Smoke alarms with mom or dad's voice?

[stephogirl]

Our smoke detectors are ten years old, so we need to replace them. I've decided to go with the dual sensor (photoelectric & ionization) alarms, per NFPA recommendations. 

In my boys' bedroom, I'm thinking about installing a smoke alarm that you can record your own voice on as the alarm. Apparently there's some research out there that kids often sleep through smoke alarms (I know, right?!?) but will wake up to mom or dad's voice telling them to wake up and get out of the house.

Does anyone have one of these voice alarms in your home? What do you think of it?

[wavepool]

My h sent me a video of this recently and it freaked me out to see how long they slept through the beeps. We still have the beeping ones, but we'll probably replace with something else when we feel like we have the extra cash or they need replaced.

[ilikedonuts]

I just watched the new story from a few years ago and got really freaked out about this!

[arebee]

we were staying at my parent's and their smoke detector went off right next to the room DD was sleeping in and she slept right through it. I never really thought about it but that's kind of scary.

Ours at home have a woman's voice on them and it's really annoying so hopefully she'd wake up to them.

[meij]

They do sleep through smoke alarms, it's terrifying! We had smoke alarms go off at school during naptime once and I had three kids not wake up. There was an alarm right in our room and it was LOUD. I think building ones are so much louder than ones at home. I could not believe three of them didn't even stir.

I had to wake my own kid up when ours went off in the middle of the night. (Everything was fine)

I think the voice ones are a good idea.

[karinothing]

The voice ones are interesting. I am amazed that kids can sleep through that, but maybe it is because we have one in each room and the hallway (all within 5 feet of each other). My ears ring for like 10 minutes after they go off lol. Honestly I am not sure this matters at this age. I don't think preschoolers or toddlers can follow/remember an emergency plan in a time of high stress. Plus, I don't even know how he would get out of the house if there was an emergency, since he can't open the outside doors w/out a key.

basically my hope is that he 1) comes to our room or 2) stays in his room so we can get him (or enter through the window to get him)

[imojoebunny]

I would love one of those that screamed "calmly get out of bed and exit through the basement door and go to the top of the drive NOW." In my voice for our cabin. We all sleep on a different floor (one bedroom per floor).

We had a fire in our yard in our old house and DD slept through being carried from her room, put in the car parked down the street, and 2 fire trucks showing up, with hoses, lights and siren. She was 6.

[robot]

Well, at this point, my kids are 2 and 5 and I think they'd stand a much better chance staying in their room until we get them, rather than trying to get out. Even the 5 yr old wouldn't reliably know where to go or how to alter her path if she encountered fire on the way downstairs, and then we would no longer know where to find her if she didn't make it all the way out. In their rooms,, I feel like fire fighters could easily get them through a window. I don't know if I'm thinking everything out correctly though. As they get older, I imagine I might change my opinion...

[Deleted]

Mar 26, 2015 19:26:23 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

I would love one of those that screamed "calmly get out of bed and exit through the basement door and go to the top of the drive NOW." In my voice for our cabin. We all sleep on a different floor (one bedroom per floor).

We had a fire in our yard in our old house and DD slept through being carried from her room, put in the car parked down the street, and 2 fire trucks showing up, with hoses, lights and siren. She was 6.

This is crazy.
I have the added problem of a h that sleeps through everything. His alarm clock goes off for 5-10 min before he wakes up (or I wake him) one morning it went off for an hour. He had no idea. He has slept thru fire alarms in the dorms in university
Basically I hope I am home for the fire

[gibbinator]

Mar 26, 2015 19:54:03 GMT -5 incogneato said:

Ditto pps- if there was a fire, I want my 2 and 4 yr old in their beds where I can locate them quickly and get them out. I do NOT want them going downstairs or going outside bc they could get lost, disoriented, etc, and bc then I would surely die bc I wouldn't leave the house without them and would keep looking for them until it was all over. So as long as it wakes me , great.

I feel the same way. If there is a fire in the 3ft hallway between the 3 bedroom doors then I don't want them leaving their rooms anyway. As long as dh and I wake up that's best.