Kid's room camera recommendations

[Bonejaw]

Good day all,

I am new to the forums and have recently just moved. I am getting my new home up and running with Home Assistant and Frigate. I am looking to mount a couple of POE cameras in my boys' rooms. I already have a 24 port POE switch. We currently have some old Owlet cameras, but they have been problematic for a while now. Sometimes they work, other they do not.

At any rate, I am looking to mount a camera on their ceilings and capture the whole room as my eldest is getting ready to sleep in a big boy bed and move out of the crib. The key is that I want to be able to see the whole room so I can make sure he isn't getting into any trouble and staying in his bed when needed. My ceiling are 10' tall and the rooms are about 13' x 13'.

It would be great if there were excellent low light cameras preferably or maybe they could have IR emitters. Also, the smaller the camera the better for my wife's aesthetic needs. Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[AlwaysSomething]

Excellent low light cameras are probably not going to be aesthetically pleasing to your wife. Plus they still need some light in the room. However, for what you are trying to do I don't think you need "excellent" low light and I think you'll be fine with the IR. In other words, you are not trying to "identify" the toddler you are just trying to "observe" him.

Here some quality cameras, not necessarily the greatest low-light cameras, that I think you will be fine with (BTW they do have IR emitters which make them good for your situation, again observe vs identify):

If you want small, aesthetically pleasing, and POE, there is this one:
EmpireTech C4K-P 4MP 1/3" CMOS 2.8 mm Fixed-Focal Compact Wi-Fi & PoE Camera

Similar specs but not POE, there is this one (which I personally have and can just be placed on top a dresser):
EmpireTech H4C 1/2.8" CMOS 4MP Indoor Fixed-focal Wi-Fi Network PT Camera

Those are from Andy. He's a vendor on this site that many use (including me). He has a few cameras on Amazon as well but I don't think those are listed there. Here's his Amazon storefront if you want to search:
EmpireTech - Amazon Store


If you want cheap, WiFi / not POE, and OK low-light quality (again observe) then there are Tapo by TP Link cameras that some on this site use for non critical purposes. Here is one I use:
Tapo by TP-Link 2K C120

I used another one which I think was the C110.

I originally bought the Tapos a couple of years ago before Andy started selling the two I mentioned above. However, I'm slowly replacing the Tapos with Andy's where I prefer better quality. The ones from Andy can be automatic (default) but are HIGHLY configurable if you want (e.g.: shutter speed, gain, exposure, etc.) and much better than the Tapo. The Tapo is fully automatic so it will use slow shutter speed at night to get more light which creates more blurs.

Also, Andy's can record to both an SD card at the same time it can send a stream to be recorded by Frigate/Blue Iris. The Tapo can only record to SD card or external source and not both which I did not like (at least with the firmware I have).

One final advantage to Andy's are they do not need an App to configure them. You can login directly to the camera. The Tapo needs an app to configure them.

So, if you want high quality get the ones from EmpireTech. If you want cheap, get the Tapos.

Hope that helps.

 

[bigredfish]

Many here including me use these Amcrest. Can be PoE Or Wifi

https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-Security-Two-Way-4-Megapixel-IP4M-1041B/dp/B095XCGKTF/

 

[TonyR]

Good info above from AlwaysSomething and Bigredfish, just adding:

• The Tapos listed are Wi-Fi only which can be problematic under some circumstances (weak signal, no dedicated access point, crowded, interference, etc.)

I have two Tapo C-110's and two Amcrest (Dahua OEM) IP2M-841's and both are great pet cams or nursery cams, both stream RTSP with audio to Blue Iris VMS...I wouldn't use as primary surveillance. Both of my 841's are over 6 years old.

EDITED 10/23/25 @ 1625 CDT: although the 841's have Ethernet both mine are connected via Wi-Fi to a dedicated AP and function as pet cams.

 

[The Automation Guy]

Many here including me use these Amcrest. Can be PoE Or Wifi

https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-Security-Two-Way-4-Megapixel-IP4M-1041B/dp/B095XCGKTF/

Are those still POE capable? I know Amcrest has offered similar cameras before that were POE (I own one or two), but I couldn't find any reference to the current models being POE capable. I even checked Amcrest's website and they only seem to offer one "indoor only" POE camera now and it looks like a giant space ship designed to be ceiling mounted. I was coming here to suggest the same thing, but stopped when I couldn't confirm that they still are POE capable.

 

[bigredfish]

Are those still POE capable? I know Amcrest has offered similar cameras before that were POE (I own one or two), but I couldn't find any reference to the current models being POE capable. I even checked Amcrest's website and they only seem to offer one "indoor only" POE camera now and it looks like a giant space ship designed to be ceiling mounted. I was coming here to suggest the same thing, but stopped when I couldn't confirm that they still are POE capable.

Good question. I know they come with an Ethernet cable and have a port. I can’t climb up there right now but I’m pretty sure. Funny they don’t mention it in their specs .. I have a choice in the GUI

 

[The Automation Guy]

They definitely have a network port, I'm just not sure if the current models can be powered using POE or if you will still have to plug it into local power even if you are using the ethernet connection. It seems really strange that they would remove POE from the cameras, but for all I know they determined that 99% of users are using WiFi for the connection and they could save $1 per camera by removing the POE electronics.

 

[TonyR]

Are those still POE capable? I know Amcrest has offered similar cameras before that were POE (I own one or two), but I couldn't find any reference to the current models being POE capable. I even checked Amcrest's website and they only seem to offer one "indoor only" POE camera now and it looks like a giant space ship designed to be ceiling mounted. I was coming here to suggest the same thing, but stopped when I couldn't confirm that they still are POE capable.

They definitely have a network port, I'm just not sure if the current models can be powered using POE or if you will still have to plug it into local power even if you are using the ethernet connection. It seems really strange that they would remove POE from the cameras, but for all I know they determined that 99% of users are using WiFi for the connection and they could save $1 per camera by removing the POE electronics.

Re: the 841, 1041, etc. if there's no "E" suffix in the model number then they are 5VDC powered ONLY and that's via a micro-USB port. I have not seen the IP2M-841E in at least 2 years.

If POE is necessary AND there's no issue hiding it somewhere, consider a 5VDC injector=> UCTRONICS IEEE 802.3af Micro USB Active PoE Splitter Power Over Ethernet 48V to 5V 2.4A for Tablets, Dropcam or Raspberry Pi 2/3B+ (48V to 5V 2.4A)

 

[CCTVCam]

Be aware of the drawbacks of bedroom cams. Highly recommend you don't enable remote access and certainly don't port forward if you do, but go locally hosted vpn on your router. There have been numerous incidents of pervs watching children by hacking security cams. My advice would be keep them discreet.

 

[bigredfish]

Or just say no