Are wireless baby monitors a good choice to help keep your child safe while you are out of the room? What about digital or video-based monitors? Well, consider this…
If a mobile phone company applied for a permit to install a cell tower next to a school in your community, do you think there would be a large public outcry?
Most likely there would be very vocal outrage from the surrounding neighborhoods and the story would be featured prominently in the local news as many concerned and informed parents are increasingly taking precautions to minimize their children’s exposure to any sort of microwave technology.
The fact is that the long term effects of microwave radiation on children’s developing brains are completely unknown.
What is known is that a child’s brain is not fully developed until about age 20 and until that time, the skull is thinner to permit its continued growth and development.  Hence, a child’s brain is extremely sensitive to the effects of any type of EMF radiation (1).
Wireless Baby Monitors: Â The Elephant in the Nursery
While most parents would agree that installing a cell phone tower next to a school would be dangerous and definitely not a good idea, many of these same parents are unaware of the very similar danger posed by baby monitors, devices ironically designed for child safety!
When my first child was born, like all the other mothers I knew, I had a baby monitor on my baby shower list.
At that time, baby monitors were corded and plugged into a wall outlet, so I was very careful to keep it away from the baby’s crib and on a bureau across the room out of concern for strangulation risk from the cord.
In recent years, however, corded baby monitors have all but disappeared in favor of the new wireless models which pose a very severe risk of continuous microwave radiation in your child’s room.
According to Wired Child, a wireless baby monitor at less than 1 meter away from the baby’s crib was roughly equivalent to the microwave radiation experienced from a cell phone tower only 150 meters away.
With most baby monitors now wireless and the risk of strangulation from the cords no longer an issue, many parents are putting them right in the crib so a distance of 1 meter or less is not so far fetched. Even a wireless monitor across the room would still pose a danger, albeit a reduced one.
How to Keep Tabs on Your Baby Without Wireless Baby Monitors
The best way to keep tabs on your baby is to have the child’s nursery next to the master bedroom and use your ears.  It’s how Grandma did it after all!
If you absolutely must have a baby monitor for when your child is napping during the day and you are elsewhere in the house doing chores, then use one of the old-style corded (analog) monitors that you can probably find at a garage sale for next to nothing.
While all wireless baby monitors are a problem, the high-frequency digital models are the absolute worst.  Analog monitors are a better choice than digital and if you can find one that is non-pulsing and low frequency in the 35-50 MHz range then that would be the only wireless option that should be considered. Typically, these analog monitors only have a few channels.  Even analog monitors, however, should be kept at least 3 feet from the child’s bed and if possible, used sparingly.
According to PowerWatch, parents that switch out wireless baby monitors for an old-style plug-in monitor or none at all report the child crying less, having less irritability and sleeping better.
Taking care to get the microwave radiation out of your baby’s room to protect her developing brain may have the distinct advantage of a better night’s sleep – for everyone in the house!
References
Digital Cordless Baby Monitors (PowerWatch)
More Information
Reducing Exposure to Dirty Electricity
Are AMR Devices Safer than Smart Meters?
Harvard Medical Doctor Warns About the Dangers of Smart Meters
Fitbit Health Dangers
How to Protect Yourself from a Smart Meter
I’d have to agree. As soon as the device is powered “on” it is susceptible to transmitting a wireless signal (unless that functionality can be turned off – which defeats the purpose?) To be honest, while there may be a harmful effects of wifi exposure, I hardly think getting rid of a baby monitor is going to eliminate or reduce your exposure. From cell phones, to other wireless devices like routers, etc…you are hardly safe.
Either way, thanks for bringing this to light as there should be research done by the parents prior to purchasing one of these devices and the future risks that “might” one day be involved.
Julie @ Digit List
digitlist.com/best-baby-monitors/
in reply to marrisa – im havent developed any baby monitors recently but being in IT i would say its highly likely that most, if not all baby monitor/cameras broadcast the signal from the moment they are powered on. much like your wireless modem/routers at home, when on they broadcast just waiting for devices to connect to them.
It makes good sense that all this modern technology would affect us in some way.
There is a Co that has powerful products to help offset all these health hazards. Better safe than sorry to protect yourself. Giawellness.com/upliftedenergy. Take a look at what is available & think how U can equip yourself the best U can. If your going to use all these powerful devices be smart enough to arm yourself with protection. I am 70 & feel 50 after using these wonderful products!!!
If you turn off the monitor/receiver but leave the camera/transmitter on (not sure if those are the correct terms), will a the radio frequency still be sent? What I am asking is if I decide to turn my video monitor on a couple times a night to check the on the baby instead of leaving the video monitor on all night, will it be better for my baby or will there still be the same amount of frequency transmitted from the camera because that would be left on.
Hello Sarah,
I wonder what exactly is an elevated level of exposure to RFR? I also wonder how the power watch correlated the crying incidences with the exposure. I think it is better to back those claims with good analyses before arriving to a strong conclusion.
Oh please. Save your own personal neurosis for yourself and don’t spout utter garbage to the masses. Wifi, infrared and radio frequencies have been proven to be absolutely safe time and time again in a huge amount of studies. You can put your tin foil hat back on now
Actually, there are not “a huge amount of studies” proving cellular and wifi exposure is safe particularly at close range.
Here’s what Harvard MD has to say about one form of continuous radio frequency exposure: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/harvard-medical-doctor-warns-against-smart-meters/
For those of us that need a monitor, in simple terms what do I get? An analog one? Forgive me, I’m sleep deprived.
To all the mothers here on this webstie…
Please choose not to use a baby monitor or any other form of wireless around your baby. Recent studies out this past month are showing it is actually cancer causing.
https://lennarthardellenglish.wordpress.com/
I personally was an airline pilot for 22 years until cell towers were placed behind my home and I became sensitive to all forms of wireless. You can possibly start to imagine how difficult it is to live now practiclly anywhere in the world. I would suggest going to Frank Clegg’s (the former President of Microsoft Canada) website to learn more about this.
Our group in Grand Bend & the Port Franks area (Lambton shores) also post news daily on facebook about any new studies or news. (Wendy Walks for ES) If you go to the “about” section on this page it will tell you how to limit the amount of wireless in your own home making it safer.
All the best, Melissa
Yikes… I was doing my research on getting a baby monitor. I almost decided to buy it. But then after reading your discussion, it scares the hell of me. Now I’m lost but glad that I’ve not bought it yet