e-mail
A child entering your home has had a traumatic background in some way, that’s why they’re in foster care.
Different types of security systems can help both you and your child to feel safe in your home.
A child who has been abused in the bedroom, may have difficulty sleeping in a new environment for fear that someone will enter their room during the night. For under $10, you can give your child a sense of safety by providing a door alarm. We have used these for years, and there are several different types you can use.
The most inexpensive and easy to use and “install” are the magnetic contact alarms. They mount to the door and the door frame in two pieces, usually with double side adhesive. When the contact between the two pieces is broken, it sets off a high decibel alarm to let both you and the child that the door is open. Many times they can be set to alarm or chime. There are also key pad alarms which require you to punch in a code in order to activate or deactivate the alarm. This will allow you to quickly enter your child’s room if you like to do a quick check before you go to bed. You can read about door alarms here and here.
Door alarms can also help you feel secure. Children with difficulty sleeping may get up and wander the house. If you want to know if you’re child’s up and about, the alarm can quickly and easily let you know. If the child is a sleepwalker, it can serve the same purpose.
One of the best things we did with Sammy was to install a home security system. We didn’t use a monitored system such as ADT, Brinks or others along that line, although you could if you wanted to.
We used a system that allowed us to see what was going on in any room in our home. The system that we installed allowed us to put a mounted camera in any room we wanted to, and that feed went to a small TV in our living room. It had a remote that allowed us to click over and view any camera. It also had a motion sensor that would switch the feed over to the camera that had been activated.
This type of system is helpful if you have a young child or infant that you would like to check on in addition to baby monitors, two children sharing a room, or any child that you feel needs an extra level of monitoring. Depending on the type of system you buy, you can also record the feed, or view it on your computer. The system we bought came from here.
Be sure to check with your worker to be sure that the system or alarm that you choose is not in violation of any rules. There may be some restrictions not putting a security camera in a bathroom, so you want to double check this.
While you may be hesitant to use these types of systems, they can help both you and your child feel safer and more confident in your placement.
