Using the iPad as a Child Monitor

Unless you mistyped, the iPad 1 does not have a camera.

No, you can't.

Can you run a FaceTime call in the background? If you have another idevice or Mac that runs FaceTime you could try that but if it does work I imagine it would kill the battery.

rodman109110 said:

Can you run a FaceTime call in the background?

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Unfortunately FaceTime pauses if you put it into the background.

If you are thinking of buying an iPod Touch, then assuming it has FaceTime, you can just leave that set up and plugged into the power somewhere out of the way to keep an eye on your child, assuming you have a Mac or iPhone or something to view the call from.

We use an iPhone in the baby's room and the iMac downstairs.

iPad

Dear MumsMac,

First of all, are you seriously telling us you bought your three year old an iPad, and not only that, let her take it to bed? I mean REALLY?! There is so many things wrong with that I don't know where to begin.

Anyway to answer your question here it is; why don't you go watch your daughter fall asleep while reading her a bed time story?

MumsMac said:

That's too bad. Can it be done with an iPod touch, then? Thank you

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No, unfortunately you can't. If you initiate a facetime call, the other person must really accept the incoming call.

The onliest real solution, if you really want to use Apple devices, is to buy two iPod touches: one will be put in your daughter's room. The other one will be put somewhere near you. And than you just have to leave FaceTime on all the time. Honestely, I think that would be a waste of money: $400 for two iPod touches that are used for FaceTime only.

Advantage is that your daughter can always see you, and you can see her.

You could however use the iPod touch because FaceTime will continue running in the background (without video).

You can also ask your daughter to start a FaceTime call. Than she can push the home button and FaceTime will be running in the background. You won't see any video, though (because she pushed the home button and is doing other things), but than you can at least hear her. If you hear a slow, steady breath you know she's asleep.

MumsMac said:

My 3-year old daughter has an iPad and as far as I can tell, there is a camera in it. Is it possible for me to monitor her with my iPhone or telly or any other device through that camera in her iPad? She takes it to bed at night and falls asleep to it, if I could see her through the iPad camera I could tell when she falls asleep and come remove the thing from her bed.
Thanks for any help!

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YES YOU CAN, The app is called AirBeam but the app has to be loaded prior to her going to bed(not sure if it'll work in the background, i'll give it a test and update with the results)

EDIT: Nope it won't work in the background. Maybe if you jailbreak it(hack the ipad for true background support) but I suggest you don't do that unless you know what your doing.


AirBeam

Description

AirBeam turns your iPhones, iPods or iPads into a high quality realtime audio and video surveillance system. AirBeam streams video and audio in realtime from the cameras and microphones of any number of iPhones, iPods or iPads. You can watch and listen to the stream on any other iDevice or a Mac - even on multiple devices simultaneously.

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Tortri said:

YES YOU CAN, The app is called AirBeam but the app has to be loaded prior to her going to bed(not sure if it'll work in the background, i'll give it a test and update with the results)

EDIT: Nope it won't work in the background. Maybe if you jailbreak it(hack the ipad for true background support) but I suggest you don't do that unless you know what your doing.


AirBeam

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FaceTime is than practically the same. The 3 year-old will use the iPad and than somewhere in the middle of that progress falls asleep, so this is not really a solution.

ProTierMacUser said:

First of all, are you seriously telling us you bought your three year old an iPad, and not only that, let her take it to bed? I mean REALLY?! There is so many things wrong with that I don't know where to begin.

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Yeh, 3 year-olds should be sent up chimneys. They'll be too tired to use an iPad after that!

Seriously ProTierMacUser. What century are you living in? I wish I could've had use of an iPad when I was three. It must be fabulous educationally for learning to read, etc. Not to mention being able to let the kid paint to their hearts content without getting a drop of the stuff near the carpets or the furniture - that alone would save the cost of the device. They're also surprisingly durable, though I expect the child has earned extra trust by being careful with other stuff.

On your original question MumsMac, some surveillance (IP) cameras can stream directly to an app on your iPhone/iPad.

Good luck and carry on letting your child grow through use of good technology.

I'll chime in on this, I have to say, there's nothing wrong with young kids having technology today. I encourage it! My son just turned 1 this week and my iPad is great to set up so we can watch shows together in his room, and the big screen kids him glued to it. There's also an app called baby signs I think, and with the visuals and sound, he learned to say bye, daddy, and mommy all while using the signs. When he gets older, imma have to pass it down to him to continue with learning... Just my two cents!

I'd like to suggest a different approach.

In my son's nursery, I have a foscam survellience camera. I can view it with my ipad/iphone or any pc. You can hear sound and move the camera. It also has night vision.

It would be able to be a full time camera without having to worry about if the app is running. And its cheaper than an ipod touch.

$79 on amazon.

Better watch her she might be on Facebook all night!

I think it is a great idea that your child has an iPad. There are many educational apps out there and I think they do a decent job in teaching the very basics to any child. To all (actually one) who claim that 3 years don't deserve iPads, think again.
i should add, however, that you should put some silicon cover on the iPad. I have dropped the iPad on my face many times while watching movies in bed and the aluminum side really hurts. I cannot imagine the pain a 3 year old will feel from this so I recommend getting soft protection.

sbddude said:

I'd like to suggest a different approach.

In my son's nursery, I have a foscam survellience camera. I can view it with my ipad/iphone or any pc. You can hear sound and move the camera. It also has night vision.

It would be able to be a full time camera without having to worry about if the app is running. And its cheaper than an ipod touch.

$79 on amazon.

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I second this recommendation. Easy enough setup, can pair it with dynamic DNS to view it from the internet and make sure your kid is in bed at the right time when you have a babysitter or way-too-lenient grandparents over.