Keep a Child Safe & Close With IonKids Child Monitoring System Starter Kit
Written: Jan 29 '08 (Updated Jul 28 '08)
Product Rating:
Pros: Great idea, comfortable, tamper and water resistant bracelet
Cons: Did not work for us. False alarms are unnerving.
The Bottom Line: Ionkids Child Monitoring System Starter Kit would be a great product if only it eased my mind and could help me locate my daughter quickly and easily.
pablothegreat's Full Review: Ionkids Child Monitoring System Starter Kit
Let me preface this right off the bat by saying I am not a professional nor do I claim to be one. I am not technically inclined and may not know the inside workings of this product and how it is wired. With all that said, this product is not only for professionals nor sold and marketed only to mechanically inclined people. It is marketed to parents like me who have a problem with our children having little or as mine, no safety awareness.
Ionkids Child Monitoring System Starter Kit claims to "Locate your Wandering Child fast and assists to Prevent Child Abduction." Also claims to "This state-of-the-art Child Monitor/Locator System enables parents and guardians to monitor and locate their children when they're playing outside, close to home, at a theme park, in the mall, in the airport, or even when they're playing in the backyard. It is equally effective for individuals suffering from Autism, those with special needs, and people with learning disabilities."
It is recommended for children under 12 years of age. It monitor up to 300 feet outside and 200 feet inside. It is also suggested for pets and seniors. This product comes with the following pieces: Wristag, 3 colors of the plastic casing that snaps on the child's bracelet, 20 stickers to personalize the child's bracelet (various colors and rainbows, girl or boy designs, unisex), base unit, 2 small "keys" to unlock and lock child's bracelet, charger. The base unit can monitor up to 4 bracelets but only 1 bracelet is sold with the starter kit.
My first main worry was if my child would keep it on and if she would chew on it as she is prone to do and this would harm it. This turned out to be a nonissue. She could not remove it from her wrist once it was locked into place and she could not harm it by putting it in her mouth. Good so far! Then I read all the instructions, there are a ton of instructions! It said to practice in the house before using outside so I did this to ensure I knew how to work it. It did not work. So I kept trying it and finally I figured out that the walls were blocking the signal and if she was in a straight line with no walls between us, it would beep when she was out of the distance. Of course we did all of this while playing hide and go seek. I would have her hide in our large living room/kitchen/playroom open area and then I would come and try and find her with the monitor. The beeping was loud enough to upset her (she covered her ears) while we were inside but once we were outside, she did not pay attention to it as much.
Once I had practiced with it inside, we went to a German Festival in town. I still did not feel all that comfortable letting go of her but when she was in the bouncy castle, I did see if the base unit told me where she was. It did fine. I was able to pinpoint where she was. I have a lot of issues with this gadget though. This is not the lifesaver that I expected it to be. I wanted my daughter to be safe and I wanted to feel comfortable letting her go a few steps away from me, knowing that I could always locate her. I still did not feel all that comfortable as this gadget is so difficult and time consuming to use and locate a child.
My main issues with it are: tiny little "key" to unlock the child's bracelet is TINY. This product only comes with 2 of the keys, they are easy to lose!! What happens if the child has the bracelet on and no one can get it off? There is a handy holding place for the keys in the back of the base unit but as I was resetting her bracelet, I dropped them out on the ground. Yes I was panicking!! As it was beeping for no reason and I could not get it off of her and it would not reset to stop beeping.
The bracelet would start beeping for no reason. I would be holding my daughter's hand with the base unit right by her and it would start beeping. The child's bracelet beeps as well as the base unit as a sign for the child to find their parent. It is not all that loud but loud enough to get irritating after a bit. This is the main reason that I quit using it. There were more false alarms than anything. There are sensors on the bracelet to alert that the bracelet has come off and it will start beeping for that reason --in case the child takes it off somehow or is abducted.
Hard to read base unit. The base unit is supposed to direct the parent to where the child is. This is difficult by the graph like lines on the screen. For one, I did not want to look down at a screen instead of up and around for my child. The beeps are supposed to alert the parent to if they are going in the right direction or not as well as the screen. By the time I figured out which direction the base unit was directing me to, my child could have walked out of range of the base unit. It should be simpler, with arrows telling me go this way or that way, instead of colors and beeps.
The base unit is long and should come with a case or be made smaller. I was afraid that it would get broken or I would drop it out of my pocket.
I would also think that in cases like my child who was very late to talk and still is not understood very well by other people who do not know her that this product's bracelet would include some type of note. A place to put "child with autism, please call this number if found alone" or something like that. If someone who did not know about this item found a child with a beeping bracelet only, what would they think? Most people around us that heard the beeping would stare and be really curious about it but not question what it was.
This product was a disappointment to me but I am really particular when it comes to these things. Maybe I was expecting too much from it. It was so clumsy for me to use and kept alarming for no reason, I really did not want to continue to try and use it. Nor did I trust it to be able to find my daughter in case she wandered off.
Other safety items that I have reviewed, click on each to find out what it is and what it does:
Great idea, just wish it worked better for us. It was comfortable to wear, my daughter never tried to get it off and it did not rub her wrists. Tamper and water resistant bracelet.
What is unique about this product?
Tracks lost children or abducted children. Tamper resistant bracelet.
Is it worth the price?
It would be if I had been able to work it more efficiently and quickly and trust it.
What does this product look like?
The wristag face is clear and you can see all the workings inside, it is made like a watch, but it is not removable without the furnished key. The base unit is oblong and bulky, it flips up to show the direction the child is going.
There has to be some bad to this product, right?
Did not work for us. I was too nervous to trust it as it was hard to read the graph like lines to locate my child. Also the false alarms were unnerving and happened too often.
Where can I find this product?
I have only seen it online. I bought mine online two years ago.
Any warnings people should be aware of?
Measure your child's wrist to ensure it will fit as they are made small. It just fit my daughter.
Final verdict:
Ionkids Child Monitoring System Starter Kit would be a great product if only it eased my mind and could help me locate my daughter quickly and easily. As it was, I did not trust it enough to let go of her for any amount of distance.
pablo the overprotective
“A danger foreseen is half avoided."
http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/media/pod/quotes.htm
IonKids Child Monitoring System At one point every parent loses sight of their child. The IonKids Child Monitoring system is an easy, affordable wa...More at ActiveForever.com
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