Healthy Tot

A friend recently forwarded me an article about babies and young children not being awakened by the beeping sound from smoke detectors. This is so alarming I wanted to share it with you.
Basically what studies and observations found is that most kids don’t wake up from the beeping smoke detectors due to variations in their sleep patterns and stages that differ from those of adults. As I read the article I thought about my own daughter coming into bed with us in the wee hours of the morning (more than I’d like to admit), falling back asleep and staying asleep as my husbands alarm goes off. Wow- it hit me that she might not wake up to a blaring smoke detector beep. Obviously, she is a toddler and it would require adult assistance to vacate a smoke filled house but what about the kids that can get out on their own but are not waking up.

Through some investigation and ingenuity they have found that many kids are able to wake pretty quickly from the sound of a familiar voice. There is an alarm made by two companies, KidSmart and SignalONE, that allows you to record your voice onto the detector. This not only helps the chances your child might be awakened by hearing your voice, but allows the child to hear custom instructions on what to do next.
These vocal smoke detectors are not cheap but you more likely than not just need them in the kids rooms, a small investment for their safety. Other rooms can still be outfitted in the regular beep style alarms which are overall very inexpensive.

Smoke Detector Article
Vocal Smoke Detector