One modern trend in child raising is the use of baby monitors to ensure the well-being of babies overnight and during nap times. Parents are constantly bombarded with information on sleep safety, SIDS, and newborn breathing issues, so naturally, they want to do everything they can to keep their baby safe. Unfortunately, most baby monitors produce continuous, high levels of microwave radiation, directly targeting your baby while they sleep, so the well-intentioned use of baby monitors can cause more harm than good.

Let’s go into the unique dangers of EMFs (especially microwave frequencies) to babies and young children, touch on modern baby monitor options and their risks, and then address what we can do to keep our babies safe.  

“There is no safety level for microwave radiation for children” – Barrie Trower  

Barrie Trower is a former Royal Navy microwave radiation expert who received some of the world’s best training on microwaves. He worked with microwave warfare, bomb disposal and radar, so he knows firsthand the dangers of microwave radiation, which he says were used to create “sophisticated stealth weapons.”

These days, he does lectures specifically warning of the dangerous effects of these EMFs on babies, children and women. Children have less developed immune systems than adults, and depression of the immune system is the first thing that happens with EMF exposure. Also, because they are growing, the bones of babies and children are still soft, so the EMFs more readily penetrate into their bone marrow and all their stem cells that are vital to maturation. Their skulls are thinner and softer, allowing EMFs to penetrate deeper and more strongly into their brains. Skulls don’t completely harden until age 20, so this is still a problem through the teen years. Children also have less body mass, so will absorb a higher ratio of radiation to body mass than adults.

Embryos, fetuses, infants, children, and women (because of their complex, sensitive hormonal systems), in that order, are most significantly harmed by EMFs. After that, the elderly. Healthy young men are the least affected by EMFs.  

“DNA damage [to the eggs in ovaries] caused by microwave radiation is irreparable. It is passed on from mother to daughter, generation after generation, forever.” – Barrie Trower  

The risk is especially high for female children, due to the fact that they are born with all of the eggs they will ever have, already formed in their ovaries. EMFs damage these sensitive eggs, increasing the risk of DNA mutations and birth defects in their future children and grandchildren. The more consecutive years a girl is exposed to EMFs, the higher the risk of damage to her eggs. Damage to eggs cannot be repaired once it has occurred.  

Baby monitors - a threat to your child's future

The most common baby monitors used today are wireless monitors with video cameras using DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) technology. These expose your baby (and you, if you’re carrying the receiver) to very high levels of EMFs. Some of them, like the Owlet, even attach the transmitters directly to the baby! Devices like this not only expose babies to high levels of close range radiation, but they have high incidences of false alerts due to the natural, irregular breathing patterns of infants.

The American Academy of Pediatrics cautions against using wearable monitors. Yet parents continue to use these dangerous devices due to perceived convenience and what they’ve been convinced is the safer option, completely unaware of the harm they’re inadvertently causing to their child’s health.

Oram Miller, a building biologist who uses a radio frequency detector to test EMF levels throughout the homes of clients and advises them of options for improving the health of their homes, has found that wireless baby monitors produce microwave radiation twice as powerful as WiFi routers, and five times more powerful than a wireless tablet. Often, the highest EMF levels in an entire house are located in the baby’s nursery.

The FCC doesn’t think this is a cause for concern, as it is well below their arbitrary safety limits, limits for which no studies exist to prove the safety of. It is significant to note that the FCC limits in the United States are tens, to hundreds, and even thousands of times higher than most other countries (of recommended microwatts per square meter). These monitors would likely be illegal in many countries.

Oram Miller reports that in the United States, increasing numbers of people are complaining of symptoms that have been linked in scientific studies to EMF exposure, including headaches, ringing in the ears, numbness, tingling, difficulty learning, and memory loss.  

Smart diapers - because your baby isn't irradiated enough

As if babies aren’t exposed to unprecedented high levels of EMFs already, some geniuses at big diaper corporations are trying to convince parents to buy their newest invention – the SMART diaper. In the race to digitize every aspect of normal human life, many people are now being duped into placing a Bluetooth sensor that emits microwave radiation 24/7 right next to their baby’s reproductive organs. This is pure insanity. Of course, these companies say nothing about the potential dangers of constant exposure to EMFs to your tiny baby’s most sensitive parts.

They tout the benefits of this product by emphasizing that you will always know when your baby needs a diaper change. There’s another great way to know if your baby needs changing – you could try being near them frequently and actually listening to them. But maybe having that much physical interaction with your baby in this modern world, where parents are always busy with far more important things than their children, is too much to ask. Hopefully soon, we will have actual robots that can do those messy diaper changes in our place, so we are free to have even less interaction with those smelly little creatures.

I hope the sarcasm above comes through loud and clear. Babies need regular, loving physical interaction with their parents. It is vital to bonding, and for proper development of their brains and nervous systems. We are surrounded by increasing amounts of technology that is distracting us from the importance of family time, and that harms our children. Using SMART diapers is another step towards only interacting with our babies when it’s “totally necessary,” while exposing them to unnecessary and harmful radiation during the most developmentally sensitive time of their lives.  

What can we do to stay safe?

“Reduce use, and increase distance.”– Oram Miller, building biologist  

The good news is, there is a lot we can do to stay safe! If you find that your lifestyle necessitates the use of a baby monitor, you will be relieved to know there are several options that are safer. The best way is to use a wired monitor, instead of wireless. Baby monitors with wired options often use an ethernet cable, or if ethernet isn’t doable for you, they have optional AC adapters that plug into the wall and work through your electrical lines. The wired connection significantly reduces EMF output.

Due to increasing awareness of the dangers of EMFs for babies and children, safer options for baby monitors continue to be designed and produced. Some other products only transmit audio, which emits less EMFs than video plus audio monitors. Others have sensors that only transmit wireless frequencies when they detect movement or noise, reducing the EMF output time up to 90%.  

Here are links to some of the current most popular low EMF baby monitor options:

• Bebcare Hear Audio Baby Monitor (audio only)
• Bebcare Motion - Smart Video Baby Monitor (video and audio option)
• TimeFlys Audio Baby Monitor (a lower cost option)

Another simple way to reduce EMF exposure is move the baby monitor further away from the baby. At least 10 feet away is recommended.  

There is always the option of getting rid of your baby monitor entirely, or not using one in the first place! Co-sleeping (positioning your baby’s bed right next to your bed) or bed sharing during infancy is by far the safest way to closely monitor your baby during sleep. During daytime naps, you could wear your baby in a carrier while they sleep, which has the added benefit of regulating their heartbeat and breathing. When babies are in direct contact with the body of a caregiver, they entrain to our breathing and heart rates. If you need to relax by yourself, do work at home, or do chores, you could let your baby nap in the same room you plan on working in.  

Conclusion

Whether you use a baby monitor or not, your baby will inevitably still be exposed to some EMFs in your house, potentially from cell phones, WiFi, smart meters, your in-home wiring, and even cell towers and power lines in your neighborhood. It’s good to reduce exposure as much as possible, but it’s impractical and often impossible to eliminate it completely. Taking into consideration how developmentally sensitive babies and children are to EMFs, another option for keeping your child safe is having a Blushield device in your house. Blushield takes significant stress off the immune system that the harmful EMFs are causing, and many people report it increases the quality of their sleep. Based on the study results on Blushield devices on humans and animals, overall health will improve at the cell level (go look at the human live blood cell analysis!), including mental health and an overall sense of well-being.  

We encourage you to make the wisest, most informed decisions on this important topic. Your family’s health is worth it!  

References:  

WiFi in Schools: “Videos: Why Women and Children Are More Vulnerable” – https://wifiinschools.com/videos-why-women-and-children-are-more-vulnerable.html  

EMF Portal: “Baby Monitor” – https://www.emf-portal.org/en/emf-source/392  

Mama Natural: “The Best Baby Monitor (Plus 4 Ways To Reduce EMF Exposure)” – https://www.mamanatural.com/best-baby-monitor/  

Video: “How Safe Is A Wireless Baby Monitor?” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WONwXP5lvM