Introduction

Do you remember anything from when you were a child? You might have vague recollections of the occasional birthday or the meeting of a lifelong friend, but for the most part, your childhood could be described as a haze—no one vividly remembers their childhood. And this is because children aren’t developed enough to maintain memories or lessons, which is why they make many mistakes and put themselves in danger a lot of the time.

See, every household contains dangers that risk the wellbeing of the children living inside it. From unguarded computers to an unlocked door, children are at risk 24/7. Fortunately, technology has evolved enough to make keeping your kids safe an easy, sometimes-automated task.

5 Household Gadgets for Parents

1. An Encrypted Router

The Internet is a dangerous place for a kid. Sure, kids today grow up with the Internet and view it as a fact of life—something that’s always been there. But they don’t about the dangers present on the Internet or how to navigate around these dangers, dangers such as online predators and cybercriminals.

And your Wi-Fi network may be unencrypted, meaning that whenever your children access the Internet, their activity and information is visible to cybercriminals. This results in the possibility of data theft, fraud, identity theft, and the exposing of your child’s location.

To prevent this, install a VPN router in your home. A VPN router encrypts all traffic that passes through it, meaning you don’t need to worry about your child accidentally leaking your location or account information.

2. The Net Nanny

But cybercriminals aren’t the only thing parents need to worry about their children finding on the Internet. There’s a lot of inappropriate and/or explicit content on the Internet, especially on major sites like YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and vice versa.

No website is 100% clean, and making sure your kid(s) won’t run into explicit content can be frustrating. Fortunately, Net Nanny exists.

Net Nanny acts as a network filter. While setting it up on your home’s network, you can bar devices and users from visiting certain sites, engaging with certain content, and downloading certain programs. This reduces the possibility of your kid(s) running into inappropriate content.

3. A Baby Monitor

Moving away from the Internet, let’s talk about physical security. More specifically, let’s talk about monitoring your child’s whereabouts without physically being near them.

You can’t always be right next to your child. They have their room, and they require privacy. They sleep in a different bed and are frequently out of your line of sight. So if your kids accidentally injure themselves, break something, or come face-to-face with an intruder, you won’t know right as it happens.

Well, not unless you use a baby monitor.

While not “new” technology, baby monitors allow parents to listen in on their children’s room while sleeping, working, or vice versa. This allows parents to be there as soon as something happens to their child.

4. A Quality Humidifier

Babies and adolescents are prone to sickness, and many end up getting frequent colds throughout the year. According to one source, young children can end up with six-to-eight colds and infections every year. This hurts your child’s health and can cause a lot of crying, frustration, and worry for your child.

Fortunately, humidifiers can significantly improve your child’s health. In case you’re not aware of what humidifiers do, humidifiers disperse water vapor into the air. Doing so clears congestion and can reduce the severity of your child’s cold.

5. A Carbon Monoxide Detector

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that, if released into the air, can cause sickness and can be fatal to you and your children. The worst part? Carbon monoxide can come from many household devices, from clothes dryers to cars to water heaters.

For this reason, it’s important to set up a carbon monoxide detector. Working similarly to a fire detector, a carbon monoxide detector will notify you when high carbon monoxide levels are detected. This allows you to take preventive measures and find the source of carbon monoxide before your child can be affected.

Conclusion

Keeping their children safe is an important part of being a parent. But kids don’t make it easy. They’re adventurous, naïve of the world around them, and cannot realize when they’re in danger. With these tips, however, keeping your children safe will be a lot less frustrating.