'm not sure what frustrations these caretakers have. As moms, you definately must be on the lookout for physical or emotional signs from your baby/children. especially bruises and sudden withdrawal for an extroverted child.

Although such abuse cases are rare, I think it's definately sound (and not paranoid) of you to install the homecam, just to put your mind at ease. You need your me-time to exercise at the gym. You could also bring the stroller to the gym but I'm not sure what baby would do for the 1-2hours. When your child gets a little older, just playing with them will give you enough exercise. little tyrants.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yes, I feel for the infants as well. Unfortunately, while we are quick to condemn the maid (and I agree there is NO justification for mistreatment of an infant). Often times we also need to look at how WE treat the maids. If they are treated with respect and decency, that may well go a long way to reducing the angst that the maid may feel and thereby lessen the possibility of that aggravation coming out against an infant who is being temperamental. How many of us have had bad days at the office and came home and took it out on your spouse or children without thinking about it. How many times do you take it out on your maid? We hear & see pictures weekly of maid abuse. How much of it goes unreported as the maids need the job to send money to their families? Before we condemn, maybe we should look to make sure we are not guilty of something similar?

[QRM]

Maids should be given and shown how to install covert employer cams ?

[pumpkinseed]

My goodness! I couldn't even finish watching that youtube video!

[docta123]

Scoobydoo, just wondring a few things first of all.

Has the maid previously given you any reason to doubt her? If so, have you spoken to her about this and how did that go?

Did you get her from a reputable agency?

Have you looked into what the law is with regards to this? Would you be breaching her human rights in anyway?

I apprciate this is your child and your home, but this is also your maids job and place of work and I would assume as her employer you have a responsibility to provide a certain standard of working environment and by spying, would you be upkeeping with your responsibility's properly?

How would you or anyone for that matter feel if you where being spied on at work? Would you feel violated? I think I might but thats just personal to me.

If your boss had an issue with you, or for example was going to start montoring your personel emails, would you not prefer that they where honest and upfront with you about the situation rather than treatig you as guilty til proven innocent/

I am expecting my fist child and I am defo of the neurotic nature however I fel that everyone should be treated with the same respect and consideration that I would want to be treatd with and that to me should include proffesionals at EVERY level.

K

[Blue Sapphire]

Scoobydoo, just wondring a few things first of all.

Has the maid previously given you any reason to doubt her? If so, have you spoken to her about this and how did that go?

Did you get her from a reputable agency?

Have you looked into what the law is with regards to this? Would you be breaching her human rights in anyway?

I apprciate this is your child and your home, but this is also your maids job and place of work and I would assume as her employer you have a responsibility to provide a certain standard of working environment and by spying, would you be upkeeping with your responsibility's properly?

How would you or anyone for that matter feel if you where being spied on at work? Would you feel violated? I think I might but thats just personal to me.

If your boss had an issue with you, or for example was going to start montoring your personel emails, would you not prefer that they where honest and upfront with you about the situation rather than treatig you as guilty til proven innocent/

I am expecting my fist child and I am defo of the neurotic nature however I fel that everyone should be treated with the same respect and consideration that I would want to be treatd with and that to me should include proffesionals at EVERY level.

K

docta123, you are right in this respect. However, when you become
a mother come back and let us know if you dont feel the same if you ever plan to leave your child with a babysitter even for a couple of hours. Its all about being a mother and being protective over a child that cant communicate back to you yet. Our whole way of thinking changes after having kids, all you think is making sure they are fine regardless.

[pumpkinseed]

Hey scoobydoo and docta,

I understand where you both come from as I have experienced both.
Was a 'surrogate mother' to my siblings who were looked after by maids/nannies, was also a nanny.

As a mother, I am sure you want the best for your child and will not risk anything.
As a nanny, I would have felt upset if I had a spycam on me all the time, right from the beginning.

Perhaps, use the spycam only if there is reason to be suspicious? If things are going well, then you could continue to trust your caregiver. If she is genuinely a good nanny and has been trustworthy, she would feel betrayed if she found out about the spycam. You may have then lost out on a good find!

[docta123]

You obviously feel the need to pull rank on me because your baby is already here and mine is not and thats fine but what I will say is try to remember back to when you where pregnant and already knew that the little person inside was the most important thing in the world and you would do anything for them, so please, do not patronise or question my priorities because I have not given birth yet. You have no justifiction to do that. You are the one after all who posted your question on a public forum and as far as I can see, no one has questioned your mothering skills.

All I was trying to get across was that you should find out more about this before you do it, especially because you dont want to get yourself into trouble and making you a mother does not in anyway put you above the law or man that ethics should not come into it. It may, it may not, I dunno, but would it really do any harm to at least find out rather than relying on what all of us think?? No-one is doubting how much you love your child but try to take that AND whats right into consideration before you do somthing that could cause you trouble or totally upset and offend someone when there may not be any need to.