Need some advice from all the parents out there!

[JoeTheStudent]

Hi there parents! I'm called Joe and am currently a student in year 12.

Now, I'm not expecting a child or anything like that, but I'm making a product in college aimed at young children and their parents.

This product is a night light, and I'm really interested to see what you guys think about it. It will be able to sense when the child has fallen asleep, so while the child is sleeping the light will turn off to save energy. It will also have a microphone, so if the child starts crying it will play lullabies. I'm also thinking of incorporating a walkie-talkie feature so you will hear when your kid wakes up.

So, what do you all think? Does your child have a night light? Can you see any problems with the idea?

Thanks for reading and I'd really appreciate any feedback you can give me that could help me in my research.

[drinkyourmilk]

I would be careful with how sensitive the mircophone is - you don't want music playing everytime your baby snuffles, cries out or turns during the night.

[JoeTheStudent]

Thanks, I guess it wouldn't be much fun if the music ended up waking up your baby instead of getting them to sleep .

[JoeTheStudent]

Thanks for the reply Toadstool, that sounds like a very complex nightlight your son has! And yeah, I had been thinking of using a motion sensor but again I guess I'll have to be careful with the sensitivity because I imagine kids like to wriggle around while they sleep.

[JoeTheStudent]

Well, I can see that the lullaby idea doesn't seem to be going down well (and thanks by the way, this was exactly why I posted here!) so can anyone think of any better ideas? I've came up with a mobile so far, perhaps it could start turning when the child wakes up in the night. How do you guys get your kids to sleep?

Thanks again

[drinkyourmilk]

I actually think a self dimming nightlight is a good idea - you can get around the problem of being set off by wriggling babies by having the sensor at ankle height?

[greensnail]

Hi, I think this is quite a good idea. We have a nightlight that turns on when the baby cries but only stays on for a very short time (can't remember how long exactly - haven't used it for ages). When my daughter was newborn I would have loved it if it stayed on for longer before switching itself off, so I had enough light to get her fed and settled and then it switched itself off. So maybe it would be a good idea to have one that is switched on by the crying, and then switches off once motion sensor hasn't detected any movement for a while?

We have a mobile that plays lullabies, which is useful for getting her to sleep at bedtime but I wouldn't use it during the middle of the night - i like to keep everything boring in the middle of the night so she has no incentive to wake up

[JoeTheStudent]

Thanks a lot for the replies everyone, the feedback is really helping. I like the idea greensnail of having a mobile while the baby is getting to sleep, but I'll make sure it doesn't turn back on again if they wake during the night. And I'll try to keep the light on for a while after it stops sensing motion, how long do you reckon is enough? 10 minutes? 20?

[greensnail]

I think 10 minutes would probably be enough, though it would be great if you could adjust the time it would stay on for then you could adjust it for your own baby and what you need the light for, or am i making things too complicated?

[JoeTheStudent]

That's fine, I'm pretty sure I could get an adjustable timer.