Tossing and Turning

When he was a wee lad, Baby would lay down to sleep, first on his back, then eventually flipping on his tummy. Life was simple back then. Now he's getting bigger, stronger, and faster, and he's no longer content with just two sleeping positions. Now he can sit up, spin around, scoot, lay down, and repeat. His crib is more playmat than mattress.

While I'm in the office, I keep an eye on Baby by using a webcam and connecting to him with an online conference call. What I typically see within the first 20 minutes of a nap for Baby now looks like this:

If you want to set up a monitoring system to watch your little insomniac, you'll need the following:

• Computer in baby's room
• Webcam
• Video chat software

I purchased an Acer Aspire One Netbook to keep in Baby's room and hook the camera up to. It's got a 9" screen and weighs under 2 pounds, so it doesn't take up too much space. The small size and keyboard will also make typing easier for Baby, so he can document his own adventures one day.

The webcam you choose doesn't need to be anything complex, but should perform well in low light. Unfortunately, that's not really a number you can determine in the camera's specs, so you may have to experiment until you find one that works well in the lighting conditions of your baby's room. The webcam I use is a Microsoft LifeCam NX-6000 Webcam, and a non-Microsoft rubber band to attach it to the slats at the foot of the crib. The higher the placement of the camera the better, to keep your baby from reaching it. Note that this (and likely other Microsoft brand cameras) require Windows XP or later, with Service Pack 2.

Finally, some sort of program or software that lets you use it all. After doing a lot of research online, I settled with Tokbox. Tokbox is a site that lets you do video chat, video mail, and video conferencing without any software downloads and completely for free. Not having to have to download anything was important, so I could more easily share videos with anyone who wants to see Baby by just sending a link. This company has only been around since 2007, so there are some kinks to work out on their site, but it works pretty well for the most part.

And now you can spy on stalk monitor anyone! If you have any questions on how any of this stuff works or need a recommendation, just leave a comment and I'd be glad to assist.