Ask Slashdot: Skype Setup For Toddler's Room?

New submitter mmmmdave writes "My parents love to Skype with my kid. My kid loves to mash laptop buttons and drool on the screen. And because we don't want to spend forty minutes every night holding the laptop outside of baby arms' length, we're looking to build some sort of wall-mounted monitor + webcam thingy. I'm sure there's a much cheaper option than sticking an iPad on the wall; what's more, non-touchscreen is probably better, so my daughter can't hang up the calls. Any ideas?"

Comments

Doomed

[clang_jangle]

Sounds like you're seriously underestimating a toddler's resourcefulness, frankly...

Re:Doomed

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like you're seriously underestimating a toddler's resourcefulness, frankly...

This is actually a lot harder question than most give it credit for being.

I tried a LOT of things with my 19 month old. LCD and chepo webcam mounted to the wall worked well for a while. Till she climbed on it. Mounted another on inside a wooden box with a plexiglass front. That worked well until dear wife and daughter managed to pour half a gallon of water onto it.

Then while I was at a friends house, I noticed this box thing he had to take pictures under water. I knew how to child-proof it.

Next thing I did was go out and get a pair of cheep tablets ($150 each at Wallmart) and a sheet of 3/8" plexi glass and some wood. I made a box using some wood strips and the plexi front and back, making sure to seal the back so that it was water tight, use weather stripping to make the front water tight when on, but still removable with the magnet locks. I built the box so that it mounts to a wall outlet (had to install that at the right height...). I installed the other pad on the wall outside of her room and set up screen sharing so that we could initiate calls for her, start the music, etc. We also have it set up to to auto answer calls for both my skype and my parents skype.

The plexi glass needs to be cleaned regularly, but other than that this has held up for 3 months of constant abuse. I am really glad that we went to the trouble of making it water resistant, and making it so that their are no protruding parts. Works well as a music player (night time and nap music).

TVs with skype

[Anonymous Coward]

You can try LCD/LED TVs which have Skype app integrated into TVs
Ex Panasonic, Samsung

Skype enabled TV

[theNetImp]

Get a TV Then go here.

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-tv/

Look it's 2012!

Re:Why do you want to torture your kids?

[garcia]

My son (a little over 2 years old) LOVES to Skype with his grandparents. In fact when I am on the laptop and he's in the room he's usually begging me to see "Nana and Pop-pop".

To answer the OP; we generally do it while he's eating in his high chair. I can keep the laptop on the table, out of his reach and since he's locked in place he can't reach the keys.

While ripping keys off the keyboard was a problem in the past, he's to the point at two+ that he can listen to instruction and know consequences (time out). He basically just talks to them, shows them his latest favorite toy, and/or tells them whatever it is that's going through his mind at the time.

They're happy. he's happy and my MacBook is safe. That said, if he's not in his chair I don't leave him alone with it and/or use it as a babysitter. In between his ramblings I chat with them until he comes back to say hi again.

I think that you need to find what works best for your family and your child. While I don't think putting it on the wall or leaving the kid unattended with Skype open is a good idea, perhaps it's best for you.

YMMV.

Re:What Year is it, Again?

[buchner.johannes]

Exposure to TV/Computers is dangerous for kids because synapses develop incorrectly: Because of the incorrect audio/video synchronisation and the lack of feedback -- as opposed to real objects where feedback is immediate -- poor connections form. And those can not be corrected later anymore.
This is well known to neuroscientists, and by large horizontal studies (average TV usage 5.5 hours per day), it has been shown that there is a very strong correlation between TV usage (hours per day) during childhood and intelligence, success, social life, obesity, health, etc.. The point is that the content does not matter, and even a little causes this form of brain damage.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPQ4C5RdUr4 (Neuroscientist Prof. Dr.Dr. Spitzer, talk in German) (I'd like to have a english talk by a scientist on the topic)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-david-perlmutter-md/television-and-the-develo_b_786934.html
http://www.brainy-child.com/article/tvonbrain.shtml
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601182830.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/226572-the-impact-of-television-on-early-childhood-brain-development/

I would not let my kids near TVs or computers until grown (they may watch at their friends place, that's social), and I recommend you have your parents come over to play with your kid, and give it toys/animals/people to play and interact with. Unfortunately, people are lazy and prefer to have the TV/screen babysitter.