IR LEDs in children's bedroom

[okenny]

Hello,

I am wondering what the opinions and best practices are regarding camera built-in IR illuminators in children's bedrooms.

I have a G3 Flex in my 9-month-olds bedroom and a G3 in my 3-year-old son's bedroom. Both a few meters from their beds.

I almost always switch off the IR when they are in bed, but I have no idea whether the low power IR source in the Unifi cams could actually be harmful. I have found a lot of conflicting info online. 

I would appreciate some reliable guidance.

Thank you

[ncsakany]

IR is safe. I’ve been using such cameras in my kids bedroom for years. 

[okenny]

great, what do you base that opinion on?

[ncsakany]

IR is just below the visible spectrum, and the wavelength of the emission is large enough that it won’t interact with organic matter, such as ionizing risks associated with UV emissions. 

[okenny]

There is a lot of information online pertaining to eye damage from IR light. Take a look. I didn't find anything I felt was reliable or specific enough.
I think it's a question of intensity and exposure time.

UV is clearly much much worse, that's true.

btw - I expect that the IR light from these very low power LEDs is almost certainly harmless, but this is the kind of thing one would like to be absolutely certain about...

[ncsakany]

Well my kid doesn’t have vision problems after 8 years of nighttime surveillance so I guess it wasn’t harmful after all. 

We also vaccinated him and he didn’t turn autistic. 

[RolandDeschain]

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@okenny wrote:
great, what do you base that opinion on?

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When we looked at dedicated "baby cams" just about every single option available had IR illumination.